What to do with junk vehicles is not a new problem to just about any part of Alaska. And it’s easier to put rules on the books than to actually get abandoned cars and trucks properly disposed of. But some new rules proposed to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly may at least add some accountability to the equation.
*Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the assembly has adopted the proposed rules. We regret the error.
The assembly introduced proposed new rules at its meeting last week that lay out the criteria for junked or abandoned vehicles and who is responsible for their removal from public land or rights of way. Roads director Dil Uhlin says the provisions that were in borough code were vague, and based on state statutes that don’t always apply.
“We were just towing for free. It’s been cheaper to drop a vehicle off in a right of way and let someone else take care of your problem for you instead of do the right thing, which means take it to the junk yard and dispose of it properly. We’ve had a lot of different departments look at this. The Roads Board has looked at this I think three times to get plenty of input. It’s a check and balance to make sure we’re doing the right thing so the public has the ability to appeal our decision to tow, they also have the ability to reclaim their property and it gives us the means and methods to properly address the issue, dispose of the issue and attempt to recover funds.”
In cases where a vehicle has simply been left someplace, and it can be reasonably assumed it’s not running and has indeed been abandoned, the last registered owner is on the hook for the bill if they can’t or won’t move it themselves. Uhlin says even when a car has been burned or used for target practice, tracking down its last owner isn’t a huge hurdle.
“In my year that I’ve been here, we’ve only had one we could not identify the last known owner and that’s because it was registered out of state so we had no records internally. Even ones that are burned up; we just towed one last week that was burned up in a cul-de-sac, we were able to work with the Troopers, figure out who the last known owner was, tow it and we’ll move forward from there.”
Moving forward means sending out bills so the borough can recoup those costs. On average, Uhdil says it’s about $1,800 to handle the job. It starts with a $100 citation, and goes up from there.
“So you’ll have towing which can range anywhere from $350 to thousands of dollars depending on the type of equipment. We’ll get a storage fee from the storage yard that we have; $25 a day, not to exceed 30 days. We’ll have an admin fee built in for $35 to cover my admin’s time and the advertising and notifications we have to do. There’s a disposable prep fee that will be coming before you for $300 and then you’ll have the actual cost of disposal. Hopefully with the disposal, we’ll have enough junk vehicles where we can entice the scrap yard to pick them up for free based off of the value. We’re estimating it’s going to cost anywhere from $1,800 to $2,500 per vehicle. That’s for a standard vehicle. When you get into, say, a motorhome that was left out in the middle of nowhere and the roof is caved in, you’re probably looking at thousands of dollars because no one wants to do that kind of work.”
While the borough will work with private property owners on removing junk cars, the bill will be on them whether they own the car or not. And there is an appeal process for vehicle owners as well. Uhdil says they want to work within the new rules for a couple years and then reevaluate to see if costs are being recovered properly.
