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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.23.19 SWAC Minutes JEFFERSON COUNTY SOLID WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SWAC) MEETING Minutes - Thursday, May 23, 2019 Public Works Conference Room 623 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend, Washington OPENING BUSINESS 3:00 pm - Meeting called to order by Bart Kale, Chair Roll Call and Introductions – Bart Kale, Chair Committee Members Present: Bart Kale, Citizen-at-Large Tracy Grisman, District #1 Jenifer Taylor, District #2 Samantha Janes, District #3 Brian Reid, City of Port Townsend Brian Tate, Waste Connections Stacy Hall, Skookum Committee Members Absent Greg Brotherton, County Commissioner Glenn Gately, County Conservation District Lisa Crosby, District #1 Staff Present: Tom Boatman, Public Works SW Manager Jerry Mingo, Public Works MRW Coordinator Chris Spall, Public Works Support Staff Laura Tucker, Public Health, Education Guests/Visitors Steve Gilmore from Republic; Port Townsend High School Students for Sustainability: Berit Schultz, Annika Carlson, Maya Dow, Hailey Gallagher. Quorum Determination: There is a quorum. Approval/Correction of March 21, 2019 Draft of Minutes: Approved as stated. Bart motioned to approve the minutes and Tracy seconded the motion. Motion carried. Correspondence received for discussion: None. NEW BUSINESS 1. Manager’s Report – Tom Boatman, Solid Waste Manager a. New Transfer Station Office and Staff Break Room Project Status Building will be 14‘x 58’ and include plumbing, heat, and a meeting space. Water taps will be installed outside. The project budget of $380,000 includes $60,000 for asphalt repair. The Transfer Station will remain open during the construction, but trash disposal operations will move from the tipping floor to the tipping wall for a one-week period. Using a paper diagram of the Transfer Station, Tom pointed out where the new building will be located. b. Washington Refuse & Recycling Association (WRRA) Conference. Tom attended this earlier in the week. WRRA is working on a state-wide list of recyclables. SWAC will have to adopt such list or develop its own list and show there are markets for items on its list outside of state list. WRRA is trying to establish a better relationship with the operators. Bart pointed out that WRRA’s members are mostly business groups. Laura commented that in other counties the hauler dictates what is accepted, but in Jefferson County citizens want to sort by hand to ensure sustainable markets for their recycling. 2. MRW Coordinators Report - Jerry Mingo a. Port Ludlow April HHW Remote Collection Event was a success. Three staff members worked the event. Jerry presented slides showing this year’s and last year’s number of pounds of material by category and the number of vehicles. Compared to previous years, the numbers of vehicles went up but pounds of material went down. b. LSWFA Grant Spending Plan for 2019 – 2020. Laura and Jerry are working on this. Grant is for $113,500/biennium, with about $45,000 for Skookum recycling contract. Remaining amount for Solid Waste education, such as redrafting recycling brochure with focus on contamination reduction, and developing strategic advertising campaign to increase knowledge of recycling system and contaminants. 3. Presentation by Students for Sustainability (SFS) SFS works on projects to promote sustainability and address social justice issues. Past projects include a silverware drive to reduce plastic utensil use, reusable plates instead of throwaway plates, and a hydration station to refill water bottles instead of using bottled water. An ongoing project is getting a bottle deposit bill passed, which will encourage people to recycle glass, plastic, and aluminum. Using an unsuccessful 1970s bill, the group made changes and presented the new version to the Washington legislature two years ago. While the newer version of the bill did not pass, the group did not give up. The current version of the bill is being modeled after a successful Oregon bill. In 2014 SFS traveled to DC to receive an award for environmental initiatives. SFS participate in tree plantings. Current projects include the bottle bill; removing a boat ramp at North Beach; replenishing the supply of reusable utensils and adding reusable napkins, and cups, adding lunch bins across campus for the collection of utensils and plates; and a disposable straw ban. 4. Recycling Presentation, Video Shorts – Tracy Grisman and Samantha Janes are creating video snippets of people talking about how they recycle, save water, reduce the use of plastic, and reduce the use of food waste. Committee members commented that in the U.S., some single use items have a lower carbon foot print than a recyclable item. Foil packets used for tuna have a low disposal cost. While steel is recyclable, it takes many additional steps to make food grade cans. Landfills are not evil; must look at all aspects, including carbon foot print. 5. Bart asked what recycling markets are doing – what items are more or less recyclable? Stacy said they are hauling to a different facility in Sumner. Has new mill in PA changed anything? They are not taking mixed waste paper, so no impact here in Port Townsend. Committee and Open Public Discussion Reports of elderly citizens on private roads in Kitsap County paying someone to haul their trash to the Transfer Station was brought up. Waste Mgt said this violated their contract with Kitsap Co. Bart asked how Jefferson County would handle this. Tom said that UTC requires haulers to have a franchise license. Deliverables on Laura’s grants: Will be handing out Oops tags for good and bad recycling behavior (Uptown and Towne Point area). Will be interviewing residents at Transfer Station asking them if they are knowledgeable about recycling and getting their feedback. Wash State Recycling Association: Bart said Clallam would like to collaborate with Jefferson County and possibly Kitsap County. Bart asked if SWAC would like to be recognized for a recycling award. Next Meeting Date: July 25, 2019. Adjournment called at 4:30 by Bart. Jenifer made a motion to approve and Samantha seconded the motion.