South Naknek landfill would get 20 more acres and 55 rent-free years under a state proposal

The state is proposing to let the Bristol Bay Borough keep its South Naknek landfill for 55 more years without paying rent, and to add 20 acres to it. The lease would run through April 24, 2079, on land the state holds in trust for a village that has never incorporated as a city. Comment is open until 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16.

The added acreage is an expansion. The South Naknek Village Council's resolution records the borough asking for "an additional 20 acres for future expansion and operations," and the commissioner proposing "to update the legal description to include an additional 20 acres." The 60 acres the notice advertises are the 40 already leased plus the 20 being added. Neither the notice nor the draft lease says in its own text how much land is being added, though both call the action a renewal and amendment.

The draft waives rent in full. Citing state regulation, it says "the fair market value requirement for the renewal term of the Lease is waived in full because the sanitary landfill serves a public purpose and, therefore, no rent will be charged."

The lease it renews was signed in 1984 for 40 years, meaning the original and renewed terms together would total 95 years. The state holds 974.68 acres in South Naknek in trust for a city that has never been formed, and would transfer the land and its revenues if one incorporated.

Under AS 44.33.755 the commissioner may transfer an interest in trust land only after obtaining the approval of the recognized village entity. The South Naknek Village Council adopted its resolution 4 to 0 on Aug. 8, with Vice President Anishia Elbie signing and Secretary-Treasurer Carvel Zimin Jr. attesting, and the notice states the council approved both the disposal and the rent waiver.

Nothing has been signed. The signature blocks for Borough Manager James Wilson and Municipal Lands Trust Officer Sandra Moller are blank in the draft, and the document provides that the renewal takes effect only on the date both parties sign it.

If the borough uses the land for anything other than a sanitary landfill, the lease terminates and all interests revert to the state or a successor municipality. At the end of the new 55-year term, if a further lease is granted, the borough would get a right of first refusal.

The community sits across the Naknek River from the borough's main landfill, and waste unsuitable for the small South Naknek site is hauled to Naknek, generally when the river is frozen. State environmental regulators proposed a lateral expansion of the Naknek landfill in July 2025.

Comments are due by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, to the Municipal Lands Trustee Program in Anchorage, attention Chris Grundman, at [email protected]. Everything above comes from the state's notice package. Neither the borough nor the council speaks in it beyond the documents they signed.