The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About09.24.20 SWAC MinutesJEFFERSON COUNTY Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) Regular Meeting Minutes Thursday, September 24, 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/811779197 Public Access: (571) 317-3122; Access Code: 811-779-197# 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 Alysa Russell, Skookum Chad Young, Waste Connections Committee Members Absent Jenifer Taylor, District #2 Samantha Janes, District #3 (RESIGNED) Staff Present Monte Reinders, Public Works Director Jerry Mingo, SW MRW Coordinator Chris Spall, Public Works Support Staff Laura Tucker, Public Health, SW Education Guests/Visitors: Al Cairns, Steve Gilmore, Republic Services, 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 July 23, 2020 Draft of Minutes: Greg moved, Lisa seconded, and all agreed to approve the minutes as written. Correspondence received for discussion: None. NEW BUSINESS 1. PW Director’s Update – Monte Reinders Al Cairns will be rejoining Public Works (PW) in early October. He worked in our Solid Waste Division from 2006 - 2013. Since then he has worked for the Port of Port Townsend and Jefferson County Conservation District. Al knows our community and the PW Solid Waste system, and this will help as he looks at how we do business now and how we might do business in the future. 2. Staff Report – Jerry Mingo presented slides and spoke about: • Year-to-Date (YTD) tonnage is down 5% for Recycling, up 12% for Yard Waste, and down 4% for SW. YTD transactions are up 5% for SW, and down 4% for Yard Waste. At the MRW, pounds received is up 2.5% but number of customers is down 12%. • HHW Facility 25th Anniversary is September 26. In 25 years 2.5 million pounds were collected and of that (based on 2019 handling practice) 23% recycled, 68% energy recovery, and 9% disposed as hazardous waste. Ad in Peninsula Daily news on 9/13/2020 about the 25th anniversary. • Chad was recently reappointed as the SWAC Waste Connections representative. The vacant District 3 SWAC position has been advertised but no one has applied yet. Jerry asked the SWAC if they know of anyone who might be interested in that position. Greg Brotherton asked if remote attendance will be allowed when in-person meetings resume; time commitment to attend meetings, due to the travel distance, may hinder interest in the position. Jerry did not think remote attendance would be a problem. Bart would prefer it be done in- a-pinch and not be the norm. Brian said Jim Madden, his alternate, is retiring so that position will need to be filled. 3. Solid Waste Education updates – Laura Tucker presented slides and spoke about the amended 2019-2021 Local Solid Waste Financial Assistance (LSWFA) grant: • Grant deliverables had to be revised due to COVID-19; removed those that could not be completed due to COVID-19 and added new initiatives in their place. The amended grant will be sent to WA State Ecology for review, then to BOCC for approval, and then it will be sent to WA State Ecology by October 31, 2020. • Changes to deliverables included: o Reduced number of recycling events from 15 to 7 due to COVID-19 restrictions on in-person events o Community Composting workshops held online instead of in-person o Waste Prevention school classroom presentations done online instead of in-person o Added the production of 24 recycling videos to support the new recycling flyer o Added audit downtown recycling bins to determine appropriate signage to help people recycle right. “Students for Sustainability, a local high school group, is working with Steve King from the City of Port Townsend to come up with effective messaging for this. o Added City-wide single-use plastic straw ban. “Students for Sustainability” responsible for this. Ban that goes into effect January 1, 2021. o Added Food Resiliency group to create program for freeze drying food. Questions and discussion: Lisa asked if problem of overfilling garbage cans in downtown Port Townsend has been resolved. Steve King responded that Waste Connections began emptying cans twice a day. Lisa wanted to know if some places need an additional can, because she saw two (2) cans, both full, side-by-side. Steve said they will watch and see where the hotspots are. Laura said the new signs the students are coming up with are really clever. Laura would like to audit recycling bins in downtown PT. “Students for Sustainability” very interested in helping and Laura will see if Thanksgiving weekend would work for their schedule. 4. Landfill gas post-closure activity – Glenn Gately In 1993 the landfill was covered over with an impervious cover. Fourteen (14) perforated pipes under this cover extract the methane gas which, until last month, was burned at the flare station. Over the years the amount of methane coming out has decreased, and more and more propane was needed to keep the flare burning. Because so little methane was left, last month it was switched over to passive extraction. A blower was used in the past. Now woodchips are used to absorb and breakdown the methane. Methane and Co2 are still being monitored. Perimeter wells are still being monitored, and the furthest have no methane detected. The closer wells have less than 5% methane. The landfill will be monitored for 4 years and if everything goes well it will then be considered fully closed down. 5. Partner Updates • City Solid Waste/Recycling, Composting – Brian Reid Downtown PT is back to one pick up a day from two a day over the summer. Chad helping with website. • Waste Connections – Chad Young 30% ?? Yard Waste Participation up 17% • Skookum Recycling – Alysa Thomas • OCC market pretty strong and prices increasing for OCC board. Mixed paper doing ok. Looking for additional buyers. Things are moving and warehouse is cleaned out. Glass down but ok. TAP holding steady. New driver. Get at least one call a week about illegal dumping. Hadlock site still worst. Someone leaving food on retaining wall there. Looks like there may be a homeless encampment behind the Hadlock site. Construction debris dumped at Hadlock site. Canopy project over TAP holding bay is complete. Electronic recycling up right now due to people cleaning during the pandemic. 6. State CROP discussion – Jerry Mingo presented slides and spoke about: State Crop draft was sent to the SWAC Aug. 10. The Final State Crop will be available Oct. 2. See slides for more info. Questions and Discussion: Consultant may be hired to help with this. SWMP was last finalized in 2016. CROP won’t drive SWMP process. Time to take advantage of coordination of CROP and revising SWMP. CROP recognizes three bin system has 5% lower contamination rate. Emphasis on measuring to make intelligent steps. Template will change update on best practices. At beginning of this process. State CROP encouraging regional cooperation and the benefits of working together to save money. Clallam and Jefferson’s recycling lists are very similar and we could work together to harmonize across jurisdictions. Hopefully results in less contamination. Chad said collection rate higher in Clallam than Jefferson. Jerry reaching out to Megan in Clallam to create synergy where it makes sense. Committee and Public Open Discussion Additional discussion included: ADJOURNMENT Bart adjourned the meeting at 4:30 pm. Next Meeting Date: October 22, 2020.