BUSINESSMAN CLOSES BOOK ON ROLE IN COMPANY.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

``Wild Phil'' Arklin is heading toward his last trash roundup with the pending sale of his AV Rubbish company to Waste Management Inc., but the cowboy businessman said Wednesday he still intends to ride tall in the saddle when it comes to community charities.

Arklin and Houston-based Waste Management signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire Arklin Brothers Enterprises, which owns AV Rubbish, Foothill Rubbish Co., Palmdale Disposal Co. and Santa Clarita Disposal companies. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Arklin said he was retiring from the waste business, which he has been involved with since 1969, but not from the community.

``Thirty years - That's a long time to do anything, don't you think?'' Arklin said. ``I'll be around, buying pigs at the auction. I'm not going anywhere. Wild Phil isn't riding away yet.''

There will be no changes in management once the transaction is completed, Arklin said.

``The price remains the same, the service remains the same,'' Arklin said. ``It will be the same management, same employees. The name will stay the same.''

The transaction will acquire approvals of the city councils of Lancaster, Palmdale and Santa Clarita, where Arklin has waste-hauling agreements. Waste Management of Lancaster has a waste-hauling agreement in Lancaster and operates the Lancaster landfill.

It is not known how quickly those approvals can be obtained, said Andrea Stephenson, director of municipal development for the western area office of Waste Management.

``It's a great market opportunity,'' Stephenson said. ``It's a good growth opportunity for us.''

At 6 feet 5 inches tall and frequently dressed in cowboy duds and black-fringed leather jackets, Arklin is one of the most recognizable residents of the Antelope Valley.

The ``Wild Phil'' name came during the filming of a series of more than 20 Western-theme commercials he has done promoting recycling, his Wild Phil mulch or other things involving trash.

In the commercials, Arklin rides a horse, falls down a cliff, ropes a street sign and fights desperadoes dumping trash.

Further adding to his Wild Phil image is his Valyermo ranch, which is home to 20 deer, peacocks and guinea hens. Fifteen bison roam on part of the 500 acres of rolling hills, ponds and sagebrush he owns around the Palmdale landfill, where his giant office contains two iguanas and a life-size bronze alligator.

Arklin is known for his philanthropy, including being the top buyer every year at the Antelope Valley Fair's junior livestock auction and his donations to local charities.

Last year, the city of Palmdale and the Antelope Valley Cultural Foundation honored Arklin for his support of the Palmdale Playhouse, where he donated a concert grand piano in 1994.

Once, when he could not attend the junior livestock auction in person, Arklin sent an almost life-sized cutout equipped with a blinking red light on an upraised finger to signal bids.

Arklin, along with his brothers Lev and Steve, got into the waste business in 1969 in Sand Canyon, after acquiring a 10-year-old trash truck in exchange for a landscaping job. In the mid-1970s, Arklin decided to expand to the Antelope Valley and bought the Palmdale dump.

Arklin cleaned it up and eventually expanded. His Palmdale Disposal, Antelope Valley Rubbish and Foothill Disposal companies now run well more than 100 trucks, collecting trash from about 40,000 homes and businesses from Lancaster to Pearblossom.

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color in AV Edition only) AV Rubbish owner ``Wild Phil'' Arklin stands on the balcony of his office.

(2--Ran in AV Edition only) Phil Arklin stands beside a cutout of himself in his A.V. office.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News