Mayor & Commission Meetings

LEGISLATIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE Thursday, August 8, 2024 City Hall Conference Room 301B Committee Members Present: Committee Members Absent: Commissioner Carol Myers, Chair Commissioner Ovita Thornton Commissioner John Culpepper Commissioner Jesse Houle Commissioner Allison Wright Staff: Niki Jones, Acting Manager Suki Janssen, Solid Waste Sherrie Hines, Deputy Chief Attorney Susan Lyon, Solid Waste Courtney Davis, Senior Attorney Sarah George, Recorder Commissioner Myers called the meeting to order at 1:03 p.m. A. Approval of Minutes: Commissioner Houle made a motion to approve the June 12, 2024 minutes. Commissioner Culpepper seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. B. Public Input: There was none. Commission Identified Items of Interest: C. Solid Waste Residential Collection Zone or Franchise Approach Manager Jones introduced the discussion and provided an overview of past discussion on the topic. He explained that, in the last meeting, the Committee discussed the current residential collection structure and the history of franchising. Staff also provided copies of a Solid Waste customer service survey from 2019 and results that pertained to collections. Director Suki Janssen provided an overview of the comparative analysis that staff prepared. She explained that they had surveyed similar cities within Georgia and also included the City of Greenville, South Carolina, as Athens is frequently compared to Greenville. She explained that all jurisdictions that were surveyed had curbside and limited backyard service. She noted that backyard service is a service for residents that may have a doctor’s note, an altered ability, or may be elderly and unable to move the roll cart to the end of the driveway. She explained that self-hauling was not allowed except for overages or clean-outs. She also shared that collection rates were up to 45% cheaper with more services provided. All jurisdictions offered weekly trash service, and most offered weekly or bi-weekly recycling services. Columbus, Greenville, Augusta, Savannah, and Rome provide weekly bulky and yard waste service. Macon provides bulky and yard waste collection bi-weekly. Additionally, Greenville provided street sweeping as an aspect of their service package or cost. Commissioner Culpepper requested clarification on whether or not these other jurisdictions were more or less expensive than Athens-Clarke County’s rates. Suki Janssen explained that Athens- Clarke County is substantially more expensive and does not offer the breadth of services that other jurisdictions that were included in the comparative analysis provide. Commissioner Myers  requested clarification on the term “bulky waste" and if this was something Athens-Clarke County provides. Suki Janssen explained that they do not offer it currently. Commissioner Houle noted that funding was added into the FY25 budget for bulky waste. Suki Janssen confirmed and said that staff was in the process of trying to procure a truck for the bulky waste program and then will seek to fill the two positions to collect bulky waste. It will operate on-demand and serve the entire county. Suki Janssen also explained that bulky waste would include bulky items like pieces of furniture or appliances; bulky waste items are often dumped on the side of the road. Commissioner Myers shared that she loved the idea of providing bulky waste service, as there are likely residents that do not have access to a truck to dispose of bulky items. Suki Janssen clarified that no one would be disallowed from using the Landfill if they have a clean-out or bulky items. Suki Janssen also explained that four jurisdictions included in the comparative analysis was serviced by the public sector and two with private sector haulers. All jurisdictions included had a larger residential customer base than Athens-Clarke County except for Greenville. She also explained that they will likely go back to the jurisdictions to request information on tipping fees to add to the comparative analysis. Commissioner Wright requested clarification on whether or not Augusta-Richmond provided annual billing to their residential customers and then paid the franchisees. Suki Janssen confirmed and noted it could be at any designated interval (quarterly, monthly, etc.). She noted that, most of the time with franchises, the County will be responsible for billing and customer service, and they will then pay the franchisees. She shared that one of the concerns she had heard expressed regarding franchising residential collection was that customer service might decline; she explained that this would not happen if the franchise agreements were written appropriately. She shared that Gwinnett County has a strong franchise program that charges franchisees if trash is not collected or is missed; often, haulers will prioritize jurisdictions with franchise agreements that include penalties even if staffing is limited to prevent additional fees. Commissioner Wright recalled that, in the past, residents complained about a particular hauler not picking up their garbage, and she advised that they should find another hauler. She requested clarification on whether franchising and the associated agreement would provide some ability for Athens-Clarke County to address haulers that consistently would not collect garbage. Suki Janssen explained that it would to an extent using a similar method as Gwinnett County. Commissioner Culpepper inquired about which of the jurisdictions that were included in the comparative analysis owns their own landfill. Suki Janssen explained that she would need to confirm, but, to her knowledge, Augusta-Richmond, Columbus, and Savannah own their own landfills. She noted she was not sure about Rome, Macon-Bibb, and Greenville, but she would confirm. Commissioner Culpepper shared that it would be helpful to have that information, because there is a greater expense for jurisdictions that own their own landfill. Commissioner Culpepper requested clarification on whether the 2019 survey included residents from throughout the County. Suki Janssen confirmed that was correct. Commissioner Culpepper recommended that the survey should really be focused on the General Service District, as the Urban Service District would not be affected by the change. Suki Janssen explained that the Urban Service District is required to have service, while the General Service District does not; this is often perceived to be an equity issue. Commissioner Wright added that she had constituents living in the Urban Service District that are elderly and on a limited income that were concerned that they could not even share a roll cart with a neighbor to help offset the cost due to the requirements. Additionally, she noted that there are also streets without sufficient room for all of the roll carts when it is time for them to be rolled out for collection, but it is mandatory. She shared that she believed a future survey should include both the General Service District and the Urban Service District, because of the mandatory requirement for the Urban Service District. Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 2 080824  Susan Lyon noted that Columbus Consolidated Government also offers reduced collection fees for low-income residents. Suki Janssen shared an overview of the 2019 survey. She noted there was a total of 1,153 responses received. She explained the survey covered all solid waste handling in Athens-Clarke County, so not all questions pertained to residential collection. Suki Janssen reviewed some highlights of the results from the survey as it pertained to residential collection. She also shared some staff suggestions for questions for a future survey that could be tailored to focus on collections. Commissioner Wright suggested clarify the survey by using the terms “roll cart” and “dumpster”. The Committee further discussed the staff suggested questions. Commissioner Houle explained that, at this stage, they do not believe that a community survey is needed. They explained that there is ample evidence from the comparable communities that the way we are doing it is unnecessarily unique and expensive, as well as ineffective and prone to dumping issues. They shared that they believe we heard plenty from residents over the years, including through the 2019 survey, regarding problems with private haulers. They explained that the basic decision around moving forward with a new approach does not require a survey, though they noted it might be helpful to survey residents on the types of services to consider providing. They explained that there are twelve pages of comments from residents regarding unsatisfactory experiences with private haulers, and the Committee has heard from Suki Janssen in the last two meetings on how franchising residential collection would address the issues experienced, because it would enable Athens-Clarke County to hold private followers more accountable. Commissioner Culpepper respectfully disagreed and noted that the issue has arisen multiple times, and the structure has not changed; he noted it is obviously a controversial issue, and he does not support making a decision without listening to the residents. Commissioner Myers shared that she has been hearing from constituents, and she believes it would be helpful to have the benefits to the community outlined and explained. She shared she believes it is important for the survey to be educational. It would also be helpful to hear from residents on the benefits that they believe the change would have for them individually or as a community. Commissioner Wright shared that, if the Committee agrees that education on the topic is important, the Committee could consider going ahead and launching the topic out as an agenda item that explains and condenses everything, and they could be prepared to discuss it again in Committee if the full Mayor and Commission sends it back. She shared that this is a full community topic that could potentially benefit from public awareness and input through the agenda cycle. She explained this would help the public understand more about what is being considered and allow for the Mayor and Commission to hear from residents without the additional time required for a survey. It also would allow the Committee to educate their colleagues on the topic. Commissioner Houle explained that they were supportive of moving it into the agenda cycle and noted that the Committee could include in their recommendation that it be included in two agenda cycles. An agenda report would provide a platform to better educate the public on the reasons why franchising is being considered. They noted that a survey does not provide a forum to have quality of conversation and information sharing, and the survey would be unlikely to provide a series of results where everyone can provide feedback with the same understanding. Manager Jones explained that, if the Committee moves forward as they are discussing, he would recommend a work session. He also noted that, if the topic moves out of Committee, it would out as an LRC report and not a typical agenda item; however, staff could add facts and history to make it similar in structure. Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 3 080824  Manager Jones requested clarification on the recommendation from the Committee and what it would include. Commissioner Wright made a motion that staff prepare a report on their recommendations to be presented at a work session. The motion failed due to lack of a second. Manager Jones explained that staff could prepare a report on the topic, but he noted that the Solid Waste Advisory Commission has provided a recommendation to the LRC. He explained that it would helpful for staff to have some direction from LRC regarding the recommendation. Commissioner Houle shared that the Solid Waste Advisory Commission has recommended four zones. They inquired as to whether the Attorney’s Office had guidance on whether or not the franchising can be assigned by zone to the same four haulers that are currently providing service or if a Requests for Proposals (RFP) would need to be conducted. Deputy Chief Attorney Sherrie Hines explained that there would need to be an RFP to procure the franchisees competitively. Commissioner Houle made a motion that the Committee move forward with a franchising agreement, four-zone RFP and include a low-income fee reduction akin to what they have in Columbus-Muscogee as a report to be presented in a work session for public education. Commissioner Wright seconded the motion. Manager Jones inquired as to whether the Committee had specific services that they wanted staff to include. Suki Janssen shared that Athens-Clarke County does not currently provide weekly leaf and limb, food scraps service, and bulky waste. She shared that the Solid Waste Advisory Commission recommendation only addressed services that are currently offered - trash collection and recycling. Deputy Chief Attorney Hines noted that the recommendation from the Solid Waste Advisory Commission included the recommendation that a consultant for the RFP for franchising. Suki Janssen agreed that a consultant would be needed for the RFP, as it something that Athens-Clarke County has never done before, and expertise on franchising would be needed. Commissioner Wright suggested the work session presentation include the recommendation for the consultant as part of next steps of what would be needed. Commissioner Wright shared that she would be open to keeping the franchise agreements based on the same services residents already receive now for the time being as this moves forward. Suki Janssen recommended the Committee consider containerized leaf and limb, as Solid Waste often receives complaints about not having more frequent leaf and limb service. Commissioner Houle amended their motion to also include containerized leaf and limb service. Commissioner Myers suggested amending the motion to include consideration of alternative bids for costs of food scraps, leaf and limb, and bulky waste. The Committee discussed the current frequency of leaf and limb collection. Suki Janssen advised that she would suggest the Committee include in the RFP containerized leaf and limb, food scraps, and bulky waste, as she believes that it needs to be evaluated in fairness to the customers, given the additional services provided by other jurisdictions that franchise collection. Commissioner Wright shared that she would like to hear from the full Mayor and Commission on their thoughts regarding the additional services. Suki Janssen recommended to the Committee that they consider meeting one additional time to provide some opportunity for her to work with their on-call consultant to see if they could provide some simple cost analysis to determine how much this would cost residents. Commissioner Wright inquired about the date they LRC should target for a potential work session. Staff advised that there would be a work session on October 8, 2024.Commissioner Wright suggested possibly adding an LRC meeting after the October work session to provide the Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 4 080824  LRC time to respond and react to what they hear at the work session. Deputy Chief Attorney Hines explained that changes would be needed to the ordinances if the Committee moves forward with franchising. She requested clarification on whether or not the Committee expects ordinance revisions to be provided at this point, and the Committee agreed they did not. Commissioner Houle withdrew their motion. Commissioner Wright agreed with withdrawing the motion. Manager Jones explained that staff will prepare a cost analysis on a five-zoned franchise system, which includes mandatory trash service for all residents. Commissioner Houle also requested staff include the customer service administrative fee in the RFP for cost recovery for the increase in customer service, as discussed at the last meeting. Commissioner Myers suggested also preparing a timeline on how staff anticipates moving the topic forward. Schedule/Agenda Changes The next LRC meeting is scheduled for September 5, 2024 at 1:00 p.m. *The September 5, 2024 LRC meeting was subsequently rescheduled to September 11, 2024 at 10:00 a.m.* Commissioner Wright made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Houle seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:32 p.m. Legislative Review Committee Meeting Minutes Page 5 080824