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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 8/17/2010 (3) i ` City of Glendale G Council Sustainability Committee Minutes August 17, 2010 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Council Chambers Conference Room B-2 Attendees Council Sustainability Committee Members: Present were Councilmember/Chairperson David Goulet (Ocotillo District), Vice Mayor Steve Frate (Sahuaro District), and Councilmember Yvonne Knaack (Barrel District). City Staff Members: Stuart Kent, Frank Lomeli, Sherry Schurhammer, Rebecca Benna, Larry Broyles, Pam Wertz, Doug Kukino, Stephen Rot, Jon Froke, Karen Flores, Michelle Wilson, Jo Miller, Bob Manginell, and Marilyn Clark. I. Approval of Minutes Chairperson Goulet called for a motion to approve the minutes for the June 15, 2010 Council Sustainability meeting. Vice Mayor Frate made a motion to approve. The motion was seconded by Chairperson Goulet. The minutes of the June 15, 2010 Council Sustainability Meeting were approved as written. II. Waste Management & Recycling Frank Lomeli, Deputy Director, Field Operations presented this agenda item. Mr. Lomeli thanked the Committee for the opportunity to present the city's Waste Management and Recycling Program. He stated the presentation was designed to give the Committee a better understanding of the sanitation collection, disposal, and recycling operations as well as to show how the waste management program fits into the overall sustainability portfolio of the city. The presentation is as follows: There are three key components of a well-balanced Waste Management Program. The first is communicating with the customer, which opens the door for a two-way communication. We want to be sure the customer knows what services are offered, and they understand the rules and Regulations. Next, is delivering the Service, making sure service delivery is safe, cost effective, and is in accordance with all federal and state environmental regulations. The last component of a well-balanced Waste Management Program is analyzing the outcome,this helps the city to effectively plan for tomorrow. August 17, 2010 Council Sustainability Minutes Page 2 Communicating with the Customer We communicate our services to the public in several ways. One example of a traditional approach would be through the city's publication of the Clean & Green Newsletter, which contains waste management and recycling related information. Another would be through the city's green website. The Sanitation Division receives approximately 67,000 visitors annually and is the most visited link on the green website. The bulk trash page is the most popular with 1,800 visits per month. Glendale engaged the public through their outreach efforts with the Design-A-Sign Contest, which is sponsored by the City of Glendale Sanitation Department. The contest receives approximately 75 entries each year. The students (age's six to nine) are asked to submit a drawing with the theme 'recycling is fun.' Four designs are chosen each year, two boys and two girls are selected as winners. Grandma Glendale performed 22 interactive skits/presentations in 11 Glendale schools that reached out to approximately 2,600 youths. For customers participating in Glendale's sanitation collection program that require additional guidance, inspections and enforcements is the most effective way to communicate. There are six full-time inspectors that conduct 680 inspections a day on refuse bins, recycling bins, and bulk trash piles (172,000 inspections annually). The Inbound call center employs six administrative support staff,two of which are dedicated to sanitation. There are approximately 430 sanitation calls per week or 21,000 calls annually. The Lunch at the Landfill event in January 2010 provided operational tours of the landfill and the Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) to over 500 people. This was a great opportunity to introduce people to Glendale's landfill & MRF operations. Delivering the Service Solid Waste Collections: Curbside Refuse/Recycling has ten residential refuse routes and eight recycling routes. Drivers make between 1,200 & 1,500 stops a day (120 to 150 stops per hour) and collect approximately 53,000 tons of refuse and 15,000 tons of recycle annually. The Monthly Bulk Trash has five crews that service the entire city and collects approximately 1,000 tons per month of yard waste and large items that will not fit into refuse containers. Commercial Services have approximately 1,500 front-load customers and 80 roll-off customers. They collect approximately 42,000 tons of waste in front-load operations and 13,000 tons of waste in roll-off annually. The Household Hazardous Waste Program allows residents to safely dispose of household hazardous waste twice per year. The city collects approximately 10 tons on hazardous material annually and serves about 1,100 homes. Solid Waste Disposal: The City of Glendale Landfill South Cell is a 140 acre site with approximately five years of landfill life, and the Northern 120 Acre site has approximately 40 years of landfill life. Glendale currently receives about 800 tons per day (244,000 annually). August 17, 2010 Council Sustainability Minutes Page 3 Free Residential Disposal: The free disposal program averages about 600 tons per month (paying residents averages about 200 tons per month). Glendale residents can dispose of their residential waste free of charge, up to one ton, for as many trips as they would like to make. Environmental Management: The City of Glendale adheres to all state & federal environmental regulations including daily dust control measures, semi-annual ground water testing, surface air testing for landfill gas emissions, and monthly gas collection systems monitoring of 70 extraction wells. Materials Recovery Facility: Glendale's Curbside Recycling program makes up 95% of all material received at the Materials Recovery Facility. The recycling program currently accepts all paper products, #1/#2 plastics, all cardboard products, steel & aluminum cans. The sale of commodities on the open market covers the costs associated with operating the facility. There is also a public drop off area for glass and large recyclables too large to fit into the recycle can. Analyzing the Outcome Sanitation Collection: Only loose trash tonnage figures remain unchanged. Tonnage has decreased in all areas of our collection operations over the past two years with the exception of Bulk Trash. New technology allows for fuel reduction and efficiency. An example of this would be the implementation of a new Electronic Fleet Management System called Zonar that has given Glendale the unprecedented ability to manage the collection fleet like never before. Recycling: Sixty percent of Glendale's households set out recycling cans each week. This weekly set out rate is very good in comparison to industry standards for municipalities of equal size with no mandatory recycling requirements. The Christmas Tree Recycling Program collects about 23 tons of trees each year and is recycled yearly at a wood waste facility for reuse in horse stables and mulching. The city held its first E-Waste event in February 2009, collected approximately 14 tons of E-Waste, and served over 350 customers. Landfill tonnage: Landfill tonnage is down twenty-one percent. The major drop has been in the tons from commercial customers paying the gate rate. A thirty percent decrease in gate rate paying customers resulted in a revenue loss of$950,000. Gas to Energy Facility: Analyzing the methane gas levels over the years, has allowed Glendale to effectively plan, and construct a renewable energy facility on the landfill site to power approximately 750 homes to APS customers. Materials Recovery Facility: As a direct result of the economic downturn, people are buying less and disposing of less material. This caused a decrease in tons received and processed by about 36%. As a result of these declines, staff had to make several operational adjustments to effectively manage revenues and expenses. August 17, 2010 Council Sustainability Minutes Page 4 Future Opportunities Utilize technology to have a better understanding of the sanitation collection and disposal patterns to better align services to residential demand. Zonar system will allow us to identify more efficient sanitation collection practices for greater cost savings and improved customer service. We are looking into new technologies at Glendale's landfill to assist with maximizing our trash compaction and soil cover. As the economy picks up, the city can begin to establish new commercial business accounts in both front-load and roll-off operations, and potentially new business opportunities for our landfill and the Materials Recovery Facility. One thing the city will need to factor into the future capital planning is the cost of new regulated heavy equipment. The Committee was engaged throughout the presentation, asking questions, and sharing ideas. Several discussions took place during and after the presentation, none of which required any follow up or action on the part of staff. Chairperson Goulet thanked Mr. Lomeli for his presentation, and as this was an informational item, no motion or vote was called for by the committee. III. Staff Updates Stuart Kent, Director of Fields Operations reminded the Committee that the selection of a new committee chairperson will be on the September 21, 2010 agenda and an official vote is required at that time. Jo Miller, Environmental Program Manager, introduced Rachael Morningstar, an ASU Student interning in the Environmental Resource Department, and Colin Tetreault, Masters Program Graduate, with the Arizona State University School of Sustainability. IV. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 11:05 a.m. NEXT MEETING: September 21, 2010 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Council Chambers Conference Room B-2 TOPIC: Green Purchasing Respectfully Submitted, Marilyn Clark, cording Secretary