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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSWAG Quick Report 030911-draft Quick Report (draft) FROM: Name of Advisory Board: Solid Waste Advisory Board SUBJECT: Monthly Meeting DATE: March 9, 2011 LOCATION: Sold Waste Administration Building 1207 Eubanks Road Chapel Hill ____________________________________________________________________________ MEMBERS PRESENT: Jan Sassaman, Chair & Chapel Hill Rep., Stan Cheren, County Rep., Remus Smith, Hillsborough Rep., Linda Bowerman, Carrboro Rep. Jim Ward Chapel Hill Rep. BJ Tipton UNC ex-officio Rep. MEMBERS ABSENT: Al Vickers, Carrboro Rep. STAFF PRESENT: Gayle Wilson, Blair Pollock, Wanda McCain, Cody Marshall, Paul Spire, Jane Cousins (Chapel Hill Public Works staff) ____________________________________________________________________________ Beginning time of meeting: 7pm Old Business (if any) NONE New Business Topic A Approval of February minutes Discussion Decision/Vote(s) 5-0 Action Item Remus Smith moved, Stan Cheren seconded motion to approve minutes Topic B: Presentation by Gayle Wilson on Solid Waste Convenience Center Improvements Recommendations. This presentation was a reprise of the presentation to the BOCC on February 22 and staff took questions from SWAB. Questions included if future schedules for the SWCCs might include having one open every day instead of all closed on Wed., Could collection of used vegetable oil be added at centers and the schedule for improvement implementation. Could volunteers be used at SWCCs to assist citizens. In response: The plan is to recommend closed Wednesdays for maintenance, training, etc. Vegetable oil collection will be added as proposed district centers are improved. A presentation to SWAB on use of volunteers by Solid Waste Department will be scheduled. Topic C: Preliminary Budget Discussion by Gayle Wilson. Budget had not yet been presented to manager, so discussion was very preliminary. Questions about single stream recycling conversion recommended for most programs in FY 2012-13 with planning and contracting for urban curbside slated for 2011-12. Discussion emphasized the need for effective education and conversion to use of carts for urban single stream while retaining bins initially for rural single stream. There was discussion of the new proposed tiered fee to partly fund the SWCCs. The question of how to communicate these program and fee changes to the Town boards was raised and that will follow presentation of FY 2011-12 budget to the County Board. Wilson detailed results of departmental organizational reassessment and noted consolidation of positions, moving of Equipment Maintenance staff under the Environmental Support Division and finalization of fiscal transition of Sanitation Division to an integral part of the Solid Waste Dept. enterprise fund, though still using mostly General Fund monies. There were questions on why there are recycling hiring freezes if the funds are not from the General Fund and positions are fully funded from the enterprise fund and there was no fee reduction that might have inhibited hiring. A member requested that the BOCC consider a policy that delineates these types of positions as exempt from hiring freezes if funds are available. Topic D: A resolution Memorializing Bonnie Norwood, deceased SWAB member, passed 5-0. Topic E Rogers Road Neighborhood Cleanup. Further detailed discussion and clarification of the details of the pending March 19 Rogers Road area cleanup was held including a review of the 1997 Report of the landfill Owner Group/Landfill Neighbors Working Group. Staff clarified that the report may not have been formally adopted by the various elected boards who were then party to the Landfill Owners Group. Topic F: Emergency Storm Debris Management was discussed and staff made board aware of its plan to hire a storm debris monitoring firm to assist in case a major storm results in need to more extensively manage debris and reiterated the need to identify one or more adequate publicly owned spaces in the County for staging the storm debris management activities. Topic G: Landfill Capacity: Staff reported that the latest engineering study of the landfill showed that its life can be extended to approximately the end of 2016 or possibly 2017 using certain construction techniques. Details will be presented to BOCC and an option selected for how to manage the remaining air space. Name of minute taker (s): Blair Pollock and Wanda McCain.