HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes 041105City of Falcon Heights
Solid Waste Commission
April 11, 2005
Present: Barany, Harding, Kielsmeier, Meah, Council Liaison Lamb, Staff Liaison Worthington
Absent: Millet
Lacking full attendance, election of chair and secretary for the current year was postponed. Commissioner Barany acted in both roles until departing at 6:40 pm, at which point commissioner
Kielsmeier assumed the posts.
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 pm.
The commission welcomed county consultant Dan Krivit, who offered, at the expense of Ramsey County, advice on managing the City’s recycling contract. The county has a wide range of
county and regional plans which are at the disposal of the commission. County goals include protecting the environment and citizen health, having an integrated and cost-effective recycling
system, and promoting generator responsibility. Policies to this end include city education, city long-term financing, city maximization of recycling, and temporary county service in
the event that cities should fail on any of these fronts. These policies are tied to specific strategies of consultation, SCORE grants, and a market fund to induce cities to be responsible
recyclers.
There are six principle areas in which city recycling plans can be targeted for improvement. Inclusion of multi-family households is the first. Second, increased education directed
toward generators is invariably effective. Financial incentives offer a third area. Particularly, there are few incentives in Falcon Heights for using a 30 gallon waste bin as opposed
to a larger one. Pricing increments can be effectively worked into city licensing schemes, as in Duluth, or can be encouraged through price publication. Revenue sharing from recycling
revenues and further regulation are options four and five. The final area is increased services, although Mr. Krivit noted that Falcon Heights already has an extensive array of recycling
services.
Commissioner Kielsmeier asked and was assured that recycling percentage benchmarks are well known and readily available. Falcon Heights now recycles standard goods, clothing, car batteries,
and motor oil. The City’s contract costs $1.47 per household per month, with a flat fee of $583 per month for multifamily households. The term is currently year-to-year. Residents
are billed $4.73 per quarter on a household basis.
The Commissioners discussed the possibility of adding white goods/appliances to the list of recyclables. Because of existing availability of those services in the Twin Cities marketplace,
it was decided to forego adding them to the recycling menu. In addition, the Commission set aside the issue of food waste and composting indefinitely.
Krivit mentioned the need for some kind of measurement of participation. He suggested a curbside survey, done by the recycling company, to measure who is participating, what is in the
bin, and how much is being recycled. He suggested that the Commission look at the Cit of Roseville’s recent survey to get an idea of what is possible.
The Commission directed staff to try to re-negotiate the contract with E-Z for a longer term, commencing in January 2006. They further directed staff to investigate the following items:
Retention of current rate, or something close to the current rate.
Fuel costs vs. revenue sharing—what would that formula be?
2 year extension to the contract
More frequent, or every other week pick-ups
Driver surveys
Status of single-stream collection
The Commission then discussed the change of name and mission of the Solid Waste Commission to the Environment Commission. Council liaison Lamb noted that it would be helpful to have
the Commission spend some time thinking about its activities for 2005 at the next meeting. Staff was directed to add that as an agenda item for the May meeting.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Barany, Commissioner
Heather Worthington, Staff Liaison