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Mayor highlights landfill and recycling work, introduces new solid-waste manager and discusses $2 million communications project
Summary
Mayor Michicky introduced Eric Lervig as the borough’s new solid-waste operations manager, reported that a baler was delivered and work to expand recycling and landfill efficiency is underway, and described early planning on a $2,000,000 communications project aimed at reducing a Turnagain Pass dead zone.
Mayor Michicky gave the assembly a wide-ranging update on borough operations and introduced Eric Lervig as the new operations manager for solid waste; Lervig said he has 15 years’ landfill experience and is eager to work locally.
The mayor reported a series of solid-waste actions: a new baler was delivered on Nov. 14; Polar North Construction was awarded a contract to remove the old baler; proposals for redesign of the baler building are due later in the month; and the borough is planning staged recycling collection with partners including Alaska Plastics Recovery and Peninsula Scrap and Salvage. The mayor said the borough is prioritizing in-state processing where possible to avoid sending material to distant landfills.
The mayor also described planning around a $2,000,000 assignment intended to reduce a major cellular/communications dead zone on the Turnagain Pass corridor. Borough staff are discussing options with Chugach Electric, ACS and AT&T and expect to refine a project scope for a targeted stretch of road where response and reporting delays have public-safety consequences.
On the landfill leachate evaporator project, the assembly had already added an ordinance for appropriation (Ordinance 2025-19-17) to the consent agenda earlier in the meeting; the mayor said appropriate contracts and design steps are moving forward and that the evaporator completion would proceed once funding and contracting steps are finalized.
The mayor reported other local items including outreach on the Alaska LNG project and community events; he thanked volunteers and staff for recent events and lifesaver awards tied to 9-1-1 call-center interventions.
No binding new policies were adopted during the report; the mayor invited continued community engagement on solid-waste and communications planning.
