SWC Meeting Minutes
SWC MEETING MINUTES- 04/15/2019
1)Meeting was Called to order at 5:40 pm.
2) Call of Attendance- Present; Jen Holt,Tara Albert, Dave Swanay, Jeff Burns,Bob White & Andy Sanborn.
Absent; none.
3)Vote to allow Alternate- Not needed full quorum present.
4) SWC/ BOS Updates- Jen informed SWC that she met with Rick Razinha on 3/26/19 and the BOS on 3/27/19. A copy of the SWC presentation made to the Board of Selectman on 3/27/19 was provided . This recommendation is also included in the minutes. Jen reported that the SWC recommendations were well received and the Select board agrees that “ everyone being on the same page and having the same knowledge base of the Solid Waste market and best practices” is vital moving forward. John Olmstead has volunteered to attend “Rethinking Recycling “ on May 2 at DES. Tom Salatiello volunteered to attend the Annual NRRA conference on May 20 & 21st. Rick Razinha will be attending all 3 education opportunities. A joint meeting between SWC,Rick Razinha and the BOS will be scheduled in June to discuss future goals for the Transfer Station.
Jen asked the BOS if the role of SWC per Article 2 of the 12/2015 Special Town meeting remains pertinent given that the Transfer Station manager position has been replaced with the title of Department head? The Transfer Station D.H is autonomous in regard to the budget,fee setting,contracts,equipment and policies. Historically SWC has functioned in partnership with the T.S. Manager and has served as a resource for research and functioned as an additional set of “eyes” in regard to the budget. Currently, the Transfer Station is functioning over budget in many categories. The increasing cost of hauling and trucking has been a concern to SWC. During a meeting with the D..H. On 3/26, it was revealed that MSW and S.S. Containers are emptied every week regardless of how full each container is. Avoidable Costs concerns were discussed. As well as SWC recommendation for the C&D fee scale revisal to help ensure transparency and accuracy. The T.S. Department Head reports all costs and profits are recorded by him in a notebook. “Currently, MSW has a $10,577.00 profit. C&D during 12/27/18-01/17/19 made a $50.00 profit”. The BOS responded that the role of SWC is the same as it has always been, to make recommendations to the BOS not the Transfer Station D.H.
During the meeting between the T.S. Department head and the SWC Chair on 3/26 The possibility of resuming Baling was discussed , the D.H. Supports baling and has suggested using the “dead space” off the current building for additional use. The D.H. Reports Sanbornton has 2 functioning vertical balers. The 2016 joint walk thru by NRRA, local T.S. Managers,SWC,Sanbornton T.S. Manager and the resulting report was discussed. SWC Chair shared information with the D.H. on; grants available for recyclable material storage containers,education opportunities , recordings posted by SWC on Town based Facebook accounts to assist in educating the public on glass separation and reviewed SWC ability to assist in budget preparation, contracts, research, etc.
5) T.S. Fiscal Updates- Dave provided handouts with an overview of his presentation for SWC, these are included in the minutes. The Transfer Station continues to function over budget. As of the end of February for hauling budget was-$17,622.00.
$22,320.00 has been spent.
6)Solid Waste Market Updates-Tara the markets are bleak. However with public education and residents adhering to proper recycling practices( rinse recyclable items,remove lids, don’t wish-cycle). we could have a more positive economical impact on our town.
7) Vote o Accept/ Amend SWC Meeting Minutes of 3/18/19. Tara made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of 3/18/19 as written. Dave second the motion. There was no discussion. The vote as follows; Yea-5, No-0, Abstain-0. The motion to accept the minutes as written passes unanimously.
8) Vote on Alternate May meeting date. Motion was made by Jen, Second by Tara. Discussion- Jen requests the May meeting be moved due to scheduling conflicts. All members agree and choose 5/13/19.
Vote- Yea-5, No-0, Abstain-0. Motion carried unanimously.
9)Other Business - Andy clarified disposal of solar panels. Andy informed the committee that the Transfer Station should not accept solar panels. Residents should instead contact the vendor of their solar panels for proper disposal. There is a manufacturer based recycling association for solar panel disposal
10)Public Comment - None
11) Next Regular Meeting - 05/13/19 at 5:30 pm.
12) Meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jen Holt, SWC Chair & Recorder
04/22/2019
SWC Meeting HANDOUTS - 3 in Total
1.) SWC RECOMMENDATIONS TO BOS-03/27/19
In order to foster knowledge continuity between BOS,SWC and the Transfer Station,SWC is strongly recommending and requesting that a BOS member attend 2 educational opportunities in May.
The goal of the educational presentations is for SWC,BOS and the Transfer Station manager to “ all be on the same page”. SWC believes that to best serve the Town, all parties involved need to have the same knowledge base regarding the Solid Waste Market,trends and best practices.
The Educational opportunities are as follows;
1.) “Rethinking Recycling” - May 2,2019 at DES in Concord . This presentation will provide valuable information regarding the state of the current Solid Waste markets,the financial impact and practical applications for municipalities. Attending; SWC- Jen Holt & Jeff Burns.
Transfer Station-Rick
2.) “Annual NRRA Conference for Municipal Transfer Station Operators”- May 20 and May 21st.
Previous Transfer Station managers; Johnny Vantassel,Brian Boudreau and Kevin Austin routinely attended this annual conference. It provides education,updates to Best practices,new developments and allows for professional Networking.
Attending; Transfer Station-Rick.
SWC-Tara Albert
3) An Additional informational opportunity would be for BOS to Invite Mike Durfor, NRRA Executive Director, as soon as possible to a BOS meeting. Mike can provide concise information to the Board and Rick regarding Solid Waste markets,Source Separation,best practices,available grants and answer questions.
4)Upon completion of the recommended education opportunities it would be beneficial to hold a joint meeting between BOS,the Transfer Station manager and SWC to troubleshoot the rising cost burden of Solid Waste management and discuss long term goals
5) Solar panel disposal-Tara researched the BOS request for “solar panel disposal verbiage for the Transfer Station Operating Manual”. DES recommends each facility contact their “E-Waste” vendor for Solar Panel disposal instructions. “E-Waste” is the company that handles disposal of electronics and TV’s for the town.
Thank you for your time and consideration of SWC educational recommendations.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Holt-Chair, 3/27/2019
2.) Contract Services and Trucking -Dave Swanay
A recent review of Sanbornton town financial records from the transfer station showed that the year to date expenses for Contract Services is over budget, and the expenses for Trucking is likely to exceed budget by year end. The following attempts to explain why these expenses are greater than expected.
Nowhere is it stated or written exactly which expenses are included in the “Contract Services” category. Using the NRRA monthly expense records provided to the town and to this committee, a best estimate was made as to which expenses are in this category and these are shown in the accompanying chart. Trucking charges from the NRRA report are also shown. The total shown in the chart for Contract Services of $71,644.41 is quite close to the town's accounting of $71584.96 so we believe the chart is reasonably accurate. The chart's total of $18,093.28 for Trucking is lower than the town's accounting for Trucking of 19,017.36 by $924.08 so there are perhaps some trucking charges not included in the NRRA records.
Projecting the expenses to the end of the fiscal year using a simple linear extrapolation shows that Contract Services may exceed the budget of $67,070 by over $28,000, and Trucking by $1800 using the numbers in the chart, or by a little over $3000 if we use the town figure for total trucking charges to date. Taken together, the budget for these two items may exceed budget by over $30,000.
Part of the reason for the above may be attributed to the increase in the fee to dispose of single stream recyclable materials. At the beginning of the fiscal year (July 2018) the cost to dispose of single stream was $70/ton. This fee subsequently rose to a high of $140/ton, and is now at $125/ton. This increase could not have been predicted when the transfer station budget was created.
Trucking charges on the other hand are controlled by contract and are fairly predictable. However, transfer station policy regarding hauls of
single stream are, it is believed, causing unnecessary expense.
Prior to the installation of the single stream compactor, there were two open top canisters that were hauled each week for a total of 8 hauls per month. Each haul averaged roughly 2 tons. The compactor was supposed to reduce the haul expenses by packing more material into a single canister. This was proven in February 2017 when the number of hauls was 2 per month instead of 8, and the weight per haul was around 6 tons. This continued until May of 2017 when the hauls increased to 4 per month and the weight dropped to roughly 4 tons per haul. This may have been necessary because of summer hours at the station and the return of the town's summer residents.
The amount of single stream may be higher in the summer but it is considerably less in the winter. Now with the removal of glass the amount of single stream per week is running (roughly) around 2.5 tons per week. It may be convenient to management to haul every week on a schedule instead of hauling only when the canister is full, but it is an unnecessary expense. The canister has been shown to be capable of handling up to 6 tons of material, and during winter months it would be financially advantageous to haul only when needed, or roughly twice per month. At $155 per haul for truck charges, we could potentially save $310 per month if the single stream was hauled only when needed. Over the winter, this is around a $2000 savings.
3.) Transfer Station Expenses- (available for viewing above under "upload ed files")Contract Services & Trucking
July 2018 - March 2019
Transfer Station Expenses
Contract Services & Trucking
July 2018 - March 2019
TIPPING FEE
TRUCKING
TOTAL
C&D
$13,953.16
$4,855.00
$18,808.16
MSW
$34,805.00
$5,800.00
$40,605.00
Single Stream
$19,393.75
$6,110.00
$25,503.75
Fluorescent Bulbs
$229.68
$229.68
Electronics
$2,136.82
$2,136.82
Scrap Metal Trucking
$0.00
$1,363.28
$1,363.28
Freon Removal
$1,126.00
$1,126.00
Container Rental
$1,080.00
Totals
$71,644.41
$18,128.28
$90,852.69
Projected
$95,525.88
$24,171.04
$121,136.92
Budget
$67,070.00
$22,320.00
$89,390.00
Difference
$28,455.88
$1,851.04
$31,746.92