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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9.28.23 Staff Report for SWACJEFFERSON COUNTY, WA SOLID WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE September 28, 2023 STAFF REPORT Staffing We have a scale house attendant out on 90 days medical leave presently, another scale house attendant going out on medical leave for all of November, and an Operator III going out on medical leave for 30 days minimum at the end of September and who will then return on limited duty for 3 months. And an Operator I who was hired on a 90-day temporary basis to substitute for a senior Operator III on limited duty due to an injury was then hired full-time but has applied for a job with the Fleet division and we will likely lose him. In summary, about a third of our current staff will be missing beginning in November. We have inquired with the Leader about a discount rate for running job postings in perpetuity. Customer Conduct Aggressive customer conduct at the transfer station seems to be on the rise again since it tapered off after Covid restrictions were lifted. Several customers have yelled expletives at our staff or have refused to move their vehicles and have either been convinced to leave voluntarily by staff or have been so belligerent that law enforcement has been called for assistance. A few customers have been trespassed from the facility or given warning that they would be, including one who used colorful and imaginative language to explain to the Solid Waste Manager why he let himself through the gate when the recycling center was closed to the public and why he wouldn’t leave (A+ for creative use of the “F” word; F- for threatening a public employee) Webpage A public survey on facility replacement was conducted with over 300 respondents - a good response rate. Space was given in the survey for customer comments and the most frequent one was praise for the courteous Solid Waste Division staff. The survey results are found at a link on the Solid Waste website homepage. Solid Waste Education Through a Memorandum of Understanding, Public Works and Public Health have arranged for the solid waste education program to be administered under Public Works beginning in July and with Laura Tucker still leading the program. Laura is currently applying for the Department of Ecology’s Waste Reduction and Recycling Education grant to offset education program costs. The primary focus of the program for at least the first two years will be on food waste diversion and this will build on the great work Laura has already done in this area. Transfer Station Improvements Credit card transaction times have greatly improved with a new vendor and hardware thanks to the Operations Coordinator’s hard work. The Operations Coordinator is leading the process to replace outdated scale software with a new version. The older version won’t play nice with the current Windows platform that’s on the new servers that need to replace the ones that are 80 years old in server years. The changeover to the new software requires vendor-provided training of transfer station, finance department, and IT department staff as well as coordination of hardware installation, paralleled transaction testing and final installation between the software provider, multiple staff in 2 different Departments, and the scale manufacturer. Fee Schedule The Board of County Commissioners approved a new schedule of fees for the transfer station and Quilcene rural drop box by Resolution on July 3rd with the revised fees to become effective September 4th, providing ample time for public notice. The BoCC also suggested that staff consider a low-income discount program to blunt the effect of the minimum fee increase for those residents. Staff found one other such program in Washington State in King County and has modeled a program after the King County one. The new fee schedule and low-income discount program details can be found on the Solid Waste homepage. Some of the transaction functions such as rounding to the nearest whole dollar and the low-income discount rates are only supported by the new scale software and delays in implementing the new software due to staffing limitations and workload at County departments have delayed the roll-out of the new fees. Staff has provided the Board of County Commissioners with a Resolution amending the original September 4th date of fee changes to no later than January 1, 2024 and, if earlier than that date. Equipment Purchase Staff has identified the right telescoping forklift and attachments to gain material handling efficiencies at both facilities and will bid the equipment when the workload allows, most likely in 2024. Moderate Risk Waste Program A Household Hazardous Waste collection event was held at the Quilcene Roads shop across from the Drop Box facility on September 16th, from 10 am - 2 pm with 71 customers served. The longest customer wait time was 15 minutes and the average was less than 4 minutes. Customers came from Port Ludlow, Discovery Bay, Coyle, Brinnon, and Quilcene. The next event is scheduled for September 30th, 10 am - 2 pm, at the Jefferson Transit Haines Park & Ride, 440 12th St, Port Townsend. Transfer Station Replacement Planning Process The fifth SWFTF meeting was held in July and covered a review of survey results, the level of service desired in a new facility, and the process used to narrow over 6,000 parcels within the study area down to 12 potential sites for a new facility, including the current one. Staff has made considerable effort to recalibrate the consultant’s work from the urban perspective used for previous clients toward a rural one more suitable for Jefferson County but without enough effect and has terminated the agreement with Vikek Environmental Engineers, LLC. The subconsultants who provided us with group facilitation and public outreach, architectural, and site selection support have all expressed a desire to continue working with the County under separate contracts and staff is pulling together a new workplan accordingly and will get the planning process going again soon. Closed Landfill Monitoring Under a supplemental agreement with Aspect Consulting, two of three quarterly monitoring events have been completed and we are close to having filled any data gaps and issuing a final report on the monitoring program in January, 2024. We are confident that we can demonstrate landfill stability and that monitoring activities can end after +30 years.