Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Solid Waste topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Assembly committee hears federal request for landfill redesign, discusses tire-shredding and excavator purchase for solid-waste operations
Summary
Committee heard a resolution designating the redesign of the Central Peninsula Landfill as the borough’s federal legislative priority and discussed tire shredding and a sole-source purchase of an excavator used to fight the Homer cell fire; several assembly members asked to be added as cosponsors on the federal request.
The finance committee reviewed Resolution 2025-05-011, which would authorize the borough’s fiscal year 2026 federal legislative priority project: a redesign of the Central Peninsula Landfill’s solid-waste and recycling operations. Staff said the request would be submitted to the congressional delegation as a single, congressionally directed spending request tied to redesigning the county landfill after failure of a cell increased pressure to improve operations.
Miss Hardy explained the request is intended to be the borough’s single federal spending priority and that, if federal funding does not materialize, the borough would pursue state or lower-cost local options. Several assembly members asked to be added as cosponsors for the federal request to demonstrate assembly support.
Committee members and the mayor also discussed options to reduce landfill waste and improve operations, including a tire-shredding system that would reduce tire storage volumes and could produce material reusable for borough projects. Mayor Michicky said removing tires from cells would reduce waste and that a shredder’s output could be reused in local projects; members remarked they had researched tire-shredding technology and its potential uses.
Separately, staff presented Resolution 2025-012 to authorize a sole-source purchase of an excavator for the Homer transfer facility. Hedges explained the borough rented an excavator during response to a long-running fire in the Homer inert cell and negotiated a purchase with the rental vendor (Craig Taylor Equipment) after concluding the borough would incur more expense continuing to rent the machine. Staff said competitive price comparisons were collected from nationwide auction data and a local vendor; because of procurement code limitations and prior emergency rental, staff recommended a sole-source award to the rental vendor to purchase the excavator. No final committee votes were recorded on the resolution at the meeting.
Staff said the landfill request, tire-shredder discussion and equipment purchase are part of ongoing efforts to reduce landfill operating costs and improve long-term waste handling.
