HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.28.2022 SWAC Special Mtg JEFFERSON COUNTY
Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC)
Special Meeting Minutes
Thursday, April 28, 2022
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Virtual Meeting – Anyone may attend by
Zoom Meeting ID 93595749934 (Passcode 499738) OR
call 253-215-8782 Meeting ID 935 9574 9934
OPENING BUSINESS
Meeting properly advertised and agenda posted on April 15, 2022.
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
Jenifer Taylor, District #2 Tim Deverin, District #3
Glenn Gately, Conservation District Bliss Morris, Alternate for City of Port Townsend
Chad Young, Waste Connection
Committee Members Absent
Alysa Thomas, Skookum
Staff Present
Al Cairns, Solid Waste (SW) Division Manager Justin Miskell, Solid Waste Operations Coordinator
Chris Spall, Public Works Support Staff
Guests/Visitors: David Pater, WA State Dept. of Ecology
Quorum Determination: There is a quorum.
Approval/Correction of Draft of Minutes for 12/02/2021 and 01/20/2022 Meetings: tabled until after
consultation with County Attorney about bylaws and liability of SWAC members.
Correspondence received for discussion: Two emails from Tom Thiersch (in agenda packet.) Reason loose
lids on metal cans not accepted is they jam the machinery. HB 1329 changes to OPMA to be discussed with
County Attorney. Not allowing TP and paper towel rolls not on official list of recycling items.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Feedback/Questions from SWAC on the staff report
What is status of task force? Currently have a 20-member task force. Next, will hire a consultant. Will
review the three SOQs received with County and City’s PW Directors on 4/29/2022 to determine who to
interview. Ideal consultant will have expertise in public facilitation, civil engineering conceptual design,
and be knowledgeable about Solid Waste financing and funding mechanisms. Once firm identified then
negotiate cost for services. When will MRW close? January 1, 2025
2. Recommended Revisions to SWAC By-laws – Tabled for future meeting.
3. SWAC Meetings – Virtual, In-Person, or Hybrid
PW Conference room acceptable capacity with COVID is 11. Will stick with Virtual meetings
for now. Other locations and outside venues a challenge due to is internet connectivity to allow
virtual attendance.
4. Capital Facility Replacement Planning Process Update (Al Cairns)
What is timeline is for task force to convene? Based on the draft scope of work, task force
meeting late December. Will hold eight or more community meetings.
5. Solid Waste Education Program (Laura Tucker)
Laura not able to attend. She sent an email to Al to share with SWAC about what she has been
doing: Press release, new flyer, new drop box signs, info on changes in community newsletters,
KPTZ interview, newspaper ads, Social media posts, four community presentations, and
presentation to Board of Health in May.
What can be done when people try to recycle plastics other than bottles and jugs?
Skookums new contract requires a full-time person to inform people of the changes so they do
not put things in the bin that do not belong there.
Lisa asked for clarification about the SWAC's role in educating the public regarding changes to
allowed recyclables. It was Lisa's understanding that the SWAC is an advisory body that
provides input to staff, and in the case of recycling education, provides input to staff who then
carry out educational programs. Al concurred that this is correct; the SWAC advises staff.
6. Partner Updates
a. Skookum (Alysa Thomas not in attendance) – Chad spoke about this. Co-mingle market slowly
recovering bit still negative. Cardboard getting better, glass is glass.
b. Waste Connections/Olympic Disposal (Chad Young) – Now sort separating by with glass on
Monday, Paper on Weds., TAP on Thursday. Benefit of this is you can see the material going
into the truck and pull contaminates more easily. Annual spring cleanup brought in 109 bulk
items, 16 refrigerating appliances, 2.5 tons of metal. The Beach cleanup brought in 1 ton of trash
off beach at Ft. Worden.
c. City solid waste/recycling/composting (Bliss Morris asked Chad Young to talk about the new
commercial recycling strategy in the City.) Chad Young explained that the curbside residential
recycling truck is ill-suited for handling commercial loads and Waste Connections and the City of
Port Townsend have agreed to use a compactor truck instead. The commercial route has been
rescheduled so that only one type of material mix is collected at a time so there is no cross-
contamination. This will make commercial account collection safer for the driver and public,
maintain a clean material mix delivered to the recycling center, and cut down on the carbon
footprint of the collection since more materials can be collected with fewer trips.
d. A.I.R.E. program (Tracy Grisman) – Tracy met Justin Miskell at the Transfer Station. Working
schedule out and where the artists will be working in June, July, and August. The first applicant
process will start in October with the first official residency beginning June 2023. Temporary
website for the program https://aireatthetransferstation.com.
Al met with PT Potential, a group interested in recycling numbers 2 & 5 plastics. They are
looking for funding to buy thermo plastic equip to make the plastics into new products. Will have
no impact to PW recycling program as they will take directly from businesses.
7. Future Agenda Items SWAC Discussion as time allows
House Bill 1799, concerning food waste diversion, is complex. Its impacts won’t be crystallized till later
this summer. May need to incorporate impact into the Solid Waste Management Plan. Should keep that
in mind when discussing the new facility. Planning process will include plans for Food Waste Diversion
(such as composting). Will get an idea of how much it will cost to do food waste diversion program.
Compare two models as part of the Solid Waste Management Plan.
Public Committee Period (15 min.) None
ADJOURNMENT
Bart adjourned the meeting at 4:18 pm.
Next Meeting Date: May 26, 2022.