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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12.22 Staff ReportJEFFERSON COUNTY, WA SOLID WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE 12/22 STAFF REPORT Transfer Station Operational Revisions Staff met with the Board of County Commissioners to discuss the challenge of hiring and retaining qualified staff for transfer station operations and the trend toward higher weight loads from Waste Connections arriving at the transfer station later in the day. Four solid division staff had accrued over 400 hours of overtime between January and October, much of this owing to the late-arriving Waste Connections loads. The BoCC agreed with staff’s recommendation to accept only Waste Connections loads on Monday’s with self-haul customer loads accepted Tuesday through Saturday on the regular 9 am – 4:30 pm schedule. In addition to reducing unwanted overtime and gaining a better work/life balance for staff, the new operational hours have created an opportunity for flexible scheduling, staying updated on staff training, and making site improvements that have been delayed for lack of staff and time. Additionally, two new Operators have been hired. When the target staffing level has been met and new employees are adequately trained, the hours of operations will be extended in both the morning and evening to recapture most of the service hours for self-haul customers. Scale Replacement Project The pit scale replacement project began with delivery of the new scales on November 4th and was completed on November 21st. Photos of the project can be found on the solid waste webpage. The project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget. Moderate Risk Waste Program The last day of Moderate Risk Waste facility operations was September 30th and a record 81 customers were served. The first residential Household Hazardous Waste collection event since the MRW facility closure was held on October 8th in Port Hadlock. The event was a success with over 140 customers served in 4 hours. For comparison, the average customer count for a 6-hour day of MRW facility operations in 2021 was 28. The first business-waste only event is scheduled for January 20th, 2023, with a residential collection event on the following day, both at the Port of Port Townsend Boat Haven. A letter explaining these changes was sent to all businesses who used the MRW facility in 2021 and 2022. Progress is being made on post-closure care of the MRW facility as required by statute. Staff worked with the contract service provider (Clean Harbors) on September 30th and managed to categorize and remove approximately 2/3rds of the HHW on hand. The remaining 1/3rd of material will be processed in December, followed by documenting that the facility can be permanently closed and delivered to the Port of Port Townsend. Transfer Station Replacement Planning Process The kick-off meeting of the Solid Waste Facility Task Force happened on September 27th. At this inaugural meeting the task force assisted staff and the consultant with developing the public outreach plan . The second Task Force meeting is scheduled for December 15th. Fee Schedule Staff has begun work on a rate study and will meet with the BoCC in December or January to recommend a new schedule of fees for the transfer station and Quilcene rural drop box. 40% of our self-haul customers are minimum charge customers ($10 for under 120 lbs.) and this contributes to much of the congestion at the transfer station. Staff will want to address this with a higher minimum fee more in line with the regional average. Kitsap County will be setting a new minimum of $41 in January. PaintCare Program Because PaintCare is the subcontractor to Clean Harbors for HHW collection events, the County will no longer pay for paint collection and disposal and can now offer latex paint collection.