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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSWAB minutes 110509 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 Attendance : Jan Sassaman, Linda Bowerman, Al Vickers, Remus Smith, Doug Guild and BJ Tipton Staff: Blair Pollock, Cody Marshall, and Wanda McCain Audience : Bonnie Hauser, Frank and Kate Tozzolina 1 . Opening and Welcome 2 . Adoption of Minutes from September 3 SWAB meeting Vickers moves to accept. Smith 2nd . Passes unanimously 3 . Follow-up discussion from Solid Waste Plan Work Group Meeting Pollock states that on the 20th the work group convened to talk about the rural area planning, including considering some solid waste collection programs that have more county involvement through franchising . There was consideration of the expansion of rural curbside recycling to the balance of the one-third of the county households that don' t now have it. There was the discussion of the future of the SWCCs . How many should we have ? How should they be funded? How should they be regulated, organized or -redesigned? Looking at the unincorporated part to create a funding system and waste management system that' s more stable and predictable than the way the system runs now . First I ' d like to ask if anyone would like to make any comments regarding the meeting. Vickers states that there was political input from Hillsborough and Carrboro . There was some input including from Steve (Yuhasz) and others that live in the county . It will be interesting to see how it comes out. There is no clear path to a conclusion at this point. Bowerman states that there is no one system that will make everyone happy . Pollock states that the key role of the work group is to shape a recommendation that will go to the BOCC which will then be the platform for them to go out. Sassaman states that one way to focus this is to address some of the issues that were discussed so that the SWAB members that were not there can add some input. Vickers states that the interesting thing about the meeting [is] it clearly showed that as far as franchising goes, there is really a hard decision to make because we are looking at an animal that is not uniform - the county collection system . You may have a mile 1 Minutes Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 of non-public road that makes it harder to service . There was also the point made " if it' s not broke why fix it" . A good part of the county feels that way . Pollock states that Al ' s characterization of franchising is reasonable in terms of there is no clear best way forward as to whether the county should be engaged in that or should provide universal waste collection . Vickers states that one thing that did come out of that was if there was to be a franchise it would have to be a voluntary franchise . That was one clear direction . Pollock states that there seemed to be consensus of the notion to go forward on the expansion of the curbside [recycling] plan and the corollary piece of changing to single-stream over time and making sure there was adequate space for transferring recyclables . The staff work for the next agenda will be to shape that recommendation a little more so that it can go for final review . That was clearest. On the convenience centers there wasn' t a lot of support for the notion of pay for individual bags of garbage at the convenience centers to finance that. There was a recognition that given the budget situation the funding will be inadequate, so things may be cut and then put back in another year . Thus there needs to be a more stable and predictable source of funding to have functioning convenience centers over the long haul without cutting things every year to make it through the budget. Funding demands a fair amount of consideration. The other piece about the convenience centers was related to design issues and how the centers function now compared to how they might be designed for efficiency . The bigger picture issues which are, are they appropriately located or spaced apart in terms of people ' s ability to equally access them and are they designed for safety and efficiency . If we think there are improvements how should we pay for them . If it' s incremental how should we go forward, using compactors rather than dumpsters, use an incremental approach to improvements ? Some of the potential ways forward varied a lot. There is a status quo option but there is an upward pressure to recycle more stuff, but there is no more room with 20 plus dumpsters at every site . We are space constrained if we continue to use dumpsters, not compactors, but we are financially constrained to switch to compactors . The current system is part of a history of continuous improvement and is not the beginning of the line nor [at] the end of the line . Vickers states that there was some recognition that [with] the convenience centers there would have to be some way of funding in the future figured out. Pay by the bag was dismissed . 2 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 Sassaman states that those representing the municipalities basically didn' t have too strong of an opinion of how things functioned in the county . The consensus of all was that it made sense if there was going to be franchising to have a voluntary franchise and that it has certain advantages from the standpoint of efficiency of collection and flow control . The consensus was that convenience centers are critical to the recycling effort and should continue to serve a function in as much as they can . They are important and a vital part of what we do from a recycling standpoint. There was a concern about cost. A couple of the people that were there expressed that the people in the incorporated areas find them just as vital as the people in the unincorporated areas . Vickers states that on the funding issue, they recognized the need for funding but no ided . Regarding PAYT Carrboro and Hillsborough stated that this details were prov was something Chapel Hill was championing and they are not interested because they see too many issues with it. Sassaman states that since Chapel Hill ' s elected officials, past and present, weren' t there, we don t have too much of an idea where we are at the present moment. Hary mentioned that there is still an interest, but it' s hard to tell what is going on. The one issue about the MSW collection is that the issue of PAYT, however defined, has be to coordinated between all four jurisdictions because there is potential for collateral effects . Vickers said there has to be a system of users paying for the convenience centers somehow . Pollock states that the other funding method that was discussed in specific, in addition to the general fund and the 3 -R Fee, was the notion of an annual fee per household for access to the centers . As a preliminary recommendation staff made a twoAiered proposal that the households in the unincorporated areas pay in the range of $22/ year to support all the activities at the centers except for garbage collection and the urban households paid $8 . Once PAYT was out of the equation we had to find a way to come up with the million dollars that was related specifically to household garbage . There was no second iteration of fees per household [that would have calculated fees to cover this] . A lot of other counties in NC have adopted a per household fee as part of their approach to how to deal with convenience centers . Durham and Chatham counties have one that fund the vast majority of their convenience center operations . In their case it is mandatory for the unincorporated area and those that live in town can buy a permit to use the convenience centers . So [there is] a variety of models that result in a predictable stable source of funding that didn' t get thrown on at least by default. 3 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 Sassaman states that when looking at paying for the convenience centers by user fees we get back to the argument that Remus and Al remember from eight years ago when we talked about a fee is a tax by another name but there is no rebate from Uncle Sam . Vickers states that the issue was that it is the way Orange County is set up that if you go to a tax, half the users don' t pay anything because they are tax- exempt. Pollock notes that' s where a user fee could work . Sassaman states that that is the other side of the coin and what is the most appropriate way to deal with the convenience centers ? Is it to have the user fee or use fee or an availability fee for everyone in the county ? Vickers states that that is a discussion that will take several meetings to go through the equity of those issues . Once the determination is made that there is to be a fee the county has to determine what is a sellable option . What came out of the meeting was a recognition by the County Commissioners that at some point there has to be a system that the users pay in some form for SWCCs . Funding should have to come off the tax rolls as a budget item and go into an enterprise fund at some point. How that mechanism works is something that needs to be worked out. Pollock states that the purpose of this group and the work group is to help the commissioners by providing some input into that. Sassaman states that one of the things that is bothering me is that the work group and to some extent the SWAB is being asked to deal with some issues that may not be appropriate for us to deal with . Some of the specific financing decisions are political and should be in the hands of the politicians . What we need to be addressing are things like . ' Are the convenience centers goodT We ' ve answered that. How fancy they should be depends on how much money is available and there is a trade -off between one or two fancy sites that not everyone can get to . The comment was made [by Yuhasz] that maybe there should be a couple of super centers and then some smaller centers through out the county . Smith states that two friends that live in the Cedar Grove area told me that they are in favor of curbside pickup of garbage and recycling and are willing to pay a little for it. They are also willing to pay a little for more and closer recycling centers . I feel that this is the way we should go . They made the point that they did not want to start burning or dumping . If it takes us to make a recommendation, I want to do both curbside and more convenience centers . Sassaman states that how that is paid for may be a political decision. 4 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5 , 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 Vickers states that whatever the Board does on the issue of how or what are the functions of the Solid Waste Department is - providing convenience centers, collection or franchise, the commissioners will ask the SWAB at some point for a recommendation on a funding mechanism . Sassaman states that then it becomes our responsibility, but I don' t think it is at this point. It seems that a recommendation along the lines of we like to see convenience centers such that they are maximally exposed to the population and we recognize that needs to be funded . Vickers states that the issue that hasn' t been discussed much is the unmanned convenience centers [dropoff sites] . We have a lot of drop- off sites and the question is are they placed strategically, are there too many or too few? Sassaman states that that is a different animal . Bowerman states that regarding the funding I don' t think it should be specific . I don' t think we should have people buy in, where some can get stickers and others can' t. I think it should be open to everybody, even if they only need it once . I ' d rather them have it than dump it on the side of the road . Everyone should have access however it' s paid . Sassaman agrees and that access should be equal and funding mechanism should be applied to everybody . Vickers states that the Task group [Work Group] came to the conclusion that access had to be available to everyone . The issue came up that because the Towns currently ith municipal garbage disposal and the county budget pays for pay for solid waste w the municipal waste disposed [from] outside the county (sic) [the Towns] , shouldn' t it be shared -- that the non-urban residents pay directly for their garbage disposal vs . the county (sic) urban residents ? How you work out some system is the question . Sassaman states that there is a simple argument for that. One way is to have a two - tier pay system . The other counter-argument is for the Towns to say once you fill up your bin, you either hold your extra garbage until the next week or use the convenience center or you pay extra if you have too much . If I have too much I put it in a bag and take it to the convenience center along with broken furniture or junk . Some things aren t appropriate for the PTA [Thrift Shop] but are appropriate to the salvage sheds . Vickers states that the Task Force [Work Group] was clear that the access had to be county wide - urban and rural . The issue of equity and funding on garbage disposal and PAYT and how that was treated was left to be discussed at a later time . 5 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 Sassaman states that the issue of equity may be what the Commissioners need to discuss . We all have different views of equity . Having the convenience centers means there is less likely to be litter on the roads . Tipton states that what I got from the meeting was I thought it was interesting that the PAYT discussion first came forward from Carrboro and Chapel Hill and when the county put it on the table to do it at the convenience centers, there was back pedaling . Because if the County does it first and they' re not on board, they will experience the pressure from that. The purpose of discussing franchise is basically flow control . Flow control is important if there is a destination to control the flow to and we don' t. I see it as chasing our tails or tackling it a little too soon and may be a waste of time, given there are other things that could be looked at. With expanding curbside recycling - go for it. I ' ve heard a lot of interesting things on the convenience centers . I still hold to the feeling that it would be helpful to find out what users want. Gravity fed, more centers, more hours - there could be more locations with fewer hours, some with gravity feed that some people may be willing to drive to . I think that funding is an issue . I ' ve heard a lot of interesting things . First I was sold on they need to be equitable, but then I heard the library and school analogy and I feel like the equity issue isn' t so much an issue . There is a tendency to keep adding things to our plate before coming to a decision. I see it a lot with this process . It' s great what we have done and what' s happening but I it manageable, make some decision and move forward . The next caution to keep ial recycling whether it is in or out of the thing that I see is to separate out commerc county and make that a separate layer . Smith asks what is the difference in cost of running the convenience center on Walnut Grove Church Rd . and the drop -off at Hampton Pointe . Can we afford the unmanned centers ? Pollock states that the costs of the convenience centers are pretty well defined . It is about $2 . 1 million for garbage and recycling this year . There is probably a couple of hundred thousand from the 3 -R Fee . On the unstaffed sites it is a little difficult to tease out the precise number because the guys that run those routes also do a lot of other work that is related to other pieces of recycling . On a per ton cost it is one of . our less costly efforts even with cleaning all five sites every day using a 1/2 of a staff person s time . Close to 1 / 3 of our tons come from drop off sites and SWCCs, even when we brought mixed paper and cardboard to curbside, tonnage did not decrease . 6 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5 , 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 Smith asks how many people work at the Hwy 86 North center . Pollock replies it is usually two per day as it' s a big site and our most used site . Sassaman asks if the public would like to speak . Hauser states that I appreciate the candor of the discussion. There are a couple of things that weren' t mentioned . On the franchising, a couple of issues came up . One was Hary Howard had made the point about market. There are many small vendors out in the rural community that serve people and with a franchise it would put them out of business . We are going to put together a list for people . I just heard about one who charges $20 and they have pickup trucks and they will do back- door service and will go down the mile-long private roads and down driveways . What I ' d like to hear more of from you all is to say that if we add curbside garbage, we are asking people to add $250 a year to their budgets plus a franchising fee . That is something that people are not prepared to do . I realize people in town do it. It is a different world, it' s a rural community . On curbside recycling I think that this board has, the department reports that curbside recycling has a roughly 50 % utilization rate of usage . As you all know we have a survey, I' m not prepared to talk about the results but one of the things that I will comment on is that' s interesting is how many people that have curbside recycling also use the convenience centers . Whether or not they use it but they use it in addition to the convenience centers . One of the things that were surprising about the work group to us is how come it is not looking at simple things that don' t cost millions of dollars like scheduling changes or the state of the recycling market. If the recycling market is not taking certain kinds of plastics then changing the distribution system isn t going to help . Is there anything that this board can do ? I am under the impression that in other markets maybe they have more density they are taking more plastics, they are taking more materials, are in this market to make more things recyclable . there things we can do We got about 900 responses [to the OCV-issued survey] . These are households all over the county that have responded to our survey . Eighty-five percent of the people say they recycle regularly . Nearly 50 % compost kitchen waste and nearly 60 % compost yard waste . These are all good things . I don t know if we need to improve the recycling rates . There are some ideas that we have, but what can we do about the market. What can we do with education to get recycling rates up ? I keep hearing things we are going to do to build a [recycling] facility or change the distribution system, but I' m not hearing what we can do to drive demand . 7 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 BJ' s comment is an important one . We have sent a letter to the Board asking that the work group, we don' t understand the work group from the rural community perspective because it seems that the timing is wrong . Right now we have cut schools, we' ve cut all kinds of budgets and to be talking about spending millions of dollars on convenience centers maybe in 5 years from now but certainly it is not something you will get a respective response from the community for a while . We wonder if there should be a moratorium on the kind of major infrastructure and we ' ve asked for a moratorium on infrastructure, improvements for solid waste until a waste transfer station or whatever we are going to do is decided and the routes are set. We are years away from that. That' s a real question of how much money are we going to spend on this . There is notion about how much money people will spend for garbage . If you wanted to take $100 from people do you want to take it to pay for the convenience centers, ide garbage pickup . I don' t think there is an endless curbside recycling or curbs nity to pay for solid waste services . Not that we don' t value it. budget in the commu It feels to me that there is a little bit of conflict in how the convenience centers are viewed . I realized from the solid waste department it is a system of garbage and recycling . In the rural communities, Eubanks not so much, but in the other ones they are community centers . You meet your neighbors there . People have their kids dumping garbage, they are helping with recycling . They are community centers and we kind of like it that way . It is something to look at in terms of how you plan this . Sassaman states that I hear you particularly on the latter issue . One thing about your issue of recycling other things, that is something that I didn' t bring up as one of the advantages of the convenience centers because they provide a place where you can take batteries, electronics, grease etc . those are things that you can' t economically pick up in a single stream system because they mess up the system . You can do it at the convenience centers because you are self hauling it. Guild states that there is another thing that goes on at the convenience centers which I think is cool, where you can take things you may not need anymore - the salvage sheds . When I take things there they' re gone, immediately . That' s a real community . Frank Tozzolina [citizen] states that I live in the rural area near Dodson s Crossroads . My driveway is 300 ft. long, gravel uphill . I' m relatively young compared to some that live in the area . I can' t image someone who is in their 70s, 80s or with poor health managing to get a trash bin with wheels up the driveway . You were talking about havingience gravity fed at the convenience centers, it is the same for rural people . We are dealing with gravity and we are dealing with distance on gravel roads . It is unthinkable to think that there might be mandatory garbage pickup at the end of my driveway and me having to pay for that. I might as well get a private hauler and pay 8 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5 , 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 what you might charge . You get a trash bin that is full it gets very heavy . I have to use my car to get my recycling bins to the curb . It is hard to imagine unless you live in these areas how difficult it is . Someone mentioned that the county budget is $180 million and solid waste is $2 . 1 million that is less than 1 % and to worry about cutting back that 1 % , I know that there needs to be budget-cutting taking place but this is a very essential service . We in the rural area are paying for the libraries that are inaccessible to us, in the fact that city people can drive to . We used to live in Durham an in a matter of three minutes you can be at a library . Now it is very far . We are asking for consideration living in a rural area . We are not getting the libraries' service, but the convenience centers are like our gathering centers . The idea of having the shed is there a way that we can have a little area set aside at the convenience centers besides Eubanks where you could put things where people could recycle . Why are all the centers opened and closed on the exact same days ? It makes no sense . be we need more convenience centers at different locations Someone was saying may if you close them all on the same day, it' s harder to dispose of our trash . . . Alternating the days doesn' t cost a lot of money . I ' ve been to the centers on Saturdays and a lot of the people that work there don ' t mind because they are making money . Except for Sunday, there should be a convenience center open every day of the week somewhere because sometimes people have a very urgent need . It doesn ' t cost more money to have staggered days for the convenience centers . Hauser states that building on Frank ' s comments on the scheduling, giving some scheduling variation for flexibility . The other question is service variation. In Wake County they have certain things that are done infrequently, like tires . Do we have to have tires at every convenience center every day or could there be a day a month or a day a quarter that they receive tires or bulky goods ? One thing that isn' t talked about but the fire departments are talking about is hazardous waste . One has to come here for hazardous waste so people collect them in their house it may not be an issue for solid waste, but it is an issue for the fire department because they are combustible and they are starting fires . Hazardous waste would be an item that might be worthwhile to collect on a monthly or quarterly basis . Those are the kinds of service improvements that is not being discussed in the solid waste work group that cost virtually nothing to implement. In fact if they are implemented wisely we could save a fortune of money in terms of the solid waste convenience centers services . Sassaman states that on the issue of scheduling and that sort of thing, by having it in the minutes, I am trying make these comments act as a trigger so that maybe the Solid Waste Department can look at some of those alternatives . I think it is a good idea . 9 Minutes Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 Pollock states that while I am not involved in the scheduling of the convenience centers, but it makes sense on the face of it. When the system was started in 1993 there was a set schedule because it was predictable, everyone in the county knew what was going on, it was simple, it was a good message to communicate and it doesn' t mean that it can' t change . It has been an effective system, but systems change because peoples' needs change . I will speak briefly to the earlier points about markets for materials and occasional collection and potential savings from varying the collection schedule or having special collections . In respect to markets, the way that Orange County has approached materials markets has been fairly conservative and has served us well . Only once in 22 years have we had to rescind a market [program] because of problems of unavailability and that was due to [not[ making sure that there were at least two markets and that they were proven markets - they are not all reliable, particularly with respect to plastics . We have stuck to the ' all bottles' message for about 11 years because it is effective and we know we can market bottles . Others may collect clamshells etc . but they are not necessarily recycled . We are now recycling the rigid computer plastics and we are using that as a springboard to collect all rigid plastics . Last year when the markets were good, money was made which has taken us through this bad time . On the notion of ' Are there materials to be collected like tires at a quarterly event? ' , it is worth exploring . I ' m not sure at this point if there is a huge advantage to shifting to quarterly collection because the hauling is so infrequent. I dor t know that we' ll realize savings from it. As far as hazardous waste collection goes, we are one of the few counties in the state that has a permanent household hazardous waste collection. When we had monthly events, we got to the point where we were servicing 300 cars on that one day a month, so we went to six days a week . I ' m not sure how a curbside collection of hazardous waste would work . ing it done at the convenience centers on a Hauser states that we suggested hav quarterly basis . Sassaman states that since the Fire Departments are particularly concerned and they are trained in handling hazardous waste, they would need to be licensed, maybe they would be interested in collaborating with the [Solid] Waste Department to serve that function periodically . Hauser states that she will ask the volunteer fire department network . These light bulbs (compact fluorescents) classify as a hazardous waste also, we could start to introduce getting people to throw [keep them out of the garbage] those out. 10 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 nity area seems to be the churches . I wondered rather than spend The other opportu $1 million on a convenience center, is there a way for the county to somehow either with a small grant or a distribution system, give out compostable plates because a big producer of garbage are the church dinners all over the rural county . So would it make sense for the county to buy a bunch of the compostable plates and donate them to all the churches for their dinners ? Sassaman states they [churches] should be encouraged to do it. Hauser asks if there can be more outreach to the churches to create more educational opportunities for the children. Marshall states that with the HHW it was mentioned that it might be a cheaper alternative to expand to the convenience centers, it would be a fairly big project because the collection service would have to be contracted out to come in and transport the goods, the alternative wouldn t be cheap or easy to do . Guild states that in addition to that trying to permit volunteer fire departments can be a quagmire . Vickers says that their HAZWOPPER exemption would not apply to routine collections Tozzolina states there is a lot of training but having to collect them, move them around and guard them would be difficult. Sassaman states that they might be permitted to store the stuff for a limited amount of time before EcoFlo could come and get it. Bowerman asks is the problem that people don' t know that they can take hazardous waste here or they can' t get here . What is the actual problem? Hauser states that people collect old paint and when they get a chance to come to Eubanks Rd . they do . It' s just not convenient to load all their paints and bring them to Eubanks Rd . In your head, having paint cans in your garage or basement is no big deal . Bowerman states that everyone has this same issue . It is not just a rural problem . Sassaman asks who wants to drive 20 miles round trip to dispose of two half- gallons of old paint. 11 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 Bowerman states that it could be put in the storage [salvage] shed — that [is] [latex] paint; other stuff may be [regulated] differently . Guild asks what would be the implications for that. It couldn' t be there could it? Pollock clarifies of having a paint exchange . We have one . At the convenience centers, once you cross the threshold from latex to oil paints you cross into the area of hazardous waste and you ' d have to go through everything you can imagine with permitting and everything else . The amount of regulation makes it almost untenable to do on any kind of financially realistic basis . The cost to do the one- day collection, before opening the center permanently, mobilization cost alone without disposal was $5, 000 . That wouldn' t change that much because it was a smaller amount. There is some thresholds where it doesn' t matter if there was one bulb of mercury or 10, 000 pounds of stuff . It' s not that it' s not doable, it' s just costly . Hauser states that it would help and we would be happy to help to understand the differences . I ' m getting that latex paint has a different [hazardous waste] profile than oil paint but I don' t know anyone who is painting with oil paint anymore . Vickers states that people still use oil paints because they work better . Tipton states that what I have to say ties into what you are talking about and the point that Linda made . I wanted to respond to what I heard about education. The fact that we do have a household hazardous waste program - maybe the point is that people don' t know and it needs to have marketing for cleanup days that spur people to action . That is what an event does . From an operations standpoint you' d rather have an ongoing program than a one-time event. With that said, the thing of education we do focus on systems, collections, disposal, services and I don ' t want us to get into the detailing or micromanaging of an education program, but I see these programs and the services offered expanding, but I don' t see the education budget expanding . I don' t see the number of people out there trying to get recycling in the schools, work special events, or promote hazardous waste . There is one person and she does all of that. What about an effort like the 1 % for art? Maybe in the county budget there could be some percentage for education as we expand these programs . We' ve got composting, convenience centers, food waste, schools, residential commercial, we have only one full time person doing this . UNC has only a 1/2 -time solid waste and recycling education position. [other half of position is for program management] Vickers states that BJ has a good point. The events do bring awareness but the reality is people' s time to use hazardous waste disposal could be every day of the year, the problem may be they are not familiar where it is or when it is open. 12 Minutes - Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 Hauser states that until tonight I thought you could dispose of hazardous waste two days a week . How long has it been six days a week? Pollock replies three years . Bowerman states that maybe the fire departments could be part of the education. They may not want to do anything huge, but they could have handouts . Hauser states that people are tax crazy . I would say that it is $50 / ton for every kind of garbage, we dispose of, but we made money with recycling that is why you should recycle . People don' t realize that it is economically beneficial. Vickers states that it' s not so with hazardous waste . Pollock states that generally it is cheaper with some of the cost we 've experienced lately, not necessarily but overall yes . Hazardous waste we drove a pretty good bargain so $1200 / ton to get rid of it and $700 / ton for batteries . We put a fair amount of effort trying to keep our landfill hazard-free for our health and that of people downstream . For us that is as big an issue as anything else . The hazardous waste program costs about $160, 000 / year . Vickers states this County has very good hazardous waste disposal , you can dispose TVs free legally if you need to . A lot of places don' t have systems like that. Hauser states that there is so much experience on this board but when you talk about more trucks for more curbside recycling, I bet any of the things we 've talked about would increase recycling a lot more than extending the curbside recycling service . You have our full support. We have a good mailing list and distribution network . 4 . Programs/Services Update Transfer Station Site Search Pollock states that the main thing that has happened recently is the environmental investigation on the Paydarfar property has been completed and submitted to the State Department of [Environment and] Natural Resources for review . The report is available on the website . OC Schools Recycling Pollock states that this item went before the County Commissioners this evening . It is a business opportunity that is beneficial for both parties - the county schools and the county program . Other None 5 . Board Member Comments None 13 Minutes Regular Meeting Solid Waste Advisory Board November 5, 2009 Approved December 3, 2009 6 . Other Business Hauser asks Cody about the orange recycling bins, I understand we have a warehouse full of them . People that use the convenience centers would like to buy them and bring their recycling to the convenience centers using them , Is there a possibility to establish a program for that? Pollock states that I can take that up with Gayle . Historically we haven' t sold curbside bins outside of people who have access to curbside service [the 3 -R Fee buys the bins] . There isn' t a surplus . There is enough there to make the replacement schedule . We lose about 1 % of our bin supply every year to people running them over or people moving etc , so we try to maintain three pots of bins . One for replacements, one for people that move in for infill and then 1 , 000 were purchased last year for the expansion . Those were distributed for the first two and not replaced . Asks Cody Marshall is there any update on fluorescent lamps ? Marshall states that we are still researching ways to haul it. There is also a space constraint at the convenience centers and how citizens are able to put them there without breaking them . We are not collecting them at any convenience centers now . EcoFlo takes them from Hazardous Waste collection. Our concept is to collect at the same time we collect electronics, but we haven t solved the details yet. Smith moves to adjourn. Bowerman 2nd . Adjourn: 8 : 45pm Next meeting December 3, 2009 Solid Waste Administration Building 14