Last week the Fairbanks North Star Borough approved the Capital Improvement Program (CIP): a list of municipal projects to be completed in the next 10 years (Resolution No. 2022-03). Included in the CIP is a proposal for a new facility for the FNSB Central Recycling Facility*.
Resolution No. 2022-03 can be found here, and resolution backup information including a spreadsheet of the project budgets and priority rankings can be found here.
The FNSB Central Recycling Facility has leased their current warehouse building at 1855 Marika Road from UAF since 2017 on a 5-year lease that ends this May. A new multi-year lease is expected.
The borough CIP proposes to design and construct a new building for the borough Central Recycling Facility operations.
The nomination for this project stated that the current leased building is too small to utilize their horizontal baler that would enable baling of larger loads of recyclable materials, including office paper and newsprint, which have a higher commodity value for the borough.
The CRF project nomination packet can be found here.
During the February 24 meeting, the borough assembly approved an amendment to schedule the scoping phase of this project in FY23, and the design phase of the project in FY24, with a vote of 5 to 4.
The $50,000 allocated for the scoping phase has yet to be approved in the FY23 budget, and the $500,000 for the design phase will need to be approved in the FY24 budget.
* To clarify: The FNSB Central Recycling Facility is run by the borough’s Solid Waste Division. Borough residents can bring paper, cardboard, #1 and 2 plastic bottles and jugs, aluminum beverage containers, electronics, and household batteries to the CRF for recycling, currently located at 1855 Marika Road.
The borough contracts Green Star of Interior Alaska — a nonprofit organization — to process electronics and batteries at our separate facility, which is located at 1101 Well Street.
Green Star currently leases our warehouse owned by ACS, and we are currently searching for a new warehouse facility for our nonprofit electronics recycling operations, which is separate from the borough and not a part of the borough CIP.
Funding for this project would come from the borough Solid Waste Enterprise Fund, which funds all borough solid waste operations, not from the FNSB CIP Maintenance Reserve fund like other projects in the CIP. The design of a new CRF building therefore would not compete for funding from the other projects in the CIP).
The FY23 budget will be reviewed for approval at a future assembly meeting in April or May.
The scoping, design, land acquisition, and construction of a new building for the Central Recycling Facility could take up to 3-7 years.
The next Regular Assembly Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 10 at 6pm.
The next Sustainability Commission Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 9 at 6pm.
Public testimony can be submitted by telephone (sign up prior to 5pm the day of the meeting), " target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-cke-saved-href="http://assembly@fnsb.gov">by email, or through this written testimony web form.
Visit https://www.fnsb.gov/cip for more information about the Capital Improvement Program.
Visit https://www.fnsb.gov/407/Agendas-Minutes-Audio for the schedule, agendas and other documents, minutes, action memos, and audio recordings of borough assembly and committee meetings.
In the recording of the February 24, 2022 meeting, the discussion about the new Central Recycling Facility building begins at 2:20:28.
Cherissa Dukelow
March 1, 2022