Solid Waste Advisory Commission

Athens-Clarke County Minutes of the Quarterly Meeting of the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Committee Wednesday, February 20, 2019 Location of Meeting: Solid Waste Administrative Office 725 Hancock Industrial Way Athens, GA 30605 Present at Meeting: Commissioner Andy Herod, Commissioner Patrick Davenport, Larry Dendy, Jere Bowden, Jared Harper, Abbie Dillon, Abigail West, Christy Tweedy, Michael Brugger, Suki Janssen, Joe Dunlop, Korey Jones, and Susan Lyon (minutes). I. Welcome Commissioner Davenport called the meeting to order at 5:32 pm. Introductions. II. Public Comments Larry: The daffodils look great on the ramps. Suki congratulated Abigail West, who will be named the 2018 Waste Innovator at GreenLife Expo on the following Saturday. III. Approval of Minutes: November 14, 2018 Larry noted that he was in attendance at the last meeting and his name was left off. Commissioner Herod moved to approve with amendment; Larry seconded the motion; passed unanimously. IV. Division Reports (ATTACHMENT I & II) Keep Athens Clarke County Beautiful: Suki reviewed information from the last three months as presented in Attachment I. Additional information: The new Litter Abatement Specialist, Carlos Pinto will start with the Solid Waste Dept. on March 4th. The Eastside Spring Fling Festival partially funded the crape myrtles which are being planted in the loop medians. The Adopt Athens Community Appearance Program allows groups, mainly members of neighborhood associations, to adopt common greenspaces and work together to keep them clean. Recovered Materials Processing Facility/CHaRM, Recycling (ATTACHMENT II): Joe reviewed information from the last three months as presented in Attachment I. Additional Information: Cooking Oil is sent to a vendor in Monroe to be turned into fuel. Document destruction has been added to the CHaRM. ACC will no longer host one day shredding events. CHaRM mattress recycling is successful. The CHARM fills up a tractor trailer with 70-75 pieces every 5-6 weeks. The landfill fills up 2 of the tractor trailers about every 10 days. Staff toured the Atlanta Furniture Bank, where the mattresses are refurbished with new fabric and donated to homeless shelter. They are interested in helping organizations in Athens. UGA replaced mattresses in dorms every 6 years. Noted the SPLOST proposals for a new MRF (#49) at the landfill and to create a Creative Reuse space (#48). Staff presented the proposals to the SPLOST Committee on the second night of presentations. Suki did come back and ask for half of the initial proposal for a new MRF. She believes that we could work with a private company, possibly Pratt in Conyers, to put in equipment if we sign a contract for operations and have the building. Mayor and Commission asked for more information on the following subjects (see ATTACHMENT III). Susan to forward to members via email. ACC Recycling staff is currently focusing on recycling in schools and their goal is to work with one school per week. Commissioner Herod suggested staff go to annual Neighborhood Association meetings around town to educate citizens about eliminating plastic bags in recycling. The glass bottle program downtown is going well and we’ve been asked to expand it to restaurants and bars outside of downtown. Staff intends on increasing organics collection during downtown festivals, including the upcoming Twilight. The event organizer is requiring the vendors to use compostable wares. With the additional of a Correctional Officer at the landfill, diverting materials from the landfill is getting more attention. Inmates are working at the red building, where residential customers are sent to dump their load and then it is sorted before going into the landfill. This is the first time we have partnered with Corrections for a staff person. Joe is working with Joshua to improve landfill signage. Abigail stated that CHaRM had it first group of Bag-to-Bag volunteers and will continue. They helped clean up trash along the fence line and organized bins. Collections (Attachment I): Korey reviewed information from the last three months as presented in Attachment I. Dumpster Pilot program will start soon with sixteen (16) plastic dumpsters in the downtown area for upcoming events. We have been asked that they remain in place through Twilight. If the pilot is successful, we will look at decorated enclosures for the dumpsters. Collections received two (2) new roll-offs with automated tarping units (hard lids) to help with litter and prevent water from getting into the roll-off. We are required to have covered containers for scrap metal collection according to Industrial Stormwater guidelines. These are the first in Athens.  Landfill (Attachment I): Suki reviewed information from the last three months in Attachment I. Upcoming Events: GreenLife Expo – February 23rd at the ACC Library. Scrap Tire Amnesty – February 25th–March 1st at the landfill and CHaRM. Sustainable Industry Roundtable – February 21st at Creature Comforts Production Facility on Oneta St. UGA: There are currently six (6) sororities composting on campus. Dorms also are starting to compost more. Earth Festival at Live Wire on April 14th. A private haulers meeting is scheduled for March 25th. Oconee Waste Transport has sold their business to Advanced Disposal. The agenda includes discussion regarding potential zones. V. Other Business Our next meeting is scheduled for Wed., May 15th. The GA SWANA ROAD-E-O is scheduled for that day in Dublin, GA and staff will be attending. Susan will send out a doodle poll for another May meeting date. Commission Herod made the motion to adjourn; Commissioner Davenport seconded; and it passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 5:48 pm. Respectfully submitted by Susan Lyon Amended and Approved Unanimously 02.20.19