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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3.24.16 SWAC MinutesJEFFERSON COUNTY SOLID WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES – Thursday, March 24, 2016 Jefferson County Public Works Building, Conference Room OPENING BUSINESS: Meeting called to order at 3:00 PM by Al Cairns. Members Present: Al Cairns Port of Port Townsend Dave Zellar City of Port Townsend Bart Kale Citizen-At-Large Kent Kovalenko DM/Murrey’s Disposal Lisa Crosby District #1 Jean Ball District #3 Kathleen Kler County Commissioner Alyssa Russell Skookum Robin Merrill Skookum Jenifer Taylor District #2 Staff Present: Tami Ramsey Department of Ecology Jerry Mingo Public Works MRW Coordinator Tom Boatman Public Works Solid Waste Manager Laura Tucker Public Health Educator Tina Anderson Public Works Administration Guests: Steve Gilman Republic Services There is a quorum. Approval of January 15, 2016 minutes. Al moved and Kent seconded to accept the minutes as presented. Motion carried. Correspondence: None BUSINESS: 1. Report on MRF tour in February by Jerry and tour attendees. Seven members of the SWAC took the tour. It runs a 24/7 operation with 2 shifts processing and one shift cleaning and maintenance. It runs about 800 tons per day. The contamination rate of product is only 3 to 5 percent. Nationally the contamination rate is 15 to 20 percent. The MRF is taking a wider variety of commodity than we currently accept. Example: clean, dry plastic film (bags) in bags and scrap metal less than 2’ x 2’ x 2’. Taking these additional materials in Jefferson County will involve coordination between the handlers if it is decided to take the materials. Tetra-Paks are labeled as being recyclable but in fact contaminate the product. Discussion on where the processed material goes, how the information is available and how China’s Green Fence has changed their imports. Discussion on how the Recyclable Materials Program Statement relates currently versus when it was written in 2010. The Recyclable Materials Program will be a topic at a later meeting for further discussion. Discussion on what is considered appropriate and acceptable for the recycling materials program. Discussion on the market for materials and educating the public on the ebb and flow of the market. Discussed the option of not recycling when the markets are low and sending everything to the landfill. The SWAC would like a further discussion on materials at a future meeting. A brief discussion on the status of Manufacturers responsibility. 2. Jerry reported the HHW Collection Event will be at the County Road Shop in Quilcene on May 21st from 10 AM to 2 PM. Anyone not attending Rhody Fest Activities is welcome at the Collection Event. The MRW has just made the first shipment to a state contract hazardous waste vendor, Clean Harbors. The cost of disposal has been reduced by up to a third. Commissioner Kler has brought to our attention a grant for polystyrene recovery. Jerry followed up with the following analysis: Including a 15 year depreciation of Capital Costs, there would be approximately $7,000.00 per year additional expense over the 15 years. 3. Hank Fly has resigned from the board leaving an opening in District #1. Chad Young will be the backup for Kent. Alyssa will be writing a letter for Robin Merrill to be their backup. 4. The Public Comment Period on the Preliminary Draft SWMP has begun and will run until the end of April. On the 27th of April there will be a Public Meeting Open House at the Tri Area Community Center at 7:30 PM. The Public Hearing will be scheduled at a later date for final comments. There are hard copies of the Draft Plan at the City Hall, both Libraries, Public Health and Public Works. A hard copy is being sent to Bob Hamlin at EOC. Kathleen attended an EOC meeting that included the discussion on disposal of animal carcasses. EOC should have a copy of the plan to facilitate their planning. 5. There are funds in the Jefferson County Education Reserve Fund from the City of Port Townsend Composting facility to continue supporting Solid Waste Education and Workshops. Composting Workshops are coming up at the Grange in Port Townsend with Laura. There will be four workshops with 25 people per workshop in May and June. A $25.00 fee will be charged per person. These workshops will be backyard composting and each pre-registered person will receive an Earth Machine Composter. Complete information will be on the web site soon. 6. Preliminary Draft SWMP – discussion, comments. FROM THE FLOOR: Snohomish Health District has instituted a drug takeback program with the Pharmaceutical companies paying for the costs. There will be boxes available throughout the county. King County is also doing a similar project. Tami Ramsey, DOE, brought up the Interlocal between the City and County for the plan. The 2008 plan was done without the Interlocal, she will check on the expectation of Ecology for an Interlocal or other agreement. There was a Resolution done at that time. Next Meeting is May 26th. Meeting Adjourned at 4:35 PM.