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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSWAB minutes 030206 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 Attendance : Linda Bowerman, Al Vickers, Joe Clayton, Remus Smith, Jan Sassaman and BJ Tipton Staff . Gayle Wilson, Blair Pollock, Wanda McCain, Rob Taylor, Paul Spire, and Tom Draney Guest : Ken Friedlein and Jim Compton (Dixon-Weinstein Architects ) 1 . Adoption of Minutes from February 2 SWAB meeting Clayton moves to accept . Bowerman 2nd . Passes unanimously . 2 . Solid Waste Operations Center Preliminary Design Presentation- Dixon-Weinstein Architects Friedlein states that we have gotten through the schematic design for the building for the solid waste group that serves the agency and provides a place where the public might meet . The site is now larger and it frees up the building design to allow us to more readily accommodate parking and other functions . We are proposing a building that is about 9 , 000 sq . ft . It will be set back from the road . This will not be a tall, in-your-face kind of office building . The public meeting room will be the lantern for the building . In discussion with staff we' ve concluded that it ought to in some way acknowledge the landfill although that will become the dinosaur of solid waste and we can demonstrate new solid waste technologies there . There will be demonstration and educational components, and the building itself will demonstrate sustainable design practices and methods . [Shows drawings of building] . The roofs will slope up to allow light in from the southern sun for most of the building except the main meeting room . There is an education courtyard that you come through into the building . The covered walkway is an area where we' d like to use the [previously] deconstructed building materials . [He continues to describe the building program and design in detail] . Sassaman asks what is the seating capacity of the meeting room? Friedlein replies with tables it is 54 and 80 without tables . Wilson states that in about a year and a half hopefully all SWAB meetings will be in that meeting room . On March 15 there is a solid waste work session at 4 * 00pm with the County Commissioners . At that time these gentlemen will go into a little more detail . If the Commissioners are agreeable and see no difficulties we will be ready to proceed with the next step . We' re awaiting their feedback to move to next phase . The short term plans for the other piece of property purchased is for equipment and employee parking and a crew building when the Sanitation Division comes over . And when the transfer station is constructed presumably on Eubanks Road we will dislodge and relocate some things so we' ll combine equipment and employee parking and a crew building over here . At some point we will construct an unheated storage 1 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 building to house some of the County' s deconstructed materials . Solid Waste Department will be responsible for those materials so we will prepare a little warehouse for them . Friedlein states that the schedule is to have a finished drawing by August so that the project can go to bid . Sassaman asks if this is in Chapel Hill' s jurisdiction? Wilson replies no . The line is just east of there and it' s also the rural buffer line so we can' t bring water and sewer there . Friedlein states that we have identified a well site on this property . We will propose an alternative wastewater treatment system that doesn' t use a septic field . We don' t know how that will be received . Vickers asks have you looked at the fact that having your own water supply under the Safe Drinking Water Act triggers monitoring requirements that you will have . This will be a public water supply because of the public meeting room having more than 25 users when the public comes into the meeting room, not just the staff . There is a whole sampling and monitoring routine . Has anyone looked at the cost of that? Friedlein states that that has not been looked at . Wilson notes that the regardless of cost, water and sewer will not be brought into the rural buffer . Spire states that we currently test all the wells . Sassaman notes that we ' ll also have to do bacteriological testing and all the same things that OWASA has to do now . This is a Federal law . Wilson states that in the next two or three months, once the Commissioners give us the go ahead we will need to have a community meeting hopefully sponsored by the Advisory Board . This will inform them of what we are doing and let them ask questions . Depending on the timing of that we could couple that with the neighborhood meeting about the transfer station, assuming the Commissioners agree with the SWAB recommendation [to use that site] . If the Advisory Board wishes to we will probably want to plan for April or May timeframe for a public forum to notify the neighbors and make ourselves available for questions and comments . Clayton asks what type of alternative septic system are you planning to use ? 2 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 Friedlein replies that it is a combination of filter beds and field and it might be part spray irrigation . If it can be used to flush toilets and irrigate and we want to try to capture stormwater too . Pollock notes that there is such a system that Hal House designed operating at the old Triangle School in Chatham County . Wilson states that we are excited about the new building and hope everything goes forward . Sassaman asks about the permitting phase . Friedlein states that reviews will be done as we go along . We should know from DOI and others of anything pertinent that is going to happen . Sassaman asks if this needs any environmental assessment? Friedlein states that I don' t know that it needs anything other than what the County already has on that property . Pollock asks if the County or State will inspect the property . Friedlein replies that the County will but we will do a DOI review for life safety . There is some sensitivity about the same agency inspecting as the owner the building . 3 . Principles/Values for Selection of MRF to Process Orange County Recyclables Sassaman asks if there is anything from the principles group . Clayton states, that from my perspective, we want only to pass objective measures . I don' t want to pass subjective measures 11 ke, " You must have good relations with your neighbor . You must not have too much litter on your access road " . Vickers states that we considered programs like ISO 14000 for environmental, ANSI program and there is an OSHA voluntary compliance program . It doesn t say what their performance is but it says that they are doing a program . Clayton says you don' t need to be ISO-certified, just ISO compliant . Orange County' s landfill is ISO compliant, you have safety training, you keep records, and you have open books to be viewed . Vickers notes that the ANSI program allows you to self-audit, but with OSHA you cannot self- audit . ISO requires third party audit . 3 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 Wilson asks for summary of these programs Vickers notes they' re documentation programs that you document your management standards, performance, safety compliance, how you audit and that you have a set schedule for doing it . The basic ISO is that they come in and audit your performance . if the facility has a competent health and safety management system You' re looking at rather than saying how many accidents you had . Clayton adds these are objective documented measures ' Have they had blood borne pathogen training, are they following the scheduler Sassaman asks Paul what federal requirements do you currently follow? Do you have HAZWOPER requirements ? Spire replies we do all the regulatory, blood borne pathogen, fire, safety, and document training on a regular basis . We have records we post for all injuries . Lock out tag out, MSDS, hazardous communications, confined space entry . We do what OSHA requires us to do that a private company does . Sassaman asks about particulates - do you monitor particulates or any air monitoring? Spire replies just methane . We have a regular methane monitoring quarterly . We do intend to do dust and particulates at landfill in the coming year . We also do have some noise requirements and we don' t have a continuous noise problem for wearing ear protection at all times . Two people on the landfill have their own personal respirators . Clayton states that OSHA is a set of standards and ISO is a set of documentation that you are following . Sassaman states that we want to make sure that staff has what will help them . [Group compiles a list of general principles / values] Distance Access to interstate / major road transport corridor Appropriate zoning Employee welfare and working conditions Health and safety compliance QA/ QC for EHS Community relations Financial soundness Capacity (surge) 4 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 Multiple product process capability Residue rates Sassaman states that now that we have this list, can we flesh it out with a paragraph? Do we need to add a few words of what we might mean by these ? What is QA/ QC is it ANSI ? Health and Safety is NIOSH, OSHA, Community Relations is issues of environmental justices . What do we mean by capacity - is it the ability to handle varying loads changes in flow that could exceed ability to process, residue rates ? Taylor states that during the last urban curbside bid we had measurements in there for the processing facility that the vendor is using and it is similar to this list . You are recreating what we already have . Sassaman states that if you [Rob] can email that to me I will put that and this together to come up with a straw man to bring back to move on with this . Wilson asks if this one will cover both the MRF and the landfill . Sassaman replies yes they could be the same for both except the last two items . 4 . Principles/Values for Selection of Landfill to Receive Orange County' s Transferred Waste Discussed as part of item 3 . 5 . Transfer Station Resolution Sassaman states that at the last meeting we flushed out a resolution in regards to the transfer station . We have a memo from me to Barry Jacobs recommending the landfill property located north of Eubanks for the future site of the transfer station . With your approval for this resolution I will sign it and send it on . Vickers suggests that on the cc list you should list all the [SWAB ] representatives to say we all voted on this and the resolution was unanimous . Sassaman states that we could easily say that the SWAB unanimously endorsed [the resolution] . Wilson asks if the change should be in the memo and / or the resolution? Sassaman replies both . Vickers moves to authorize Jan to sign it . Clayton 2nd Vote 5 -0 Passes 5 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 6 . Rural Garbage Collection [This item discussed after item 2] Wilson states that we are bringing back a number of white papers to you all because the Work Group doesn' t meet often enough to deal with all the issues so the Advisory Board is the next best thing . We have talked about a number of different elements of solid waste management in the county . The one we have not talked about yet is rural [unincorporated area] garbage collection . By that we mean residential and non. residential waste collection services excluding C &D . Multifamily is also non- residential; bear with me, it is . For the residential sector in the county it is pretty much open season . The residents can hire anyone they want to collect their waste wherever they want as often as they want . They also have the option of the six solid waste convenience centers to get rid of their waste at no charge . A third option used by a small fraction of the residents is to bring their waste to the landfill . Some of the issues regarding the current system are : • a number of overlapping routes where in a subdivision of 50 homes you may have three different trucks coming through • most of the waste collected by the private sector is delivered to out of county facilities • the solid waste convenience centers are heavily used because it' s free • there a few small collection companies that only collect a trailer park or a subdivision . Some basic alternatives are : • the County could assume control of the waste itself • it could use a franchise and award one or more private haulers collection contracts . • the County could compete with the private sector and start its own service The non-residential sector is serviced by the municipalities . Hillsborough by franchise while Carrboro and Chapel Hill do their own, though private companies also compete in the Towns . There aren' t too many small haulers when it comes to non-residential . Equipment is usually more expensive and operated by big companies . Some of the issues are the same as residential with multiple trucks servicing one general location, this wastes more fuel than necessary and causes more wear and tear on the roads . Most of the waste is delivered out of county avoiding the County' s regulations [bans on landfilling certain materials ] . The options are about the same as the residential . The county could compete directly with the private haulers . The county could assume commercial collection themselves or through a franchise and hire one or more private companies to do it . 6 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 This will probably be one of the areas of focus as we are developing the plan . The County has recently faced the issues of trying to find new convenience center locations as leases expire and it' s difficult for the elected officials to site these facilities in areas where there are complaints and people don' t want them . The notion of universal garbage will come up in our discussions . This will roughly mean the County in one way or another providing curbside garbage collection for the residential sector in the unincorporated areas . It could be mandatory or voluntary where you can continue using the convenience centers . The thing that you all and the Work Group will need to do is provide staff some direction as to how to prepare the solid waste plan with regards to unincorporated waste collection . I have made a personal request through Rod to have the County Attorney analyze and provide some information to us regarding franchising . This is important for two reasons . One because that will be a legitimate option if we want to consider any kind of universal collection and take control of the waste so the regulations are applied to all the waste [from Orange County] . Two, because of Senate Bill 951 , which will put some pressure on local governments to franchise quickly if it' s adopted . If the bill is adopted in mid- May the only protection is a franchise and I don' t know if there ' s enough time to adequately consider and adopt a franchise ordinance . Vickers states that under franchising there would be no investment by the County and users would pay the cost . Would the County be looking for one or two vendors ? Wilson states that my understanding is that you can have an exclusive or non- exclusive franchise . An exclusive would be one . You can also divide up [the County] into sectors or any other geographic way and award different franchises in that area . You can franchise and make it mandatory or voluntary . If it' s voluntary then you can only hire the franchisee, you can' t just hire someone who' s not been awarded a franchise . Vickers asks if the franchise would dictate the fee level . Wilson replies yes . Clayton asks wouldn' t there be a much greater savings if you were to write one check a month to company X . The company would not have to have a sales force, mailings each month whether you did it yourself or someone else did it . If there was a single payer system, everyone included, there is already a mechanism in place in the County . Everyone already pays for garbage fees, which run the convenience center . If you are losing all convenient centers you need to take pressure off of them . You 7 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 could close half of them . Two of six are closing anyway . If you were to look at doing a franchise regardless of the number of vendors, with single payer everyone is covered . The savings would be huge . There is approximately 6, 000 tons of waste going out of-county . If you knew how much garbage you needed to control for the planning of the transfer station it would make the operation more efficient . Your fixed costs are spread over a larger customer base . There are at least four different trucks going past my house each week . You wouldn' t need new sites . You could reduce collection at the 24 -hour dropoff sites too . Wilson asks do you think it would be $ 10 per month? Clayton replies it' s about $15 per month now including profits Wilson asks in doing that are you assuming not having free garbage service at the convenient centers ? Clayton states that it wouldn' t matter because you would put the burden on the household . I would say that you wouldri t pay the company a tip fee just a collection fee . Wilson asks what would be the negative or downside if there are any ? Clayton replies that there would be some outcry from people that don' t want to pay more taxes . Vickers questions whether tax or fee . Clayton replies does it matter ? Vickers states it matters because Chapel Hill and Carrboro are paying in their taxes for garbage collection . Clayton states it would be an additional fee . Pollock states that you could have a garbage district that encompassed only the unincorporated areas . Sassaman states that that goes back to what the Advisory Board proposed 21/2 years ago . That didn' t go over . Clayton states that we are moving beyond that . When Hwy 57 closes and everyone from Hillsborough runs out to Walnut Grove, there will be some angry folks calling 8 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 the Commissioners . This crisis may give us an opportunity to solve a problem and solve a financial problem . Wilson states that in proposing this how would you feel if a Commissioner stated that Johnny Jones Co . has been collecting XYZ trailer park since 1974, you will put him out of business . Clayton states that Johnny Jones would be able to bid on the job . I would just point out the hypocrisy . I would also argue that Johnny Jones Co . is not nearly as good as the level you would hold a larger company . When you have control there would be less pollution and it would make a much better holistic approach . Wilson states that one opportunity that it might give in regards to non-residential is that the Town of Hillsborough could probably get a better rate if they were to combine with the County in the unincorporated area and expand the number of service points . Clayton states that holistically I think this would allow you to solve many problems at once . I also believe that we have a better chance at convincing five county officials who are up for election to support something that would give a holistic solution . Wilson asks are you promoting residential or non-residential ? Clayton replies both for the unincorporated area . Wilson states that staff is willing and able to spend the time doing an analysis of changing garbage collection in the rural areas if the Advisory Board and the Work Group wants to go in that direction . If Senate Bill 951 passes this is basically off the table . Tipton asks what is the likelihood of pulling this together before June 1 ? Wilson asks are you talking franchising ? Staff working out the details of this is very slim . The real question is --is there time for the county to adopt a franchise ordinance . I don' t know the answer to that . Vickers asks what happens if the county goes through the effort of adopting an ordinance and then this law doesn' t pass , the county could rescind the ordinance ? Wilson replies yes . Vickers states that the sell for this to the County is as a protective move to protect their flexibility . 9 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 Wilson responds that before I propose anything I need to know more . I need the attorney to advise me as to all the legal issues, time constraints, public notice constraints, limitation within the ordinance, etc . There are a lot of questions . Sassaman asks what are some of the other counties doing to be proactive ? Wilson states that this affects cities as well . A few have passed resolutions . Many of them have contacted their representatives . The attorney for the Association of County Commissioners told me that the only defense against this bill is if you have a franchise ordinance in place prior to the effective date . Sassaman states that the County could have a franchise but that would leave Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough vulnerable . Vickers states that they would only be vulnerable for commercial service . Wilson states that most of the residential they service, except some apartments . This would apply to anything they wanted to do . Pollock gives an example if the Town wanted to go in and start collecting all the waste they would have to buy them out of their service . You can' t just out bid them . If the public has it and Waste Industries wanted it they could just come in and under cut them . Wilson states that the customer property right only applies if you are a government . Pollock asks Joe if in your scenario if you envisioned non-residential collected in this . Clayton states that the franchise would include that . It' s easier to get one signature than to go back to the well a second time . Pollock states that there would be a different pricing structure than residential . Wilson states that you don' t have to give it to the same franchisee . Pollock states that there will have to be a fee structure figured out and negotiated . Clayton states that you already have that set up for the fees on recycling . The tough work is done . Taylor states that the garbage will have to be reassessed each year at commercial entities . 10 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 Clayton states that it wouldn' t be that difficult to do if you franchise it out . The companies would know the matrix . They are not that hard to learn . Wilson states that the tricky thing is that you will not find a rate schedule by the private commercial haulers . They make it up as they go . There is no standard rate . Some types of waste are heavier than others . Clayton states that it would not have to be implemented at the same time . Getting the franchise ordinance is what I am more concerned about than developing a holistic approach . Sassaman asks is there anything that we can do to get this going? Assuming 951 goes through we ' ve got three months to do something . Vickers states that we need to look at a draft ordinance whoever has one like Alamance . Sassaman asks Gayle would it help to have the SWAB come up with a resolution asking staff to look into taking a proactive stance with the regard to franchising to maintain county flexibility and direct you to get with the County attorney to see what can be done ? Wilson states that you could just make a motion to have staff with cooperation with the County attorney to develop information relative to franchising waste and recyclables collection in Orange County and to do so in time that it can be considered prior to the possible implementation of Senate Bill 951 . The information could include the process for creating and adopting a franchise ordinance all of the protocols, processes, timelines and notifications . Also to state the basic framework it would contain and it' s general limitations . Sassaman asks how much of that could be done by March 15 ? Wilson replies not much . Sassaman asks if the BOCC is aware of the need for us to be proactive ? Wilson replies probably . Vickers moves that we request to get an outline of what options there are for franchising universal collection in the County unincorporated area from the County attorney 11 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 Sassaman adds with a view to establishing franchise prior to July 1 . Smith 2nd Vote 5 - 0 Passes 7 . Convenience Center/Drop - Off Center Operations Deferred 8 . Decision Points for Solid Waste Plan Development Sassaman states that this is self- explanatory . I urge you all to take a look at the document and fill it out . The idea is to get a straw poll of what the SWAB and the Work Group are thinking in terms of the franchising and similar nitty- gritty things like types of bins . Then the consultants will have something to push against . Vickers asks what is the schedule of getting it back . Sassaman replies the 23rd of March . Pollock states that once you all get the report from the consultants you might see some things differently . Also after it went out we noticed that the survey aspect is sort of flawed so please give us feedback . 9 . Programs/Services Update Highzvay 57 Convenience Center Wilson states that there has not been a permanent site identified . The Public Works director has been asked to go back and look at other areas around the public works yard where a temporary site might be suitable . Hampton Pointe Recycling Center Wilson states that the grand opening was last week . Development of Interim Report - Solid Waste Planning Process Wilson states that we have an advance draft of that now . I am hoping to have it on the agenda for the March 15 work session . It is a general report with no specifics . Comparative Analysis of MRF 's Toured by SWAB Wilson states that this was given out at a previous meeting . Now is the time if anyone has questions . Jurisdictional Action Update on Senate Bill 951 : Wilson states that I don' t know if any of the Towns have been contacted by you all . Sassaman states that Randy sent the [Chapel Hill] Council an email and I had a long talk with Bill [Strom] and suggested that he use his position to leverage a recommendation . 12 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 Clayton recommends that pressure be put on the Commissioners . Wilson states that the Commissioners have already passed a resolution . Sanitation Division Reorganization Wilson states that there has been inquiries made by a couple of the Commissioners regarding doing the reorganization this year . We have prepared some numbers . If it didn' t make sense last year because of having to rent space and set up temporary quarters until the new operations center is ready, it doesn' t seem to make sense this year . We' re not sure where this is going and frankly at this point we may as well wait until the new building is ready . Clayton asks if there is enough savings if the two groups were to work together . Wilson states that there would be some operational efficiencies that should translate into savings . Ultimately there will be some one time costs related to the transition . Clayton asks currently the landfill and administration is physically separated, why do we physically need to move sanitation to have them efficiently integrated . Wilson states that it is possible to leave them where they are and avoid some of those transition costs . Landfill Gas Preliminary Report Wilson states that we have a preliminary report and it will be presented at the March 15 work session if it' s on the agenda . The report states that it is not economically viable to utilize the gas out of our landfill . The best case scenario was they could utilize the gas from the south Eubanks landfill for a net cost of about $120, 000 a year . There is no money to be made . Sassaman asks if the significant cost transferring it or capturing it? Wilson replies it seems to be capturing it because we have none of the plumbing . Fiscal 2006- 07 Budget Wilson states that I hope to have this on the next agenda in some fashion . There are some major elements coming up like recommending an increase in the 3R fee, the transfer station on Eubanks Rd . , and issues related to the operations center . Leachate Basin Sezver Project Wilson states that we had hoped to construct this year or at least have it out for bid . It has been delayed . We have more information and it is going to cost twice what we thought it was going to cost . 10 . Other Business Wilson states that you all should start thinking about when you want to get the Work Group back together . 13 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board March 2, 2006 Approved April 6, 2006 Vickers moves to adjourn . Smith 2nd Adjourn 9 : 10 pm 14