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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/20/1986 - Solid Waste Abatement Commission (2)CITY OF EAGAN SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION AGENDA WEDNESDAY AUGUST 20, 1986 4:30 P.M. I. Roll Call and Welcome II. Overview of SWAC Purpose A. Formulate Mission Statement - Metropolitan Council Directive & City Council B. Prepare Findings of Fact C. Develop Solid Waste Abatement Strategy D. Propose Strategy to Council III. Review Staff Report IV. Initial Meeting Schedule V. Suggestions for Additional Members VI. Other Business A. Organizational Items VII. Adjournment MEMO TO: SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION MEMBERS FROM: ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT HOHENSTEIN DATE: AUGUST 15, 1986 SUBJECT: SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION MEETING FOR AUGUST 20, 1986 A meeting of the Eagan Solid Waste Abatement Commission is scheduled for Wednesday, August 20, 1986, at 4:30 P.M., in the Eagan Municipal Center in Conference Rooms A and B. Please contact Jon Hohenstein at 454 -8100 if you are unable to attend this meeting. The following discussion is intended to provide background on those items to be reviewed at the meeting on Wednesday. I. ROLL CALL AND WELCOME City Administrator Tom Hedges will be on hand to welcome as members of Eagan's newest citizen advisory commission and outline the City Council's intent in forming this body. II. OVERVIEW OF SWAC PURPOSE City Administrator Hedges and I will provide a brief background and overview of the solid waste abatement developments and activities which have occurred to date. It would then be appropriate for the group to discuss those elements of its purpose which are outlined below. A. Formulate Mission Statement - State law and the Metropolitan Council Development Guide require that the disposal of mixed municipal solid waste in sanitary land fills be discontinued by 1991. The Metropolitan Council has chosen source separation of recyclable and reuseable materials as the most cost effective and viable means of achieving this objective. Source separation calls for the removal and separate disposal of recyclable and reuseable materials by the waste producer. This means that homeowners and businesses will be required to remove such items as glass, aluminum, newsprint, corrigated cardboard, high grade office paper and yard wastes from their waste stream. To make this work, it will be necessary for facilities to be available through which these waste generators may dispose of those commodities. While the counties have been directed to prepare master plans concerning solid waste manangement, the Metropolitan Council has placed the responsibility for enforcing source separation on the cities. Therefore, the Metropolitan Council mandate for source separation through the cities may be a substantial portion of the City's solid waste abatement mission statement. It is not necessary, however, for the Commission to focus solely on the matter of source separation. Solid waste abatment may take into account a number of waste abatement alternatives in the overall strategy. Such matters may include, but need not be limited to hazardous waste management, open or organized solid waste hauling, local centralized processing or other strategy elements determined by the Commission. In sum, the Council has charged the Solid Waste Abatement Commission with the development of an overall solid waste management strategy as a result of the Metropolitan Council mandate but not limited by it. A draft mission statement is attached on page J� for your review. Suggested changes within the scope of the Council's charge to the Commission may be appropriate. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: To approve, deny or modify the draft mission statement of the Solid Waste Abatement Commission. B. Prepare Findings of Fact - The City has amassed a quantity of disposal additional resources for the A basic overview of that information waste abatement staff report which Based upon review of these resources, to prepare findings of fact which bea proposes to the City Council. resources and has at its Commission's consideration. is provided in the solid will be discussed below. the Commission is expected r on the strategy which it C. Develop Solid Waste Abatement Strategy - The ultimate responsibility of the Solid Waste Abatement Commission is to formulate a strategy for solid waste abatement within the City of Eagan. It is assumed that a certain portion of that strategy would include the source separation mandate from the Metropolitan Council. Nonetheless, there remain potential elements in the areas of waste reduction, waste processing, residuals management and state wide regulation on which the Commission may wish to formulate strategy as well. D. Propose Strategy to Council - The final element of the Commission's charge will be to propose its strategy to the City Council. This needs to be done in a timely fashion in that the Metropolitan Council mandate must be met by January lst of 1988 to prevent the need for mandatory local source separation. The Commission will be expected to design its report and exhibits in such fashion as to facilitate a presentation at a City Council meeting. City staff will provide support for and assistance in the ultimate presentation. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THESE ITEMS: No action is necessary at this time on Items B - D. III. REVIEW STAFF REPORT The solid waste abatement staff report was distributed to Commission members with their letters of appointment. Staff will be available to comment on the elements of the report and the current situation in solid waste abatement. Enclosed on page �? you will find a copy of a Minneapolis Star and Tribune article from Tuesday, August 14, which references a Hennepin County proposal to assist that county's cities in the promotion of source separation and recycling. The current environment for recycling is not as positive as it might be. Low interest rates, low fuel costs and low raw materials cost relative to the economy have softened the markets for recyclables substantially. Profit margins and even operating revenues have dried up in many parts of the industry. On the other hand, land fill costs are rising dramatically and may in the future revive the viability of recycling. The article points up the less tangible costs of waste disposal which bear on the public purpose of solid waste abatement. The real cost of landfill disposal include not only the lost opportunity costs of the unrecovered resources but also the real costs in terms of land use, potential groundwater contamination, hazardous waste impacts and the like. The City of Eagan has a number of waste abatement alternatives currently in operation. Several church and scout groups actively collect aluminum, glass and newsprint. Contract Beverages runs a recycling service from their location on Highway 55. The City operates its compost and wood products program for the benefit of City residents. The positive response to these services has been amplified by results of last fall's solid waste recycling survey which appeared in the City Newsletter, the results of which are included in the report. It is clear, however, that the potential use of solid waste abatement alternatives will depend upon the combination of its convenience as a means of waste disposal, the education of community residents as to its importance and value and the cost differential between various waste disposal alternatives. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: No action is required on this item at this time. IV. INITIAL MEETING SCHEDULE It will be appropriate for the Committee to establish an initial meeting schedule to conduct its business. Members should bear in mind that City Council meetings are on the first and third Tuesdays of the month, the Economic Development Commission meeting is on the first Wednesday of the month and the Airport Noise Committee meeting is typically on the second Thursday of the month. These are meetings which will create coflicts in terms of packet preparation and City staff time. Commission members may have conflicts of their own which would require that certain days of the week or month be likewise avoided. Please have your personal calendars available to facilitate the preparation of a meeting schedule compatible to all members' needs. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: Preparation of initial meeting schedule. 3 V. SUGGESTIONS FOR ADDITONAL MEMBERS City Council has authorized the Commission to form under the recommendations of the staff report which outlines a nine member commission. Currently, the Commission has two private citizens, one of whom also operates a resource related business, one refuse hauler, two business persons, both from substantial employers rather than from a small and a large business, and one local government representative. It remains necessary to appoint one private citizen, one refuse hauler and one representative of a public service organization. The City Council would appreciate your assistance in making recommendations of further members of this organization. Recommendations may be made at this time or upon consultation with a perspective member. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: Recommendations of additional members to the Solid Waste Abatement Commission for Council consideration may be made at this time or by subsequent communication with City staff. VI. OTHER BUSINESS A. Organizational Items - The City Council did not require in its charge to the Commission that the Commission elect officers. However, it would likely facilitate the deliberations of the Commission if it were to choose a chairman from among its own members to conduct the meetings. Although staff will serve as a moderator for this meeting, the additional requirements of staff support would suggest the importance of separating these responsibilities. Staff would suggest that members give consideration to their nominations to the position of chairman of the Commission after having the opportunity to work together at this meeting. If the Commission deems it appropriate, staff will place the election of chairman on the next agenda as an organizational item at that time. ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THIS ITEM: To direct staff in the matter of the election of a chairman for the Solid Waste Abatement Commission. VII. ADJOURNMENT Staff will attempt to facilitate Commission discussion so as to adjourn at or about 6:00 P.M. A inisrerative Assistant cc: City Administrator Hedges JDH /jeh DRAFT MISSION STATEMENT FOR THE CITY OF EAGAN SOLID WASTE ABATEMENT COMMISSION The mission of the SWAC shall be to formulate a comprehensive solid waste abatement strategy for the City of Eagan which will identify objectives and methods of achieving the Metropolitan Council mandate for source separation and such other solid waste abatement goals as shall serve the best interests of the citizens of the City of Eagan. S ^.. r t. r:. .. C iy1 i+.6f T'. v ��C.i 1i W� �.+., + +..r�`' t. r''E Y ' I,C• 1 {. "i , , ' Ui ._. :I I1, i'. County board to(tonsider t� vian' RuP tre'cy .'y `. * *Dean RebuttoaJ . „ r, ,� be ick up` &nd .uled t1TIs r , Staff Writer. ::,,kessing �lant� . , r(f•:. c� ,.Itlr:rr(' f MinneapoUs .nd. the., other citlpq If neCounty' Wose residents t s sgparale,, r 1 � ; In Hennepin 'would , have tq. ;, ; .their recyclable wastes from their, { t ; recycle 16 percent t, their, house,%,i garbage, they - wqu,ld be :gtvcn,u 3 , , � ,• hold solid waste 4y . under a ; ;warning, ; If they .; persisted, U1gy ,,., proposal to be considered Vedoes- �, for cop►ruitttng a;lt ;arc L day by the CQunty,Bogrd ; : . ,, demengr +, r,. ! pay:. lar None of the'cities now recycles mere, "The than about 3 percent of its waste.. To ; The genesis. + qt ibis `concept is thq a i • 4 encourage sych a sharp Increase. the ; • „lack of success we've bad in Mlnaq - : , ; , ; county would provide a financial :. rota with large -scale recycling pro- Mark Arldraw.,;,: carrot: 50 to 80 percent of the cost of ' ,grams,” sold ;.AQdrgw a city's tecyciing program, said strong publig gµppprt for ,recycling, .;cyc►ipg programs, Including the ef County Commissioner Mark.Agdrew,,. but govonAnq% provides -very, little , fort,tn MIhneapQIi& Mayor Don Fr' .— i the ,propasal'sspoasor, ,, ,coordination or ingetltive:.:Tpis pcp- ,ser, )ast,wepk egpressed.cdudoµs ,. gram provides strong, positivy, lggen► ;., timisAk, that the city's, program soon But * also a stick in his propose lives as well as basic requirements will get'.pme needed ftnapclal assis al. If ..city doesn't establish an ac- that every city 1n. HeclAepih Cpunty,,,,,tance. frQrn,the,coµaty and the Mft•: ;, ceptab►e recycling program,, its resi- ; ,wouldh# l�o , j, , Council. ,,L.. dents would be required to put their recyclable glass, aluminum and cans „Andrew $ proposed ordinance and f+ -� But, Prasgr ,stressed ,; that• thg ; City In ' containers other than household,,. 'nanctgg program Is lntendpd prpp,,t! ,; garbage cans. The containers would up pr replace severgl strNggling re, Recycling continued on page 2B : Recycling CpntlnwFd;>jro page 113 s _C4llt1Sll. have to cancel its city wide collection of recyclable materi- als from curbs and alleys.* As an u-elteraative1 Minneapolis residents' who want to recycle might have to UAW their old, newspapers, cans and,' " i bottles,to g few strategically located +4 centers. A' new coalition of citizen groups, Save Our Recycling Pro- . grams, has begun a campaign to pre•:'*- serve curbside pickup service. Andrew's • proposal Is an effort to comply with , state law, which says that each Minnesota county is re-. sponsible for disposing of its solid:` waste, Also, the Metro Council has +. decided. that.-after 1990, the area's unprocessed garbage can no longer be in landfills, which have." become ;a major, source of • ground (. water •,contaminationa+ Hennepin %' 6 County-produces about-2,500 tons of r' solid waste each day, or.978.000 tons annually.. It the, goal, proposed by Andrew is met, the county would recycle 16 percent of that wpste, or. - 156,000 tons each year,,,e "We want each city to have its own : recycling program, and they can de- tide how to go about it, " said Dan- Huschke, the county's - recycling co- ordinator. "Some - municipalities could achieve the goal through a curbside' pickup program, - or by set- ting up dropoff points for recyclable: material." : ' ' The County Board has adopted a k general policy ,of providing 50 to 80 percent of municipal recycling- pro- grams. although It has not approved t.� regulations to do so. Andrew pro- poses .,tP..•tiwnca, such programs :.. through a sale of $3 million to $4 mil, lion in general- obligation bonds next year. That's also when the coun- ty plans to. Issue $140 million: in reve nue bonds to guarantee the $70 y llon rbage - burning plant PJenged `•` for d Minneapolis. 't The. money from the general- oblige= don bond sale would be used to, pro-: ' vide. the lion's share of funds needed for city recycling programs In Hen• !r nepin County. The garbage- burning :..i plant is expected to be operating in 1990. and' Andrew proposes a sur- , .,charge on the fee to be imposed on i haulers who dump trash there. Mon - ey derived from the surcharge then,` would be used to finance the - coup -'. ty's share of the recycling programs: t We have to get cracking because of : •t he 1990 deadline set by the Metro . ' :Council for stopping the dumping of • "waste In landfills, said , Andrew. , ' , : "We' want- to closely with the ..1, cities An their'. recycling efforts: -' ,J We're giving them the opportunity to ! ".accept funding from the county for'; } those efforts." s ' The `county board. ' wi11"Consider his Proposed ordinance at 10 a.m. to- morrow. IN < E / /z/ -