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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/16/2000 - Waste Reduction and Recycling Advisory Commission 7 _, q AGENDA ADVISORY WASTE REDUCTION COMMISSION EAGAN, MINNESOTA Municipal Center Conference Rooms 2 A & B THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2000 5:30 p.m. * ** I. ROLL CALL AND ADOPTION OF AGENDA II. III. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 17, 2000 MEETING MINUTES IV. VISITORS TO BE HEARD V. INFORMATIVE A. JOINT BURNSVILLE/EAGAN RECYCLING PROGRAM VI. OLD BUSINESS A. CABLECASTING OF APRIL MEETING AND 2000 CABLE CAST SCHEDULE B. REVIEW OF 1999 S.W.A.C. ACTIVITY C. 2000 GOALS VII. NEW BUSINES VII. ADJOURNMENT Next meeting — APRIL 20, 2000 The mission The mission of the Advisory Solid Waste Abatement Commission is to proactively assist the Eagan City Council by educating, encouraging and assisting the community in reducing and managing waste in an environmentally sound manner. • MEMO TO: MEMBERS OF THE EAGAN ADVISORY SOLID WASTE ABATEMENTCOMMISSION FROM: COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR FOOTE DATE: MARCH 10, 2000 SUBJECT: EAGAN ADVISORY SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION MEETING OF MARCH 16, 2000 A regular meeting of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission will be held on Thursday March 16, 2000 from 5:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., at the Eagan Municipal Center. Please contact Joanna Foote at (651) 681 -4604 by Tuesday, March 14, to indicate if you cannot attend. I. ROLL CALL AND ADOPTION OF AGENDA (5:30 -5:32) The agenda, as presented or modified, requires adoption by the Commission. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: approve, deny or modify Agenda II. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 17, 2000 MEETING MINUTES (5:32 -5:35) A copy of the minutes of the Waste Reduction Commission meeting of February 17,2000 is included on pages to ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: approve, deny or modify Minutes III. VISITORS TO BE HEARD Iv. INFORMATIVE (5:35 -5:45) JOINT BURNSVILLE/EAGAN RECYCLING PROGRAM The City Council approved the combining of the Bumsville/Eagan Recycling Program at its March 4, City Council Meeting. The joint program will take affect on March 13. This program change will not necessarily change the functioning of the Commission as Communication Coordinator Foote will remain as the staff liaison. A copy of the packet information which was submitted to the City Council with regard to this change has been included on pages to . ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: For discussion only V. OLD BUSINESS A. CABLECASTING OF APRIL MEETING AND 2000 CABLE CAST SCHEDULE (5:45 -5:55) At the February meeting the Commission discussed the cable casting of meetings on a quarterly basis. Staff would like to confirm that it was the Commission's intent to begin this at the April meeting and determine which other months should be scheduled for cable casting. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: Adopt a schedule for cable casting of meetings. REVIEW OF 1999 S.W.A.C. ACTIVITY (5:55 -6:05) By way of introduction and orientation of new members and in preparation for the goals discussion, the Commission may wish to review its 1999 activity. Staff prepared the attached brief recap of Commission activity which was provided to new members ant the Administrator's orientation session, included on page ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: Discussion. A. 2000 GOALS (6:05 -6:55) Discussion of goals for the year generally takes place early in the Commission year. These goals are designed to set the Commission workplan for the year. General goals may be adopted for a longer period of time if the Commission so desires. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: Discussion and adoption of Goals. VI. NEW BUSINESS (6:55 -6:59) None Scheduled at this time VII. ADJOURNMENT—NEXT MEETING (7:00) The next meeting of the Commission is scheduled for Thursday, April 20, 2000 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Subject to Approval MINUTES OF THE SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION Eagan, Minnesota February 17, 2000 A regular meeting of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission was held on Thursday, February 17, 2000 at 5:30 p.m. Present were Gary Hansen, Gwen Hillesheim, Clint Hooppaw, Patricia Hurd, Linda Merkel, Rick Patraw, Tom Petrilli, Mike Stone and John Tapper. Absent from the meeting was Jim Weinzettel. Also present was Communications /Recycling Coordinator Foote. ORGANIZATIONAL BUSINESS A. Introduction of New Members Foote introduced new Commission members Gary Hanson, Clint Hooppaw and Linda Merkel. Each member gave a brief background history and their reasons for joining SWAC. Other members present introduced themselves to the new Commissioners. Foote noted that SWAC now has a full Commission, including an alternate. B. Oaths of Office Oaths of Office were signed by new and returning Commission members. C. Election of Chair and Vice -Chair Foote opened the floor for nominations for Chair for 2000. Tapper nominated Patraw. Patrilli seconded with all members voting in favor. Patraw nominated Petrilli. Hurd seconded with all members voting in favor. With no other nominations, Foote closed the nominations. The Commission voted for Chair using ballots. There was consensus that the second choice would be elected as Vice - Chair. Patraw received the larger number of votes and was elected Chair with Petrilli as Vice - Chair. Foote turned the meeting over to Chair Patraw. ADOPTION OF AGENDA The agenda was adopted by a consensus of the members present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the January 20, 2000 meeting were approved by a consensus of the members present. OLD BUSINESS A. Consider Commission Name Change Chair Patraw stated that at his meeting with the City Council, a request was made that the Commission reconsider changing the Commission's name to better reflect its goals and move away from the words "solid Waste." Foote wrote several suggestions on the blackboard for consideration by the Commission and asked for other suggestions. A lengthy discussion followed with several differing opinions by the Commissioners. It was generally agreed that a shorter, simpler name would be appropriate. There was consensus that this item should be tabled for members to consider options until later in the meeting. ORGANIZATIONAL BUSINESS D. Meeting Times, Locations, Dates Chair Patraw opened the floor for discussion on the times, location and dates for the meetings. He then opened the floor for discussion. Hillesheim questioned whether the upcoming merger with the City of Bumsville would impact the Commission. Foote explained that if the merger is approved, Solid Waste Abatement Commission Meeting Minutes Page 2/February 17, 2000 Susan Bast would be the recycling coordinator for both communities. However, at this time there are no plans to change the Commission structure. Foote will likely continue to staff the meetings. Foote further noted that the target date for the transition is March 1. Hillesheim suggested that the Commission continue to meet once a month with the exception of July and December. Following brief discussion, Tapper made a motion to continue the SWAC meetings on a monthly basis on the third Thursday of the month at 5:30 p.m. with the exception of July and December when no meetings will be held. Hillesheim seconded the motion. All members voted in favor. Foote stated that it had been brought to her attention that SWAC is the only advisory commission whose meetings are not televised. She asked the Commission to consider whether they would like their meetings to be cablecast, noting that if they decide to go with cablecasting, she recommends a Tess formal round table setup. She further noted that all advisory commission meetings are open to the public and the choice whether or not to televise meetings is the Commission's decision at this time. The Commission discussed the pros and cons of televising the meetings. There was a question regarding the cost of cable staffing, which is minimal. On the negative side, some Commissioners felt they would be uncomfortable being televised and the manner in which the Commission operates would change. Some of the benefits included educating the public, a higher level of exposure and more credibility. Stone stated that as general manager for a hauling company, being televised would impact his participation in the group, whereas he is currently able to speak both his opinions as an individual and a resident. If cablecasting occurs he would need to take a "strictly business" approach to discussions as he is a representative of the hauling industry. He felt cablecasting the meetings could compromise the Commission as a group. After further discussion, Hurd made a motion to inform City staff that the Commission is not comfortable being televised at this time. However, if given further direction to begin cablecasting the meetings, they would like to consider televising on a quarterly basis. Tapper seconded. Hillesheim suggested televising the April meeting with the intention of reevaluating following the meeting to determine whether cablecasting of the meetings should continue. After further discussion a friendly amendment to the motion was made by consensus of the members that televising of the meetings be "eased into" with a determination whether or not to televise on a regular basis to be made after further reevaluation. All members voted in favor of the amended motion. Foote suggested holding the meetings in the Council Chambers beginning next month. The Commission concurred. Hanson stated that it is important for the Commission to remain focused and that the meetings should be adjoumed at the scheduled time of 7:00 p.m. Patraw suggested allotting time limits to agenda items with the expectation of adjouming the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Foote will include these on future agendas. Foote also asked members to prepare for upcoming goals preparation. OLD BUSINESS A. Consider Commission Name Change. The Commission revisited the Old Business item to consider a Commission name change. After brief discussion, the Commission voted on the selected names with the intention of narrowing to three choices. The three choices in preferential order were: 1) Waste Reduction Commission; 2) Recycling & Waste Reduction Commission; and 3) Environmental Management Commission. Hurd stated that because the first choice received such a large number of votes, this should be the only choice recommended to the City Council. Hurd made a motion to recommend to the City Council that the Commission's name be changed to Waste Reduction Commission. Petrilli seconded the motion with all members voting in favor. It was further determined that if the City Council disagreed with the Commission's recommendation, this item should be sent back to the Commission for further recommendations. Solid Waste Abatement Commission Meeting Minutes Page 3/February 17, 2000 INFORMATIVE A. Residential Hauler Licensing Update Foote provided background information on the license application from New Earth Services. She stated that staff had investigated a number of issues regarding New Earth. Following denial of the New Earth license request due to a lack of a regulation recycling truck, three other hauler licenses were approved bringing the number of licensed haulers to seven, which was the cap. New Earth proceeded to contact City staff maintaining that the truck that staff had believed was their recycling truck was indeed not going to be utilized and a regulation recycling truck was being purchased. After staff inspectied the recycling vehicle and found it to meet City Code requirements, the City Council approved New Earth's commercial, residential and recycling licenses, bringing the number of licensed haulers in the City to eight. Staff and the City Attomey are in the process of redrafting the ordinance to include language bringing the cap up to eight; requesting that haulers provide the license plate information and the VIN number as proof of ownership for each hauling vehicle and stating that haulers must be in compliance with City, County and State codes. Foote stated that when the ordinance is ready, she can forward a copy to Commission members for their review and comments. The expectation is to bring this item before the Council in March. The Commission discussed this issue, noting their displeasure with the cap being raised again. Patraw suggested that this item be discussed when the organized neighborhood collection item is reviewed. Overall, the Commission was in agreement that they would like a message to be sent to the Council noting their disapproval with the cap being raised and stating that their goal is set the cap at seven. Hanson noted that there were extenuating circumstances in this instance. However, the Commission would like to see the cap dropped and left at seven if a merger should occur in the future. Hurd made a motion to recommend to the City Council that the cap for licensed haulers be set at seven, allowing those haulers presently licensed to remain until the number of licensed haulers drops from eight to seven, and to further inform the City Council that the Commission plans to review this issue in greater detail with the possibility of further recommendations. Hanson seconded the motion. All members voted in favor. ADJOURNMENT Upon motion by Hlllesheim, seconded by Petrilli, with all members voting in favor, the meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Date Secretary MEMO __ city of eagan • TO: HONORABLE MAYOR & CITY COUNCILMEMBERS FROM: CITY ADMINISTRATOR HEDGES DATE: MARCH 3, 2000 SUBJECT: JOINT RECYCLING PROGRAM/CITIES OF BURNSVILLE & EAGAN As the Council is aware, the City of Eagan has a history of partnerships with the City of Burnsville. The two cities share the cable television franchise and access facility operations. Telecommunications Coordinator Mike Reardon is a shared employee between both cities as are Access Facility Manager Mark Hotchkiss and the other access facility staff members. We also just developed another shared employee position for 2000, that of IT Technician. The person hired for that position will spend 20 hours per week at each city. Mike Reardon and the new IT employee are carried on the City of Eagan's personnel and payroll system while the access facility staff are carried on the City of Burnsville's system. We are excited regarding another opportunity for partnership with the City of Burnsville. As the City Council may already have noticed, there is a personnel item on the Consent Agenda which establishes a joint Recycling Coordinator position to be shared between the Cities of Eagan and Burnsville. Burnsville currently has a three- fourths position and Eagan's Communications Coordinator currently spends time in this area. In many cases they are duplicating efforts for the two cities. The combination of the program for the two cities would allow for greater efficiency, eliminate redundancies, and increase quality. The shared program would also allow the Cities of Eagan and Burnsville to further pursue other possible joint communication activities between the two cities to enhance efficiency in those areas. This is the first implementation phase of our communication efforts that were presented with the 1999 and 2000 goals under Communications. There will be further updates on our communication activities at future meetings. This is the type of reorganization which requires no new personnel. The program is funded by County grant monies and also landfill fees from Burnsville's landfill. There obviously will be some reorganization of duties, but we believe the joint program will be beneficial for both cities. We wanted the City Council to have more background information on this item since it is under Personnel Items on the Consent Agenda. Attached please find a memo from Assistant City Administrator Duffy and Deputy City Manager Tom Hansen of Burnsville providing further detail on this item and the budget for the project. For the Council's information, both cities have traditionally budgeted and hired a part-time intern for the recycling program. That position is currently vacant, but the person hired for that position will also be shared between the two cities. If you have any questions, please contact me. S/Thomas L. Hedges City Administrator Attachment Cities of Burnsville & Eagan Memo To: Greg Konat, City Manager, City of Bumsville Tom Hedges, City Administrator, City of Eagan From Tom Hansen, Deputy City Manager, City of Bumsville HoIIy Duffy, Assistant City Administrator, City of Eagan CC: Terry Schultz Susan Bast Joanna Foote Jill Hansen Date: 03/10/00 Re: Combined Recycling/Solid Waste Program As you know, we have been working on a consolidated Bumsville/Eagan recycling and solid waste program for the past year. We have met with staff and have developed what we believe is a very good proposal that should serve both cities well. Currently Bumsville has a three- quarter time employee, Susan Bast, doing recycling/solid waste duties. Susan, an Eagan resident, is an excellent employee with over seven years' experience with solid waste/recycling. She also served on Eagan's Solid Waste Advisory Board until very recently. Eagan has an equally fine full -time employee, Joanna Foote, who splits her time between solid waste issues and communications. Our proposal would make Susan a shared full -time employee responsible for solid waste/recycling issues for both cities. Joanna Foote would then be able to commit more time to communications —and perhaps begin exploring some joint communications opportunities for both cities. Joanna would also continue supporting Eagan's Solid Waste Commission and also some recycling/solid waste events. Susan and Joanna would meet regularly to monitor and develop the program. We see several benefits in this arrangement: 0 Greater efficiencies by eliminating redundancies in design, materials, distribution and event planning 0 Enhance communications resources 0 Full -time attention to recycling/solid waste issues 0 Better service to businesses and residences 0 Further development of service delivery partnership of Eagan and Bumsville The attached budget shows the revenues and expenditures of the proposed consolidated service. HoIIy Duffy in Eagan and Terry Schultz in Bumsville would provide supervision of Susan and the program. Susan would office in Bumsville but would be very visible with Eagan staff to ensure meeting their needs. Bumsville and Eagan would retain separate recycling telephone numbers that would both lead to Susan's office. Susan would remain on Bumsville's finance and personnel systems — similar to the way two other joint employees, Mike Reardon and the new IT Technician, are carried on Eagan's system. We proposed to implement this plan pending your approval as soon as possible, but hopefully by March 13. We further propose to evaluate the progress of this collaborative effort quarterly with you, Susan, and Susan's supervisors. 2000 Budget for Eagan/Bumsville Recycling Program Administrative Costs: Direct Salaries (Recycling Coordinator, including benefits) $ 53,067 Direct Mileage 600 Direct Membership, Training And Subscriptions 1,100 Consultant Services/ Temporary Help 22,479 (includes full -time intem with no benefits and funding for consultant services) Promotional Education Printing Costs 16,000 Distribution Costs 6,000 Advertisements 1,000 Promotional Items 3,000 Special Events 500 Total 103,746 Breakout of Funding Sources City of Burnsville Annual Dakota Co. Landfill Abatement Grant (2000) 41,258 Additional City of Bumsville funding (landfill fee) 10,759 Total budget for Burnsville 52,017 City of Eagan Annual Dakota Co. Landfill Abatement Grant (2000) 40,970 Additional City of Eagan funding 10,759 Total budget for Eagan 51,729 Total for Combined Eagan and Burnsville 103,746 Activities for Burnsville/Eagan Recycling (funded under the Dakota County Grant) • Make school, community, and /or business presentations. • Participate in an Earth Day and /or America Recycles Day Event. • Produce a written recycling communication that is distributed once per year to every household. • Participate in monthly Local Solid Waste Staff meetings. • Evaluate the effectiveness of community activities. • Work with city staff to promote procurement of recycled- content products. • Monitor the recycling programs at City Hall and other City Buildings. • Promote the ARROW program to businesses. • Respond to resident recycling questions. Burnsville/Eagan Solid Waste Activities (funded by City of Eagan/Burnsville) • Promote Neighborhood Block Rate Program. • Assist city staff with solid waste collection issues. • Attend /facilitate Solid Waste Advisory Commissions • Other solid waste activities may include hauler licensing, landfill or brownfield (contaminated soil) issues as they occur.