Solid Waste Advisory Commission

Athens-Clarke County Minutes of the Quarterly Meeting of the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Committee Wednesday, November 18, 2021 via WebEx Present at Meeting: Commissioner Andy Herod, Commissioner Patrick Davenport, Larry Dendy, Michael Brugger, Jere Bowden, Suki Janssen, Joe Dunlop, Mason Towe, and Susan Lyon (minutes). I. Welcome Commissioner Herod called the meeting to order at 5:32 pm. II. Approval of Minutes: September 2, 2020 Andy pointed out two typos that needed to be corrected. Patrick made a motion to approve minutes with two corrections; seconded by Michael, approved unanimously. III. Public Comments - None IV. Division Reports (ATTACHMENT I & II) Suki reviewed division reports. Andy inquired as to why the two littering cases were dismissed in court. (The information was not immediately available and the answer was emailed the following day to members. The officers indicated on the ticket that the violation was a state offense instead of a local ordinance, which directs the ticket to the Solicitor’s office. Due to the pandemic, the office is only prosecuting cases involving victims.) Joe: The tonnage at the MRF is up by 11 tons/month, which we were seeing pre-COVID. The residue rate has dropped slightly to approximately 20%. In FY19, we were at 20.2% residue, which is comparable to other facilities. The next major repair will be the replacement of the glass crusher (Capital expenditure of $60,000), which is still the original piece of equipment. This replacement should help the residue rate drop further. CHaRM is bringing in approximately $4,000/month revenue from fees and materials. Rates were recently adjusted to make simpler. Even with COVID restrictions at the CHaRM, attendance continues to increase with approximately 540 customers per month. Recycling Division received a $9,400 application grant (no match grant) from the Food Service Packaging Institute to implement recycling best practices. The money will be used to create an educational truck wrap with new messaging for one of the new automated trucks. Coke gave us a $7,500 award to help reduce contamination. ACC received a low invoice for processing from the MRF last month and if this trend continues, that will free up more funds for public education materials. Suki: ACC did not see increased trash tonnage at the landfill during COVID because the students were away for a long period of time. Tonnages at the landfill are down by approximately 5% and recycling was down by approximately 20%. The collections division has received two new automated trucks and received M&C approval to purchase two more automated trucks and one front-end loader. The trucks will receive a graphic wrap designed by KACCB and Recycling.  Good Morning America presented a segment on the three female ACCSW drivers. Females make up less than 1% of drivers in the waste industry. No ACCSW routes have been suspended due to the pandemic. Solid Waste will be hiring a staff person soon to operate the compost routes, which will allow the program to grow. Landfill appointments will continue indefinitely during the pandemic. The current Greater Promise Program student worker, Autumn Jones, is available to assist residents with making an appointment if the resident does not have availability to a computer. Staff continue to accommodate residents as much as possible while the appointment system is in place. V. Other Business An official vote is needed from the SWCAC allowing Suki to proceed working with consultants to analyze how the disposal of the old school house on the landfill property will affect the buffers at the landfill. Suki requested direction from the committee to pursue conversations with the landfill consultants to find out how releasing the school property to the church will impact the landfill buffers and what else we need to consider (i.e. groundwater wells, methane monitoring wells). Contamination in that area would be highly unlikely since the nearest area where trash was dumped is Phase III, which is closed and located on the other side of the pond. Nothing has ever been buried on the front of property. Andy suggested moving the building be considered another option when discussing with the consultants and EPD. Andy made a formal motion to give Suki the approval to pursue the matter with the consultants; Patrick seconded and it passed unanimously. ACCSW is working with the Regional Commission to discuss the regional solid waste management plan. Sites in every county in our region have been identified where landfills can be placed and will be presented to the ACC M&C for input. Then ACCSW will go back and alter our solid waste management plan, which will then tie into the Envision Athens goals and will help SW with a future strategic plan. The committee voiced their appreciation to Commissioner Herod for his years serving on the SWCAC and the Commission. This is his last meeting. Patrick made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Larry seconded; and the meeting was adjourned at 6:22 pm. Respectfully submitted by Susan Lyon: 02.17.21 Approved: 02.17.21