By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
The Municipality of Anchorage’s Solid Waste Services has operated the Girdwood Transfer Site since it was built in 1980. And since that time, it has been losing money—as much as $100,000 per year, said Robert Hall, Director of Solid Waste Services.
Hall is now meeting with Girdwood Board of Supervisor Jim Henderson to address the problem. A number of solutions have been discussed from cutting back on hours, rescheduling the opening and closing times, and perhaps reducing the days of operations.
Currently, the Transfer Station is open four days per week (Friday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Hall specifically was concerned with the Sunday opening, which he said is by far the most expensive day to service. On Sunday, he determined that about 50 customers generates a few hundred dollars, but it also requires changing out the container on occasion, which requires a driver to come down from Anchorage.
“I have no other facility open on Sunday,” Hall said. “I’ve got people working Monday through Saturday, and the only employee I have working on Sunday is the operation at Girdwood.”
If the container is full on Sunday, he said, a driver must come down from Anchorage to replace it with an empty one. Containers are replaced on a regular schedule every Tuesday and Saturday. “If I can save $20,000, isn’t that a wise move,” Hall said.
The cost to empty a container is $500 per day. Henderson looked at the number of days the container had to be emptied on Sunday and found it was only necessary three times last year.
Hall and Henderson met April 27, and after discussing the matter, they concluded Sunday should remain open.
“We met for two hours,” said Henderson. “There was nothing definitive, but for sure Sunday is pretty sacred, and it won’t get cut. If we cut any day it would be Friday.”
Friday has been the least busy day, said Henderson, with an average of 35 customers; whereas, Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days with an average of 50 customers per day.
So it’s back to the drawing board, with several options being considered.
One possible solution is changing the opening time from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. or noon, and closing an hour later at 6:00 p.m. Henderson said the 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. hour is the least busy hour of the day.
Also being considered is changing the days of operations to a three-day schedule: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, or to a new four day schedule Saturday through Tuesday.
Another option would be to increase the rate for daily service. Currently, residents pay $5 to dispose of up to five bags of trash and $10 for more than five bags.
Girdwood Board of Supervisor John Gallup said he is in favor of raising the rate.
“I think a rate increase would be well in order,” Gallup said. “It also might stimulate more recycling.”
But a rate increase would require approval by the Anchorage Assembly, something both Hall and Henderson feel is unlikely.
So talks continue on how to solve the financial deficit of the Girdwood Transfer Site, and Henderson and Hall are determined to consider all the options before a final decision is made.
They will meet one more time before addressing the Girdwood Board of Supervisors at the May 21 meeting. In the meantime, they would like the public to get involved in the process. You can reach Mr. Henderson directly at 783-2349, or email a letter to the Turnagain Times (turnagaintimes@acs-alaska.net) and offer your feedback.