Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.23.20 SWAC Minutes JEFFERSON COUNTY Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday, July 23, 2020 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. DUE TO COVID-19, NO IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE ALLOWED (per 5/28/2020 Jefferson County Board of Health Order) Meeting conducted via GoToMeeting https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/700900077 Public Access: (571) 317-3122; Access Code: 700 900 077# OPENING BUSINESS Roll Call and Introductions – Bart Kale Chair Committee Members Present: Bart Kale, Chair & Citizen at Large Greg Brotherton, County Commissioner Lisa Crosby, District #1 Tracy Grisman, District #1 Brian Reid, City of Port Townsend Glenn Gately, County Conservation District Chad Young, Waste Connections Committee Members Absent Jenifer Taylor, District #2 Samantha Janes, District #3 Alysa Russell, Skookum Staff Present: Tom Boatman, Solid Waste (SW) Manager Jerry Mingo, SW MRW Coordinator Chris Spall, Public Works Support Staff Laura Tucker, Public Health, SW Education Guests/Visitors: David Pater, WA State Dept. of Ecology, and Steve King, City of Port Townsend Public Works Director Quorum Determination: There is a quorum. Approval of January 23, 2020 Draft of Minutes: Moved, second, and carried to approve the minutes as written. Correspondence received for discussion: None. NEW BUSINESS 1. PW Director’s Update – Monte Reinders was not able to attend the meeting. 2. SW Manager’s Report – Tom Boatman • Solid Waste, Recycling and Yard Waste Activity COVID-19 impact: Recycling materials are up 15%. SW tonnage is down 3.5%. SW transactions are up 1.8% as of June. Yard waste is up 5% over last year at this time. Doing well in terms of financial viability of the enterprise fund. Employees are following COVID-19 guidelines. • Parting Comments (Tom plans to retire soon.) Tom said the SWAC has been the most productive committee he has worked with over the course of his career. The SWAC does important work and the 2016 SWMP is a good example of the this. Tom said it has been a pleasure to be here and thanked the committee for its work. Committee members thanked Tom for his leadership and work. 3. Partner Updates – Bart asked if there were any updates SWAC members would like to share • City Solid Waste/Recycling, Composting – Steve King The City of Port Townsend (PT) is experiencing more overfilled garbage receptacles (cans and Big Belly compactors) in downtown PT with the increase in restaurant takeout due to COVID-19. The City met with Students for Sustainability on sign messaging to discourage overfilling cans. Signs have been posted asking people to not overfill cans, and instead look for nearby cans to use. • Waste Connections – Chad Young Over 8,000 new rollout carts were deployed by early April. Recycling info was attached to each cart as part of the SW education outreach program to reduce contamination. Greg and Chad talked about using videos on the Web sites to educate people on how the curbside program works. • Solid Waste/Recycling Education – Laura Tucker This year the home composting workshop was done remotely via Zoom. Participants received Power Point slides used in the workshop and other information. Those paying the $25 fee also received an Earth Machine composter. There were 137 participants (some took it through the Co-Op) in the 5 online classes offered in April and May. Set aside money from yard waste program pays for this educational program. Laura said there have been lots of emails and phone calls from participants after the workshop. A lot of people are starting gardens and want to compost. • CROP – David Pater, Washington State Dept. of Ecology A draft of the statewide CROP will be available August 3, 2020 for a two-week public comment period. The State will send out guidance on how it will be updated in SWMP plans. Local governments can adopt the CROP or develop their own. 4. State CROP Update – Jerry Mingo The Contamination Reduction Outreach Plan (CROP) will be part of the Solid Waste Management Plan update in 2021. The CROP will be a fine tuning of what we already are doing with our SW education program. Legislation that brought about CROP also brought about the Recycling development center. Counties with more than 25,000 residents must include a CROP in their solid waste management plans by 7/1/2021. Jerry said CROP will be the focus of the next SWAC meeting on September 24. After we see the statewide CROP we will decide if we want to adopt it or develop our own. The planning consultant will help us with implementing our decision into the SWMP. Options with regards to CROP are: adopt state’s CROP, develop our own, or work with Clallam to develop a co-operative CROP. Bart asked what differences there are in state plan from our own. Lisa asked about timing, Does Crop stand alone or only exist in the SWMP. Our SWMP will be finalized after we decide on the CROP so it can be incorporated into the SWMP. State allows flexibility on finalizing SWMP to allow integration of CROP into SWMP. Entire SWAC should be involved in the SWMP. Tom asked David if we go outside the CROP are non-marketable items considered a contaminant? Revise the list of recyclables that are marketable to re-educate folks. Plan to have online Recycling Flyer take you to videos that explain why something is recyclable and what it can become. Greg Brotherton said these videos are on the Jefferson County YouTube page. Committee and Public Open Discussion Additional discussion included: Tracy asked about impact of COVID-19 on waste. Tom said main difference is days and times people come to the Transfer Station has changed. Used to be that certain days each week were less busy, but now every day is busy. More self-hauling which has increased wait times. Amount is pretty much same level as the last two years. Lisa said she thinks plastic use is higher due to COVID-19. Tom said TAP, cardboard, and glass are up. Jerry said MRW at 98% material compared to last year. Compare to last year, participation is down 48% but material is down only 2%. ADJOURNMENT Bart adjourned the meeting at 4:30 pm. Next Meeting Date: September 24, 2020.