Solid Waste Advisory Commission

Athens-Clarke County Minutes of the Quarterly Meeting of the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Committee Wednesday, May 26, 2021 via WebEx Present at Meeting: Commissioner Patrick Davenport, Larry Dendy, Michael Brugger, Abigail West, Tayor Maddalene, Erin Barger (Envision Athens), Wally Smith, Connor Keisling (Presentor), Suki Janssen, Joe Dunlop, and Susan Lyon (minutes). I. Welcome and Introductions Commissioner Davenport called the meeting to order at 5:37 pm. II. Approval of Minutes: February 17, 2021 Larry made a motion to approve minutes as presented; seconded by Michael, approved unanimously. III. Public Comments – No public comments. IV. Division Reports (ATTACHMENT I & II) – Susan sent out via email to members for review V. Other Business Committee Name – In order to be inclusive of all residents, it has been recommended that the word “citizen” be removed from the name of any ACC committee. Larry made the motion that the word “citizen” be dropped and committee should be known as Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC). Larry made a motion to accept new name, Taylor seconded, approved. Adopt-A-Highway – The committee is interested in adopting a street near the solid waste building as part of the KACCB Adopt-A-Highway building. Five (5) streets where sent to the committee for consideration. Susan will send out doddle polls quarterly to make arrangements for pick-ups. Suki mentioned that one of the most littered of the suggested roads is the Winterville Road from Spring Valley Road to Buddy Christian Way. Abigail made a motion to adopt Winterville Road; Larry seconded; passed unanimously. Black Lives Matter Resolution – no update. The ACC Attorney’s office has been short-staffed. The question about the school house is still in the Attorney’s office for review. After much research by the Clerk of Commission and SW staff, it has been determined that the Solid Waste (Citizen) Advisory Committee was an ad hoc committee created by then Mayor Gwen O’Looney at the time of Unification. No by-laws were required for ad-hoc committees. Susan will send out examples of by-laws to members to review and possibly use as a template to write a set for the committee. New Business Wally Smith expressed his concern about the enforcement of roll-carts left on the street and trash not being picked-up around Five Points neighborhood and the community. Suki explained that Code Enforcement Division is responsible for enforcing the ordinances. We will try to have an officer join in a future meeting to answer questions. Wally expressed that having the trash picked-up and the ordinances currently on the books should be the first concern of this committee. Plastic Bag Research presentation by Connor Keisling, UGA. Suki proposed to invite Attorney Sherrie Hines to the next meeting along with Dr. Jembeck’s research group to further look at the data and discuss what other data we would need to collect. Would like to see the committee have a proposal to send to the Mayor and Commission in the next 6-8 months. Wally expressed concern that the decision to have a ban/fee had already been made and would like to see information about the impact of not having a ban/fee. Suki explained that the Mayor had tasked the committee to research and present a proposal on a plastic bag ban/fee to present to the Commission. Larry affirmed that the committee had not endorsed any stand on the issue and that further information is needed. Susan notified members that all approved, previous committee meeting minutes are on the Solid Waste webpage for researching history. Also, any previous SWAC WebEx meetings can be found on the ACC YouTube Station. Michael made a motion to end the meeting; Larry seconded; passed unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 6:41 pm. Respectfully submitted by Susan Lyon: 08.18.21