Manager's Memorandum

September 17, 2009

DATE: September 17, 2009

TO: District Policy Committee Members

FROM: Holly Christmann, Solid Waste Manager, Cory R. Chadwick, Director

I. Introduction/Opening Comments

NOTICE: This memo is for the meeting to be held on September 17, 2009. The meeting will begin at 9:30 am at Hamilton County Public Health located at 250 William Howard Taft, 2nd Floor, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219.

Policy Committee Information (Agendas, Manager's Memos, Minutes, etc.) is available on the District's Website at www.hamiltoncountyrecycles.org.

II. Clerk's Report/Additions to the Agenda

A. Approval of Minutes – Minutes from the July 16, 2009 Policy Committee meeting are included as Attachment A.

B. Additions to the Agenda – Please contact Susan Schumacher at 513-946-7734 if you have items to add to the agenda.

III. District Revenue Updates/Analysis

Updates will be provided on current revenue receipts and comparisons with prior years, as included in Attachment B.

IV. Health Department Update

As a result of the District’s Strategic Plan, quarterly updates on the Health Department contracts will be provided.  The quarterly report summaries for Hamilton County Public Health and Cincinnati Health Department are included as Attachment C.

V. Policy Items

A. Litter Collection Program

In 2008, the Policy Committee authorized the District to spend up to $40,000 to conduct a demonstration litter collection/enforcement project through a partnership with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful and the Sheriff’s Department.  The funds were used to conduct a litter collection program in the following eight communities:  Golf Manor, Delhi Township, Colerain Township, Green Township, Forest Park, Mt. Healthy, Lincoln Heights, and Cheviot.  Litter collection was also provided to eight Cincinnati neighborhood gateways and Over-the-Rhine. In addition to the District’s funding, the City of Cincinnati and 3CDC provided a total of $80,000. Results of the program from July 17, 2008 – July 31, 2009 are included as Attachment D.

Given the number of Committee members absent at the July Policy Committee meeting, the Committee voted to extend the litter collection through September 25, 2009, so the full Committee could vote on the future of the program.  From that discussion, there are two options to consider:

Option 1 – Approve Funding of Litter Collection Program through the end of 2009

This option would include funding for the litter collection through December 31, 2009, with the understanding that this issue will be revisited in respect to revenues and budget. If revenues continue to decrease, then the program would be discontinued. If revenues increase, the Policy Committee would make a decision on continuing the program past 2009. 

If the Committee chooses this option, in an effort to contain costs, staff recommends that the litter education component be eliminated. The cost to continue to the program through December is approximately $9,300.

Option 2 – Discontinue Funding of the Litter Collection Program as of September 25, 2009

This option would discontinue the litter collection program on September 25, 2009, which is the date the demonstration program is scheduled to end. 

District staff has serious concerns about the financial impacts of continuing the litter collection program.  While staff is not disputing the merits of this program, staff is very concerned about continued funding of this program given the continuing reductions in revenue.  For the first seven months of 2009, revenues have declined approximately 11% compared to 2008. Overall, staff anticipates a 17% revenue reduction for 2009, or approximately $500,000.  Given the reduction in revenue, staff is concerned about adding/continuing another program at this time, and does not recommend continuing the program. 

B.    Solid Waste Management Plan Update

GT Environmental, the District’s consultant to assist with the Solid Waste Management Plan Update, will be introduced to the Policy Committee.  GT Environmental will review the draft timeline of the Plan, included as Attachment E, and discuss the upcoming Policy Committee work session to take place in November.

C. Household Hazardous Waste

The District received and opened bids for the 2010 HHW program on Wednesday, August 26^th.  Four companies submitted bids: Clean Harbors, Environmental Enterprises, Veolia, and MXI.  District staff is evaluating these bids based upon cost, experience, and other criteria contained within the Invitation to Bid.  Staff will present a recommendation for proceeding with this project, through a specific vendor, at the September 17th meeting.

Staff Recommendation: To be presented at time of meeting.

D. Solid Waste Vehicle Purchase

The District has one vehicle for traveling to and from educational presentations, special events, and meetings.  The current vehicle is a 2001 Ford Windstar minivan with approximately 100,000 miles and a non-working transmission.  Therefore, the District needs to purchase a new vehicle for staff to attend school presentations and events. If approved, this would be the third vehicle in the history of the District.

Staff Recommendation: Staff recommends approval to purchase a new vehicle.

E. Cincinnati Yardwaste

In an effort to reduce costs, the City of Cincinnati suspended its separate curbside collection of yardwaste effective Friday, August 21, 2009.  The City is encouraging residents to backyard compost, use a City-sponsored drop-off site, or use the District’s yardwaste drop-off sites. Any yardwaste placed at the curb will be collected as garbage and disposed in the landfill. 

On average, the City collects between 10,000 – 12,000 tons of yardwaste per year.  Material collected is diverted from the landfill and taken to Evans Landscaping or Rumpke’s compost facilities.  In terms of cost, a packer truck of yardwaste taken to Evans Landscaping is a flat rate of $135; a packer truck of yardwaste taken to Rumpke’s compost facility is $100.  According to the City, a full packer truck can hold approximately 8 tons of material.  Therefore, the average cost per ton is $12.50 - $16.88, versus $28 per ton to have the material landfilled.  (Note that this per ton amount is based on 8 tons of yardwaste per packer truck.  There may be times throughout the year when the packer truck has less than 8 tons, which would cause the per ton amount to increase.)

The total cost for the separate yardwaste program is approximately $1.024 million.  Of this, approximately half is for personnel (28 part-time drivers and 1 supervisor).  The other half is non-personnel, such as fees for composting, fuel, truck maintenance, etc.

F. Creative Outdoor Advertising

In November, 2006, the Policy Committee was introduced to Creative Outdoor Advertising who manufactures “The Concourse”, a waste/recycling collection container that is placed in high traffic areas. Creative Outdoor Advertising services the containers at no cost to the municipality – the program is funded through the sale of advertisements on the container.

The Policy Committee directed Staff to inform Hamilton County political jurisdictions about this recycling program. Staff met with several political jurisdictions; however, none expressed an interest in pursuing this type of public recycling program. 

The Committee will discuss revisiting this type of public recycling/waste collection system during this meeting.

VI. Information/Discussion Items

A. Quarterly Performance Measures

Attachment F provides the results of the District’s programs for the second quarter of 2009.

B. Storm Debris Summary

Attachment G provides a summary of the District-funded storm debris clean-up as a result of the September 14, 2008 windstorm.  The total processing cost of the of the storm debris was $368,623.31.  Of that, the District anticipates receiving 75 percent reimbursement from FEMA which amounts to $276,467.71.

C. Alternative Technologies

Over the past two years, the District has examined on alternative technologies, primarily focused on diverting foodwaste.  As reported to the Committee, the District initiated a food waste committee to educate generators about diverting foodwaste. Unfortunately, there is currently no infrastructure in Hamilton County to accept foodwaste.  However, there are two facilities in Warren County that recently received their composting license to accept foodwaste (although neither is accepting waste yet).  Staff recently organized a meeting with one of the compost facilities to learn more about their operations. 

Aside from composting, the Policy Committee has expressed interest in alternative technologies to manage municipal solid waste such as plasma arc.  Staff recently attended a seminar focused solely on the status of these technologies.  Attachment H provides an update on the status of some of the alternative technology pilot projects.

D. Television Recycling Update

In response to the conversion to all digital broadcasting, the District is contractually operating a television recycling drop-off program in conjunction with the computer recycling drop-off program.  Unlike the computer recycling drop-off program, there is a charge for residents to recycle their televisions through the District’s contractor, 2trg.  The breakdown of fees is:

• No charge – Sony, Zenith, LG, Goldstar

• $10 Fee - Televisions that weigh less than 60 pounds

• $20 Fee - Televisions that weigh more than 60 pounds

The computer/television recycling drop-off is open Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and on the following Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.: June 12, August 8, and October 10.  The program opened May 1^st and concludes on December 30, 2009.

Results
Because the television and computer recycling drop-off programs are combined into one program, it is difficult to distinguish the number of residents that dropped off only televisions. From May 1 – August 14, a total of 1,237 residents participated in the computer/television recycling drop-off program.

From May 1 – August 14, 2009, a total of 901 televisions were collected which equals approximately 24.54 tons.

The table below summarizes the top ten users, by community and/or zip code.

¹Zip codes represented are solely within the City of Cincinnati. Zip codes include: 45208, 45209, 45213, 45220, 45233, 45224, 45226, 45202, 45223, 45206, 45229, 45205, 45232, 45216, 45204, 45207, 45214, 45225, 45203, 45219, 45228, 45250

E. Solid Waste Advisory Council Nomination

Holly Christmann was appointed to the Solid Waste Advisory Council (SWAC) by Governor Strickland, as the representative of single-county solid waste management districts.

As directed by ORC 3734.51, SWAC shall do all of the following:  A) Advise and assist the director of environmental protection with preparation of the state solid waste management plan and periodic revisions to the plan under section 3734.50 of the Revised Code; B) Approve or disapprove the draft state solid waste management plan and periodic revisions prior to adoption of the plan under section 3734.50 of the Revised Code; C) Annually review implementation of the state solid waste management plan and the solid waste management plans of county and joint solid waste management districts approved or ordered to be implemented.

VII. Tentative Future Agenda Items

VIII. Policy Committee Members' Comments

IX. Public Comments

X. Upcoming District Meetings

The next Policy Committee meeting is scheduled for November 19, 2009. This meeting will be held at Hamilton County Public Health, 250 William Howard Taft Road, 2nd Floor, Cincinnati, Ohio 45219 at 9:30 am.

XI. Adjournment (Target Time: 11:00 am)

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