City Council

Minutes were approved by the Public Works Subcommittee on March 13, 2023. CITY OF LACONIA - CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING Public Works Committee August 25, 2022 - 7:00 P.M. City Hall - Armand A. Bolduc Council Chamber 8/25/2022 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Haynes called the meeting to order at 4:05 pm. 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chairman Haynes led the salute to the flag. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Nancy Brown, Administrative Assistant to the City Manager 4. ROLL CALL Recording Secretary Brown called the roll of the following Councilors: Councilor Soucy and Chairman Haynes. Councilor Tony Felch was absent. Chairman Haynes stated that a majority of the Committee members were in attendance, and a quorum was established. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Scott Myers, City Manager; Glenn Smith, Finance Director; and Wes Anderson, Public Works Director 6. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 6.A. Public Works Subcommittee meeting minutes of July 21, 2022 Minutes of the Public Works Subcommittee meeting of July 21, 2022 were distributed to the Subcommittee on August 23, 2022. With no corrections or changes submitted to the Clerk, the minutes were accepted as distributed. 7. PUBLIC WORKS (Haynes (Chair), Felch, Soucy) 7.A. Discussion on the proposed solid waste curbside collection cart allocation plan Public Works Director Wes Anderson provided the City Council with information related to automated solid waste pickup and the proposed solid waste cart allocation plan. He noted that there will be some City Council decisions coming up soon regarding this plan. At the September 12, 2022 City Council meeting he will make a presentation to the full Council, and at the September 26, 2022 meeting the Council will be asked to make a decision on the number of solid waste carts to be ordered. The proposed contract for automated solid waste and recycling collection is based on 5,400 stops, solid waste pickup and the proposed solid waste cart allocation plan. He noted that there will be some City Council decisions coming up soon regarding this plan. At the September 12, 2022 City Council meeting he will make a presentation to the full Council, and at the September 26, 2022 meeting the Council will be asked to make a decision on the number of solid waste carts to be ordered. The proposed contract for automated solid waste and recycling collection is based on 5,400 stops, including the two summer pickups in the Weirs that occur. Pickup of each container is considered a stop. The initial plan calls for carts to be provided to all curbside collection customers. Public Works will be identifying those streets that will still have to be manual collection because they are one-way streets or cul-de-sacs. Director Anderson stated that property owners on private roads will have to bring their trash to the City’s right of way. This will also be the case for some of the streets that the City is looking at not providing service to, such as Plantation & Colonial, Hadley and New Hope Drive. Councilor Soucy asked what will happen if property owners do not properly space their containers for pickup. Director Anderson replied that the containers will not be picked up. Director Anderson stated that the current curbside container allowance for a single family (or apartment/condo complex with three units or less) is two 30-gallon containers for trash and no limit on recycling. Businesses now get a maximum of seven 30-gallon containers, and apartments/condos over three units also max out at seven 30-gallon containers, also with unlimited recycling. Research from other communities shows that very few provide services to businesses. The communities that do limit those services to certain areas. City Manager Myers pointed out that the challenge is that all businesses cannot be treated equally in terms of collection of trash and recycling as some businesses may be more trash intensive than others. A Recycling Partnership grant to assist the City in converting its recycling system from manual to automated collection would provide $15 per cart reimbursement towards the purchase of recycling carts for residential properties. Households would be getting one 96-gallon cart for recycling to be put out for collection every other week. City Manager Myers pointed out that part of the reason for the proposed 96-gallon recycling container is that all recycling materials (including cardboard, which is sometimes flattened and placed next to a recycling bin) will need to fit completely into the container. There will still be the option of bringing cardboard to the Messer St. location. This will also be true for businesses. City Manager Myers added that if an elderly or disabled resident does not generate that much recycling and would prefer a smaller container, the City would make that exception. The current proposal would allow single family households, duplexes and triplexes one 64-gallon container per unit for disposing of trash per week. Recycling, which presently has no limit, will be restricted to one 96-gallon container under the proposed plan. Businesses will go from being allowed seven 30-gallon containers for trash to four 64-gallon containers; and from no limit for recycling to four 96-gallon containers. Apartments and condo complexes over three units will go from being allowed seven 30-gallon containers currently for trash to four 64-gallon containers; and from no limit for recycling to four 96-gallon containers. City Manager Myers noted that an additional cage for cardboard was placed at the Messer Street location recently, providing twice the capacity as previously. Councilor Soucy asked what would happen if an apartment complex, for example, has more than the proposed four 96-gallon cans every two weeks of recycling. City Manager Myers answered a program could be developed with an annual fee charged; the property owner would have to buy the container themselves in that case. He added that the City is not looking to increase the amount of trash picked up. If an apartment complex, etc. needed more capacity for trash they would have to get a dumpster for that property, or take the trash up to the Transfer Station and pay for it as a Laconia property owner. Chairman Haynes raised the concern of someone parking in front of a container resulting in the container not being able to be picked up. City Manager Myers answered that is part of the planned education process. In the early stages of automated collection, the driver could get out of the truck,  get a dumpster for that property, or take the trash up to the Transfer Station and pay for it as a Laconia property owner. Chairman Haynes raised the concern of someone parking in front of a container resulting in the container not being able to be picked up. City Manager Myers answered that is part of the planned education process. In the early stages of automated collection, the driver could get out of the truck, make a note and put a sticker on the container as to why it was not picked up. If the same situation occurred multiple times, eventually the container would not be emptied. Director Anderson stated that the target date for implementation of the automated pickup is April 1, 2023. Motion made by Councilor Soucy to accept the recommendations provided by the Public Works Director, and present those recommendations to the City Council at the September 12, 2022 meeting. Seconded by Chairman Haynes. From the audience Councilor Cheney asked about the possibility of giving out some 96-gallon containers for trash. City Manager Myers answered that the City is trying to encourage more recycling because it is more cost effective. He added that a lot of food trash could be composted. The cost of solid waste is going to be increasing at a much greater rate than the cost of recycling. He does not feel the City should think about starting an a la carte service for trash removal choices. City Manager Myers does think, however, that allowing someone who wants an additional 96-gallon recycling container to pay a $135 annual fee (plus the cost of the container) would be appropriate. Chairman Haynes’ voiced his concerns that part of the educational process has to be that this trash removal situation is not going to be cheap, and it is going to get worse. There is no easy fix and he believes this information has to be included in any education that is provided to the residents. The amount of City services and the expectation of future City services cannot continue at its current pace if there is going to be an exorbitant price increase in solid waste removal. Councilor Soucy stated he has no problem with spending money on the educational component of this proposal. Director Anderson noted that part of the Recycling Partnership grant funds provide $1 per cart purchased for educational purposes. City Manager Myers added that sample instructional videos were provided to the Council previously; it would not be necessary to re-invent the wheel. He stated that there will definitely be quirks along the way that we will work through as they come along, but nothing that would be insurmountable. The motion was unanimously approved. 8. Any other business that may come before the Committee There was no other business to come before the Committee. 9. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Haynes adjourned the meeting at 4:45 pm.