When I ran for borough assembly in 2016, I opposed a plan developed by a borough-appointed Solid Waste Working Group for a government takeover of garbage services locally.
I’m still opposed to that plan because I believe it’s too expensive – up to 1 percent of sales tax or $628,000 annually, along with tipping fees – and it’s unnecessary.
When the working group plan was brought to the assembly in May 2018, it was pushed for primarily two reasons: Our privately owned dump was a mess, with trash strewn about, and some residents were continuing to dump their trash illegally, in remote spots around the borough.
I believed – and I haven’t since been convinced otherwise – that scale of this plan far exceeds the scope of “the garbage problem.” Further, I am concerned that the working group’s plan didn’t include a strong public education component.
Illegal dumping of garbage, like smoking, drinking, or subsisting on donuts, is a self-destructive behavior, best addressed by educating young people not to start and creating incentives for adults to stop.
Last fall I met with Burl Sheldon, founder of Haines Friends of Recycling and one of our town’s most knowledgeable experts on garbage. We discussed the following alternatives. Unfortunately, the borough assembly this spring wasn’t interested in these ideas.
In their last discussion, the assembly was still determined to bring the working group’s plan to the ballot, but in 2020.
Here are some of the ideas Burl and I discussed that could go a long way toward resolving garbage issues for a fraction of the cost of the working group plan. Let’s call this the “cheaper, alternative plan” for now. If you like it, suggest it to your assembly members or send them a link to this page.
The Cheaper, Alternative Plan for Addressing Garbage Issues in Haines.
- Garbage Week. Annual public school and citizen education program akin to Fire Prevention Week in the school. To teach youngsters to be responsible with their waste, to educate citizens on options for waste/recycling, and to explain borough programs relating to waste. Estimated borough cost $5,000. To be offered annually to the public through a local nonprofit (community chest).
- Work with CWS if it would site a transfer station at Mosquito Lake School/Fire Hall one day weekly. First, ask CWS if it would be willing to do it voluntarily. If response is that CWS would need a public contribution, ask how much money it would take. Seek public support from highway residents.
- Offer free dump passes to financially strapped households. Passes would be limited to household solid waste only. (No large junk, appliances.) Use standards for school’s free and reduced lunch program or SEARHC’s sliding scale for eligibility. CWS would administer program; borough would reimburse using sales tax fund balance.
- Add trash cans along highway and downtown, using funding from the tourism tax fund balance. Use can design now used at 19 Mile (square, bear-proof cans with grated mouth to keep out household garbage).
- Ask CWS if it would be willing to site a transfer station downtown. Consider using an assembly resolution format for the request so that the public and CWS are very aware of the request. If CWS expense is issue, encourage CWS to charge a fee downtown that’s increased from the rate at the dump.
- If the CWS landfill on FAA Road becomes unsightly or appears in violation of its state permit, call the state and exert pressure for the company to clean it up.
Let’s take actions to make it convenient for the public to “do the right thing” with its trash. There are sufficient reserves in existing funds, including sales tax, to pay for a modest borough program that addresses these problems through cooperation, education and regulation.
Heavy taxation and a new government bureaucracy are not the way to go here.