HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.25.19 SWAC Minutes
JEFFERSON COUNTY
SOLID WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SWAC)
MEETING Minutes - Thursday, July 25, 2019
Public Works Conference Room
623 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend, Washington
OPENING BUSINESS
3:00 pm – Jerry welcomed everyone and Chad Young called the meeting to order.
Roll Call and Introductions – Chad Young. Vice Chair
Committee Members Present:
Chad Young, Waste Connections Lisa Crosby, District #1
Tracy Grisman, District #1 Brian Reid, City of Port Townsend
Glenn Gately, County Conservation District Greg Brotherton, County Commissioner
Committee Members Absent
Bart Kale, Chair & Citizen at Large Jenifer Taylor, District #2
Samantha Janes, District #3 Alysa Russell, Skookum
Staff Present:
Jerry Mingo, Public Works MRW Coordinator Laura Tucker, Public Health, Education
Chris Spall, Public Works Support Staff
Guests/Visitors: Margaret Lee, Jefferson County Resident; Steve Gilmore, Republic Services; Elisa Cole, Skookum
Rep for this meeting
Quorum Determination: There is a quorum.
Approval/Correction of May 23, 2019 Draft of Minutes: Under New Business, correct spelling of Samantha and
Tracy’s names in Item 4. and correct last sentence of item 1 b as requested by Laura Tucker. Lisa motioned to
approve the minutes with those corrections and Tracy seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Correspondence received for discussion: None.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Recycling Presentation, Video Shorts – Tracy gave a progress report and showed a sample of
educational videos featuring people from Jefferson County talking about ideas for reducing plastics,
recycling correctly, and reducing food waste. Videos will go on YouTube and then be linked on the
Solid Waste website. The video on recycling correctly showed Laura Tucker pulling various items out
of the recycling bins at the Transfer Station. Some items were on the list of recyclables but because of
food contamination they were no longer recyclable. Some items were not on the list of recyclables. A
reducing food waste video was shown next. It had a simple message – don’t take too much and eat
what you take.
2. Committee and Open Public Discussion
Elisa Cole, Skookum Recycling – Hadlock site continues to have problems. Biggest problem is illegal
dumping in the form of trash on the ground and garbage being thrown into recycling bins. Vandalism
also a problem. Jerry noted that enhanced signs addressing these issues were posted at the site earlier
in the day.) All other sites holding steady. Glass only one trip per week. TAP one load per week.
Sonoco in Sumner accepting mixed paper with brown paper and chipboard. Elisa suggested having a
Facebook page to get the message out – info, videos, photos, recognize people picking up the trash.
CLEANER Jefferson County as name of page. CLEANER acronym for: Continually learning and
educating about new environment recycling. Commissioner Brotherton noted that a Facebook page
could become unruly with inaccurate posts by well-meaning participants, and recommended that an
individual could create a page, but cautioned against Jefferson County doing so. Skookum has been
asked to provide new recycle bins for the Quilcene fair, and Elisa has been asked to speak at the
Brinnon School about recycling.
Laura Tucker, Education – Presented info from the Recycling Bin Survey – Anti-Contamination
Campaign, and Transfer Station Recycling Contamination Survey, which are deliverables for a Dept. of
Ecology grant. The Recycling Bin Survey was conducted the morning of curbside recycling days in the
Towne Pointe and Uptown neighborhoods. Laura and volunteers visited each neighborhood twice,
looking into recycling bins for contamination issues. Oops! tags and good-job tags, with why written
on the back, were hung on doors to give residents feedback on their curbside recycling. On the second
visit Towne Pointe had the most improvement in reducing contamination. The Transfer Station Survey
asked recyclers to rate: their knowledge on what is recyclable at the Transfer Station, the current
facility, and current signage. It also asked what they would like to see improved on the recycling flyer,
what solid waste issues they would like to know more about, and what else they would like to see
improved at the Transfer Station. Both surveys focused on how to get contamination down. Survey
info will be used when we redo flyers making contamination the key focus.
Brian Reid, City of Port Townsend – No news. Chad said PT getting 4 new trucks as part of new
contract between PT and Olympic Disposal. Curbside yard waste will change from three 32-gallon cans
to one 96-gallon wheeled can. Yard waste will continue to be collected bi-weekly.
Jerry Mingo, Transfer Station – Capital project - broke ground on water and septic for bathrooms with
running hot water; hydrant system for fire protection, mist for dust control, and cleaning the floor.
Vehicle counts up to 400 per day, now pushing 500 per day on weekend.
Jerry Mingo, MRW – 40% increase in number of vehicles over July of the previous year, and pounds
increased by 7.6%. Steve Gilmore noted that the weight increase mirrored the MSW increase in the
region of 7.1%.
Glen Gately, Closed Landfill monitoring – Wells are fine, monitored for organics and heavy metals.
Landfill not leaching.
Next Meeting Date: September 26, 2019.
Adjournment called at 4:30 by Jerry. Chad made a motion to approve and Greg seconded the motion.