HomeMy WebLinkAboutminutes080805City of Falcon Heights
Environmental Commission
August 8, 2005
Present: Barany, Kielsmeier, Meah, Smith, Tretsven, Council Liaison Council Liaison Lamb, Staff Liaison Worthington
Absent: Harding
Commissioner Barany conducted the meeting until the election of a chairperson.
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm.
RECYCLING
Last week, Jennifer Klennert of Waste Management notified the City that they had purchased EZ Recycling and will be assuming their contract. Waste Management has assured the City that
it would continue recycling services. This last Friday, there was a scheduling mix-up, so pickups were much delayed. Our existing contract does not require a dual sort collection,
and Waste Management uses a single sort. At the time, Waste Management proposed a 3% price increase per year along with the discontinuation of auto battery and motor oil pickup. The
latter items were collected this week only upon urging by City staff on Friday. The Friday pickup used a single sort on the truck with the separation of papers and rigid goods. Some
residents have already called staff and noted commingling of recycled goods on the truck. Today, Waste Management reneged on price increments previously proposed. Staff Liaison Worthington
requested a recommendation from the commission for the City Council, as well as guidance on how to proceed in her administrative efforts. She expressed two broad options for future
recycling: 1) renegotiate our contract with Waste Management. 2) Generate an RFP based on the upcoming EZ Recycling contract, which was dated June 22 and would have gone into effect
January 1.
Due to the nature of the sale, our contract is not necessarily valid beyond January 1, despite a signed agreement with EZ Recycling. Section 6, Clause H of the new contract deals with
transfer of interest and contract termination. It is unlikely that the city will be able to keep motor oil and batteries in a new contract. Textiles should still be amenable to any
recycler. There was a nondisclosure clause for Waste Management’s purchase, so the City has no documentation surrounding the sale. The City attorney is continuing to sort through the
legal errata. Council Liaison Lamb urged the use of our signed contract for legal leverage in future negotiations or other actions. We may be able to seek damages for unfulfilled provisions
of the contract.
The commission noted serious concerns from the City and its residents about Waste Management’s business practices which emerged during the organized collection process. Commissioner
Kielsmeier expressed reservations about a multi-year contract with Waste Management.
Staff Liaison Worthington proposed two primary guiding concerns: 1) we must keep curbside recycling going. 2) keep as many of our good contractual terms as possible.
Commissioner Barany submitted a motion for a prioritized framework of action to recommend to City Council and City staff, based on the direction of the discussion:
1) Push for enforcement of currently signed EZ Recycling contracts.
2) Seek legal remedies from Waste Management.
3) Consider an RFP for as many terms as possible from the current contract.
The motion was seconded and tabled by the acting Chair.
Staff Liaison Worthington observed that action for an RFP would need to be organized within the month. Council Liaison Lamb outlined a potential “hard line” position focusing on fines
and enforcement. There are no liquidated damage provisions under the current contract, complicating attempts at fines. Waste Management could legally cancel with 60 days notice under
future contract.
A commission consensus to seek low residual waste, on the order of 1%, as a high priority was noted. Staff Liaison Worthington added that we can seek reporting under the current contract
regarding recycling collection practices. The commission noted that the EZ Recycling plant is already set up to do 2-sort recycling. The City owns our recycling bins and multifamily
containers. It does not appear as though Waste Management was aware of the new contract during its buyout negotiations, although the commission and staff were left to speculation at
this stage.
City staff has considered the possibility of an injunction on communication to residents by Waste Management while negotiations are ongoing in order to preserve the City’s educational
investment. The resident is, technically, not the customer in our contract, just a beneficiary. The commission agreed that the City should be quick to communicate with the residents
and ought begin by asking Waste Management for that privilege without immediately threatening legal action.
A commission consensus was noted that the January 1 contract reflects our goals as a commission.
Waste Management is not licensed as a recycler in the City, so their trucks may have been in violation of City ordinance last Friday. If they do claim to have assumed EZ Recycling’s
license, Council Liaison Lamb noted, it indicates they are more likely to be in a legal position to have to uphold the upcoming contract as well.
Commissioner Barany’s framework motion was reintroduced and passed unanimously. Staff Liaison Worthington thanked the commission and felt confident that she now had enough information
to proceed.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND APPROVAL OF PROCEDURES
For the position of Chair, commissioner Kielsmeier was nominated, seconded, and unanimously approved without opposition. He conducted the remainder of the meeting.
For the position of Secretary, commissioner Tretsven was nominated, seconded, and unanimously approved without opposition.
A 6:00 pm meeting time on second Mondays of each month was approved by consensus. The commissioner e-mail list was updated. Packets will continue to be sent out by e-mail.
A motion to approve April and May minutes by the subset of the commission present at those meetings was proposed, seconded, and accepted unanimously.
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Staff Liaison Worthington will update and send out the list of environmental issues drafted at the last meeting. The upcoming City newsletter has a piece about grass clippings and will
contain notice of the EZ Recycling sale. Smith volunteered to write an additional paragraph of information for the newsletter based on her research and past commission outlines.
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Commissioner Kielsmeier proposed a resolution of appreciation for Barany in recognition of his “diligence” and “high capacity to follow through and offer important insights throughout
our deliberations” and to wish him well at Cornell University. Council Liaison Lamb was granted a waiver to vote on the motion. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Barany
Acting Secretary