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EQECA 01/11/2011 - 6564� ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ANp ENERGY COMMISSION �� FRIDLEY MUNICIPAL CENTER, 643t UNIVERSITY AVE NE F��� TUESDAY, JANUARY ��, zo��, 6:0o P.M. AGENDA Location: Meeting Rooms 1 and 2(lower level) 6:00 Call to Order 6:03 Approve Environmental Quality and Energy Commission Minutes: Tuesday, November 9, 2010 6:05 New Business a. Summary of Panel Discussions - Part 6 o Introduction by Dr. Burns, Fridley City Manager o Brief Summary of Panel Series —(Attached) o Options Regarding Solid Waste Collection (Attached) 7:35 Old Business a. 7:40 Staff Report a. Public Outreach Effort — Annual Participation in 49ers Parade (Discussion) b. 8:00 Other Business 8:01 Adjournment Required Reading Materials ■ Residents Respond Regarding Refuse Collection — Newsletter Article (Attached) ■ Garbage Haulers Address EQE Commission — Newsletter Article (Attached) Next Meetings/Activities/Announcements: ■ Tuesday, March 8, 6:00 p.m., Meeting Room 1 and 2(Lower Level) � ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ENERGY COMMISSION C��. FRIDLEY MUNIGIPAL CENTER, 6431 UNIVERSITY AVE NE �� TUESDAY, JANUARY �t, iot�, 6:0o P.M. BRIEF SUMMARY OF PANEL SERIES Series Summary- PART 6 Memo to: The Environmental Quality and Energy Commission From: Rachel Harris, Environmental Planner Subject: Summary of Panel Series Date: 1-6-11 From April — November 2010, Dr. Bill Burns, Fridley City Manager, facilitated a panel discussion about open hauling trash collection and organized trash collection. Each meeting had the same format with guest speakers and a 90 minute panel discussion. Only the topic changed from meeting to meeting. In April 2010, Sig Scheurle, MPCA, addressed benefits and challenges of implementing a city- wide organized garbage collection. In May 2010, Fritz Knaak, Fridley City Attorney, continued the discussion on the benefits and challenges of implementing a city-wide organized garbage collection. In July 2010, representatives from the three communities of Columbia Heights, Blaine and Robbinsdale, shared their experience with organized trash hauling systems. In September 2010, Darrick Zarling, University of Minnesota researcher, presented information about his diesel fuels study, while a Foth Infrastructure and Envirorunental consultant relayed a report conducted by Foth about the impacts of garbage truck tra�c on streets. A third presenter, Ben Worel of MN DOT was unable to attend. In November 2010, the haulers who are licensed to serve Fridley's residential refuse customers had an opportunity to comment and give position statements on organized garbage collection. These companies are Ace Solid Waste, Allied Waste, Walter's and Waste Management. After the five panel discussions on vaxious topics related to solid waste collection systems, the Environmental Quality and Energy Commission has an opportunity to make a recommendation on next steps. Dr. Burns issued a memo to commissioners with possible next steps. (The memo is included in this packet.) � � ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ENERGY COMMISSION G.�,� FRIDLEY MUNIUPAL CENTER, 643� UNIVERSITY AVE NE �� TUESDAY, JANUARY », zo��, 6:0o P.M. OPTIONS REGARDING SOLID WASTE COLLECTION Memo to: The Environmental Quality and Energy Commission From: Dr. Bill Burns, City Manager Subject: Options Regarding Solid Waste Collection Date: 1-6-11 Now that we've held five review sessions on various topics related to solid waste collection systems, we're facing decision time. Where do you want to go from here on this topic? Here are some options that you may want to consider. 1. Continue to study the issue. We could invite the twenty some individuals who replied to our December 2009 newsletter article indicating that they wanted organized collection to a future meeting. We might also hold a discussion related to establishing organized collection by district. Additionally we might have a review session to review what we learned in 2010. Finally, we might take some time to review the results of the study being completed by MNDOT's Local Road Reseazch Boaxd on the impacts of garbage trucks on local streets. This multi-faceted study is expected to be completed in summer 2011. Staff has additional details about the study. If you wish to review it, please contact Rachel Harris at 763-572-3594. 2. Use Chapter 7 of the Fridley City Charter to get the organized collection issue on the ballot. According to City Attorney Fritz Knaak, we could do this by having Council pass a resolution declaring the necessity for organized collection and identifying the purposes for which additional fees would be required. After a three-week time lapse, Council would hold a public hearing and consider a resolution (by at least four affirmative votes) that would approve clear and concise ballot language that would be on the ballot at the next General Election. Fifiy-one percent of those voting would be needed to approve the amendment. 3. Use Chapter 5 of the Fridley City Charter to get the organized collection issue on the ballot. This method would require the inspiration of an initiative petition written by at least five registered voters. This group would need to file a copy of a proposed ordinance providing for organized collection. They would then need to circulate a petition over a 30 day period. If they were successful in getting 10% of our registered voters to sign the petition (15,236 x.10 = 1,524), Council must consider the ordinance within 65 days after receiving the petition. Council would then hold a public hearing and determine whether or not to adopt the ordinance. If Council � ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ENERGY COMMISSION C�.�,� FRIDLEY MUNICIPAL CENTER, 643i UNIVERSITY AVE NE F�� TUESDAY, JANUARY ��, zo�t, 6:0o P.M. fails to adopt the ordinance, or if they modify it, the ordinance must be submitted to the voters at the next General Election. If, however, those circulating the initiative petition are successful in getting 15% of Fridley's registered voters to sign the petition (15,236 x.15 = 2,286) the Council may again choose whether or not they want to adopt the ordinance and the ordinance need not be submitted to the electorate. If they don't adopt it, they are required to submit it to the voters in a special election, unless a regularly scheduled election will be held within three months. 4. Submit the issue to the public through an informal online survey using Survey Monkey. This could be done in one of two ways. The least expensive method would be to select a random sample of less than 1,000 Fridley residents. Each resident selected would be asked to go online and complete a survey using Survey Monkey. The results could be tabulated and submitted to the EQEC and Council. At that point, the EQEC and Council could decide their next step. Survey Monkey would charge us $19.99 a month. Assuming we took three months to do it, we'd be into just shy of $90. We used this tool for the Council-Commission Survey last year with great success. The other Survey Monkey alternative would be to survey the entire community. We suspect that this would force us to get an annual Survey Monkey membership that would cost $299. This is still cheap when you consider the cost of hiring a consultant to do a survey. Recommendation Given the current political climate as it relates to this issue, I suggest that we take the following steps: 1. Spend some additional time considering organized collection by district. 2. Try to get a sense of commitment from those residents who have told us they favor organized collection. We might do this by inviting some of the more ardent supporters that we have heard from to a future meeting. 3. Review what we have learned in 2010. 4. Keep a close eye on the LRRB study and any results that are forthcaning during summer 2011. 5. Continue to address this issue through cable television shows and the City newsletter. 6. Develop a caxefully considered list of pros and cons of organized collection. Use it as a narrative for an informal survey of Fridley residents using Survey Monkey. 7. Following the survey, determine whether or not more formal steps toward adoption of organized collection should be taken. � � ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ENERGY COMMISSION C�� FRIDLEY MUNICIPAL CENTER, 643� UNIVERSITY AVE NE F��� TUESDAY, JANUARY ��, io�1, 6:0o P.M. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE BY DR. BILL BURNS, FEBRUARY 2011 Garbage Haulers Address EQEC On Tuesday, November 9, 2010, representatives from the four garbage hauling firms that operate in Fridley addressed the members of the City's Environmental Qua.lity and Energy Commission on a variety of topics related to the study of solid waste collection systems. This was the fifth meeting dedicated to examining these systems. The representatives included George Walters from Walters Sanitation and Environmental Services, Mike Berkopec from Ace Solid Waste, Rich Hirstein from Allied Waste, and Julie Ketchum from Waste Management. Attorney Doug Carnival from the National Solid Waste Council was also there to represent the haulers and served as their principal spokesman. The haulers pointed out that historically, no cities have been successful in converting from open garbage hauling in more than twenty years. They also pointed out that the vast majority of Minnesota cities have open collection systems where garbage haulers are able to compete freely for garbage hauling contracts. Mike Berkopec also offered that he has been growing his business since 1992 when he purchased Pretzel's Sanitation. He says that changing the game at this point threatens the value of his business and is unfair. Similazly, George Walters pointed out that he began his business in 1956 and will fight to keep his business. The representatives from Allied Waste and Waste Management indicated that as national firms, they had operated in both organized and open garbage collection systems and generally seemed open to whatever system cities chose to implement. As the discussion turned to the advantages of open vs. organized collection systems, Doug Carnival offered that open systems give residents control of their purchasing decisions. He also offers that because of the competition, services are better in an open system than they are in an organized system. Additionally, he stated that administrative costs are less expensive than in an organized system where the cities introduce an additional layer of administration. He also objects to the long contracts with haulers found in organized systems and to the inability of residents to choose someone else if they are dissatisfied with service. Finally, he stressed that organized systems create additional legal liability for cities. Having discussed advantages of open systems, the haulers next turned to costs. George Walters began by stating that it's very difficult to compare costs among haulers because haulers each offer � ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ENERGY COMMISSION C��. FRIDLEY MUNICIPAL CENTER, 643� UNIVERSITY AVE NE F�� TUESDAY, JANUARY tt, zo��, 6:0o P.M. a wide variety of services. City Manager Bill Burns, the discussion leader for the evening, pointed out that the organized systems also differ widely in the vaziety of services they offer as well as their costs. The discussion next turned to environmental issues. At this point the haulers argued that the carbon emissions from the solid waste industry are miniscule compared to other sources of pollution, such as automobiles. Moreover, the garbage haulers are constantly improving the energy efficiency of their equipment. They also point out that you have the same number of garbage stops in an organized system as there are in an open system. Additionally, since the number of stops is divided among four haulers in Fridley, the trucks generally are lighter than they would be in an organized system. Julie Ketchum also offered that most of the studies of impacts on the environment have provided only intuitive information, and that much more research needs to be done to verify the impacts of garbage trucks on things like air quality and degradation of streets. The discussions next turned to ways in which gaxbage haulers in an open system might be willing to work with cities on problems they perceive with current collection processes. In general the haulers indicated a willingness to cooperate with cities on things such as routes, starting times, and gazbage can placement. There were many other comments made throughout the ninety minute discussion on both sides of the organized vs. open collection issue. The entire discussion has been playing as a video production on Channel 17, Fridley's cable television channel. We invite you to watch this production if you wish to learn more. If you have questions or comments about this article, please direct them to City Manager Bill Burns by calling 763-572-3500. NEWSLETTER ARTICLE BY DR. BILL BURNS, APRIL 2010 Residents Respond Regarding Refuse Collection In the December issue of the Fridley Community Report, we pointed out that residents had been questioning why the City of Fridley did not have an organized garbage collection system similar to those in Minneapolis, Blaine, and Columbia Heights. We also described organized collection in terms of cost, impact on illegal dumping, hidden costs to cities, impact on the life of City streets, and environmental impacts. Additionally, we pointed out that, as recently as 2007, the majority of Fridley resdents who responded to our citizen survey opposed the adoption of an organized collection system in � � ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ENERGY COMMISSION ��-�� FRIDLEY MUNICIPAL CENTER, 643� UNIVERSITY AVE NE ��� TUESDAY, JANUARY ��, Zot�, 6:0o P.M. Fridley. Finally, we asked you whether circumstances had changed and whether you thought Fridley should be adopting an organized collection system. You w�e asked to contact Mayor Scott Lund with your responses. Mayor Lund received twenty-six emails and two telephone calls. Of the twenty-eight responses, twenty-one said that the City should proceed with organized collection. Six said that we shouldn't. One other person inquired about recycling containers with no apparent position on the organized collection issue. Here is a sampling of some of the comments the Mayor received. Comments from those who agreed that Fridley should have an organized collection system: "The City should be able to negotiate a much better price per household than the individual homeowners. . ." "There seems to be too many garbage trucks driving through our streets each week spewing pollution, making noise, and damaging our roads." "Having numerous garbage trucks on City streets is too costly to ignore." "The garbage trucks are known for their extreme axle loads. Their negative effect on the roadways, especially City streets that are not designed for heavy loads, is a fact. Another factor often overlooked is the effect of acceleration, and even more so, heavy braking on streets' surfaces." "If capacity is an issue, perhaps the City could be split into territories and the two lowest bidders could cover separate azeas." "I believe in the free enterprise system, but I also believe that there are basic services, which include gazbage removal, that should be managed by the City to obtain the best results and not create the problems I see today." "I would like to go on record in favor of a move away from free market to organized collection. Our garbage is collected on Wednesdays and we have garbage trucks making at least four round trips up and down our street. In the summer when they pick up yard waste, there are three more round trips." Comments from those who believe the City should keep its current, free market collection system: "The air and noise pollution alluded to in the recent newsletter appear to be non-existent in our neighborhood." "I feel as though we must be careful in our decision to switch to an organized system. We as citizens axe slowly surrendering our rights in many aspects of our lives." � � ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ENERGY COMMISSION C�.��. FRIDLEY MUNICIPAL CENTER, 643� UNIVERSITY AVE NE F��-� TUESDAY, JANUARY �t, io», 6:0o P.M. "The City does not need to take on the financial responsibility of contract negotiation and delinquent accounts." "Private enterprise is the only solution." "I do not want someone regulating who can drive through my neighborhood." "I can't find anywhere in the Constitution that garbage collection is a government function." Mike Berkopec, Ace Solid Waste, asks that our readers read the haulers' point of view at Mngarbagefacts.com. Although these comments aze the results of a straw poll rather than a random sample, they do represent those who responded. We would like to thank those who took the time to respond. The City staff will continue to investigate the merits of the two collection systems and report its � findings in future newsletters.