By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Overcoming some doubts expressed at its last meeting, the Assembly gave final approval Tuesday night to an ordinance to set up a $3 million trash compaction system aimed at reducing the risk of fires on barges.
The ordinance was passed on a 5-2 vote, authorizing a $2.79 million no-interest loan from the Southeast Alaska Economic Development Fund, and $210,000 from the general fund to pay for the new system.
Kevin Mosher, Crystal Duncan, Rebecca Himschoot, Thor Christianson and Dave Miller voted in favor, with some of them remarking that it was the best option to stave off even higher rate hikes to users.
The new system is intended to meet requirements by the city’s waste contractor Republic Services and Alaska Marine Lines to reduce the risk of fires aboard the barges shipping Sitka’s solid waste south for landfill disposal. AML has told Republic it would no longer accept uncompacted garbage in open top containers, without charging the city substantial additional fees, city staff has said.
“I don’t like this one little bit,” Christianson said before the vote. “However, that doesn’t change the fact that AML has us over a barrel. At the very least, they would raise our rates at least close to double, and they’ve threatened to plain not ship it.” He said he felt the city had done its best to fight the requirement for the past year.
Sitka waste transfer station operator Doug Bain shows the top of an open-top container van this afternoon. Currently trash is given a light compacting with an excavator bucket to consolidate space in the van. New shipping regulations will no longer allow open-top trash container vans. On Tuesday the city Assembly voted to spend $3 million for a compacting machine in order to comply with the rule. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
Kevin Knox and Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz were solid “no” votes for several reasons, including the use of the city economic development fund.
The solid waste issue was one of two agenda items that took most of the time at the more than two-hour meeting.
The second was an ordinance that harbor staff has said should “increase the functionality of the parking lots” at Sealing Cove and Crescent harbors, where boat ramps are located.
The ordinance is intended to address problems related to the parking of boats on trailers and unattached trailers in harbor parking areas. Rules are already in place setting time limits, and designating areas for parking boats on trailers, unattached trailers, and vehicles without trailers.
That ordinance passed on a 5-2 vote with Knox, Miller, Christianson, Mosher and Himschoot in favor. Eisenbeisz and Duncan were opposed. A few of the lukewarm expressions of support were that the regulations could always be changed again if they didn’t work. Those opposed wondered if it was mainly an enforcement problem, and asked whether the new system would create more problems than it solved. (A story will be in Friday’s Sentinel.)
In other business, the Assembly approved hiring Valarie Ruff as city human resources director; made appointments; and approved tidelands leases.
The first order of business was a citation read by the mayor in honor of Veterans Day on Thursday. The citation was accepted by retired Coast Guard Capt. Benjamin “Sandy” Beach.
Solid Waste Compactor
The city’s new system will replace the current system of partially compacting garbage with heavy equipment and shipping it in open-top containers. The city has been working with its contractor Republic Services for the past year, after AML announced it would no longer ship uncompacted waste in open-top containers at the present shipping rates.
Knox, in voting against, objected to using the EDF to subsidize the actual cost of handling Sitka’s waste. He said the cost of the new system should be passed on to ratepayers.
“We need a major overhaul of how we deal with things going out and how we deal with things coming onto this island,” he said.
Mosher agreed with others that a long-term plan needs to be developed for handling Sitka’s waste, but that would take more time than the Assembly has to respond to the new requirements. He said using the EDF will protect ratepayers.
“This is not a sustainable thing but right now ... we have to make a decision,” he said.
The cost of paying back the loan to the EDF at zero interest is roughly estimated at $2.59 per month per ratepayer, on top of inflationary adjustments, City Administrator John Leach said. But he said if the city does not move to compaction, it will be far more costly.
“The ‘do-nothing’ cost right now, before we consider inflationary, is expected to be a 10 to 15 percent increase in just the solid waste piece of the utility bill,” Leach said.
City Finance Director Melissa Haley said today that the exact cost per ratepayer is “yet to be determined because there’s still work to be done to analyze the rate structure.” She added that doing nothing could cost more than the 10 to 15 percent Leach mentioned.
The city hopes to increase shipping efficiency by 10 percent, with fewer vans needed for compacted waste, but “not a huge annualized savings,” Leach added.
Leach also has reached out to USDA Rural Development for a low-interest loan or grant to help with the costs, and said he would keep the Assembly informed.
Himschoot asked several questions about alternative funding solutions to drawing down the EDF. “I don’t feel like we have a choice tonight – it’s going to a yes vote but I would like to find a way to not hit that fund 100 percent, but for tonight this is what we have to do,” she said.
Duncan said she has received emails from residents providing suggestions and possible answers to the community’s solid waste problems, and looks forward to working on solutions.
“I don’t see this as a final end point,” she said. “I actually see this as a start of something ... I’m a yes vote tonight and I look forward to where this develops and goes, in the next couple of years.”
Eisenbeisz said he was not in favor of depleting the economic development funds and felt that 30 years was not a quick payback time. Addressing the main issue of fire risk, he said he is concerned that the contractor Republic has not committed to inspecting the waste as permitted under their contract.
“If they were genuinely looking out for fire risk, they would be concerned enough to send someone here,” the mayor said, “because according to them our trash is one of the highest-risk trashes in the Southeast area. So I would assume that they would want to do everything that they could as well, not just the municipality.”
Eisenbeisz said he felt the city should have been given the same notice that other communities were given to convert its system.
Other Business
Stephanie Hawney was appointed to a three-year term on the Health Needs and Human Services Commission; Loyd Platson and Leslie Young to three-year terms on the Police and Fire Commission; and Danielle Pensley to a three-year term on the Historic Preservation Commission.
The Assembly also approved hiring Valarie Ruff of Richland, Washington, as the new human resources director at a starting salary of $105,476.80. A profile will appear in a later edition of the Sentinel. She’s a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, and received a masters in organization management from Sage College.
A tidelands lease was approved for 1405 Sawmill Creek Road to Sharon Williamson and Lisa Williamson; and a tidelands amendment was approved for the Sitka Sound Science Center at 834 Lincoln Street.
A number of comments from the public were made under Persons to be Heard, questioning the safety and necessity of COVID vaccines for children and adults, and what was felt as discriminatory behavior toward those choosing not to be vaccinated. Another brought up the sharply rising consumer price index, and producer price index.
Another member of the public asked whether the city could take action to reopen Katlian Street to traffic. The street has been closed for months because of safety concerns related to a collapsing house. The same speaker also was in favor of pursuing other options for Sitka’s waste than the one chosen by the Assembly.
