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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1990-02-27 MinutesMINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS A special meeting of the Fayetteville City Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, February 27, 1990, at 8:30 a.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. PRESENT: Mayor William V. Martin, Directors Michael Green, Russ Kelley, Ernest Lancaster, Paul Marinoni, Jr., Shell Spivey, and Fred Vorsanger, Assistant City Manager Scott Linebaugh, City Attorney Jerry Rose, City Clerk Sherry Thomas, members of the staff, press, and audience. CALL TO.ORDER The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with seven directors present. The Mayor stated the purpose of the meeting was to consider a bid waiver on a contract to purchase equipment for a solid waste transfer station. SOLID WASTE TRANSFER STATION Linebaugh stated that Northwest Waste Management had its landfill permit revoked as of March 2, 1990 by the Department of Pollution Control and Ecology (DPC&E). They will have to stop taking waste as of March 15. This placed the City in an immediate need to find a new source to dispose of solid waste. Staff has been working for a.period of time in this direction based on the shaky nature of Northwest Waste Management. Staff has looked at several options available including (1) speeding up the bid process to put out a bid for solid waste disposal, (2) build the temporary transfer station that was already set into motion a while back by entering into a contract with Crafton Tull & Associates, and (3) looked at working out a temporary contract for landfilling. There are four landfills that are interested in our solid waste; three of them are outside of the region and will require transfer costs that will be a major factor in our sanitation bills. A full transfer station will cost somewhere between $118,000 and $160,000. Staff feels that it is necessary to enter into the contract and get the transfer station underway. The disposal cost is going from $9 per ton to a minimum of $19 per ton and possibly up as high as $24 per ton. Bob Kelly stated Staff has been in constant contact with. the DPC&E and the regional planning group. The City is completely dovetailing their project. Sunray only has 1 1/2 years of capacity at this time, and if we utilized their landfill, it would take them to less than 1 year capacity. A transfer station is imminent in the future of Northwest Arkansas at this.time. To locate a landfill here would take 3-4 years. All of the leading industries in a solid waste transfer -compactors were contacted. The proper size of compactor for Fayetteville is an 8 yard capacity. 82 February 27, 1990 S & P Industries at $31,051.75 plus sales tax was the low price. It can be connected to a roll off trailer or to a compactor trailer. Linebaugh stated that the prices submitted were quotes and not bids, so an ordinance approving the bid waiver is required. He also stated there was a good chance that Fayetteville could receive a grant from the Solid Waste Management Act that will help reduce the costs. Since this project does fit into the plans of the regional group, this would not be a wasted expenditure down the road. The ordinance was read for the first time. Director Marinoni, seconded by Kelley, made a motion to suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its second reading. Upon roll call, the motion passed, 7-0. The ordinance was read for the second time. Director Marinoni, seconded by Kelley, made a motion to further suspend the rules and place the ordinance on its third and final reading. The City Attorney read the ordinance for the third time. Kelley asked if there was a statute of limitations on the possible reimbursement under the act. Linebaugh stated there was no guarantee that there would even be an allowance to do this. The City is under the belief that it can be done if the regional planning board works it out with Pollution Control. He wanted to make it clear that it is not positive that the grant will be awarded. Bob Kelly stated the grant was set in the law, but the regulations have not been written at this point. Kelley asked what type of life extension of the equipment is obtained by going this route over the traditional landfill method. Bob Kelly stated the City would see a savings in maintenance costs on compactor trucks. It will be better to carry the load on a truck that is designed to travel long distances. Green asked what type of time frame was the City working under. Bob Kelly stated there would not be an operable transfer station by March 15 even if the equipment was purchased today. There is a two week delivery time on the equipment. Jerry Rose stated he had talked with one of the attorneys for Northwest Waste Management, and he indicated they would appeal the closing order for March 15. There is some hope that the City could continue past March 15 with the current contract with Northwest. Spivey asked what the City would do in the interim. Kelly stated there were a couple of options. Sunray has always been extremely helpful, and they have a meeting with them tomorrow. We could haul the uncompacted waste out of state, but this would be extremely expensive. Morton stated the City of Siloam Springs has offered to let us use their transfer facility on an interim basis, but we would have to drive our trucks to Siloam Springs which would be added coat to us. Green asked if the one compactor would serve the needs of the whole City. Morton stated this would be adequate for Fayetteville. Green asked if the compactor would press the material into a bundle and then be removed by another container. Bob Kelly stated that the compactor would pack a box, and the material would be February 27, 1990 put on•a trailer to be hauled away. The second option is to bale the material which would be forklifted onto a trailer and hauled away; however, bailers cost much more than the proposed system. Green asked how many trash trucks could be loaded into the container before the system would have to be shut down. Scott Smith stated a 50 yard roll off container mounted to the compactor would hold about 3 residential trucks or 2 commercial trucks of waste. We anticipate making 7 or 8 trips during the week from the transfer station to a landfill with the roll off containers that are put onto the back of a truck. By using a tractor/trailer, there would probably be 3 to 4 trips per day. Martin asked why this proposal is compatible with the Northwest Arkansas Solid Waste Planning Group's concept. Martin pointed out that CAC is a Citizens Advisory Council to the Northwest Arkansas solid Waste Plan. Morton stated the regional plan is currently under development and expected to be finalized and adopted later this summer. There are a number of different options, and all of them involve a limited number of regional facilities of various type of disposal processing. The collector systems that feed the regional facilities involve transfer stations in population centers. The current ideais that there will probably be 3 transfer stations in Washington County. The City is a proposed site for one of the stations. Kelley asked how the transfer station would be paid for. Linebaugh stated it would have to come out of the current sanitation budget. There is money scheduled for this in the CIP bond issue. Green stated he received a letter from the attorney for Sunray Sanitation, and one of the suggestions in the letter was the possibility of contracting this service out to a private collector. He thinks this should be addressed looking at the costs and potentials available. He feels this is another one of the 'hurry up' projects, and the City usually gets into trouble in this type of situation. He realizes that it is essential to get it ordered to fill in the gap, but there is going to be a gap anyway, so he feels everything should be looked into as much as possible. Morton stated that under Act 934 and the Regional Solid Waste Plan, to be eligible for any funding from those state revenues, which we are already paying as a pass-through fine on our landfill fees, any facility haa.to be publicly owned. They do not have to be. publicly operated. The question of privatization is one that Staff can certainly look into. He does not see that having an affect• on this type of installation because of the nature of the funding available. This is not an off the cuff project, it has been part of the contingency plan for some time. The City has simply had to speed up on getting actual prices on equipment, etc. There will be a small gap in service, but the facility can. probably be used on an interim basis while it is under construction.. Bob Kelly stated the customers would not be without service. There are several options to provide service. Proper solid waste management has been analyzed by EPA, and it has been mandated down to the states that regional plans are the proper way to operate solid waste facilities. Total privatization has tiad oil February 27, 1990 problems on the East, as they have gone into and out of that plan about 15 years ago. The City is following the guidelines that EPA has issued. Lancaster asked if the delivery date was two weeks from the time of order. Kelly stated that was correct, but the facility would not be operating in two weeks. The equipment mounts need to be built now as well as pads. Spivey stated if an option was chosen to work with a landfill, would the person contracted with come and get the waste, or will the City have to buy some semi trucks to transport the waste ourselves. Kelly stated there was one option available now where the company would provide us with trailers and compactor units that would hook onto our transfer facility. They would then haul off the material. Staff has contacted rail officials to get prices from them. Spivey asked if Staff had an estimate on the cost per ton for that option. Morton stated it would be determined on how far the waste was hauled. A ballpark figure most landfills seem to be using now are about $12 per ton delivered at the gate. Hauling adds another $5 to $10 per ton depending on distance. Marinoni asked about the location of the facility. Kelly stated the City owns two pieces of property that appear would be suitable. One piece of property was bought by the Sanitation Department for the incinerator. It has a rail spur next to it and is next to a highway. The other piece of property is at the current Operations Center located at the backside of the pipeyard. It is right against a rail and has a gate that goes to the rail. Kelly stated he had been told that using rail to DeWitt, Arkansas would cut the transportation cost by half over highway hauling. Vorsanger asked if DeWitt was willing to take our waste. Kelly stated they had expressed their willingness. They have a large landfill that is very well operated. It has a 60 year capacity at 2000 tons per day, and they are currently operating under 50 tons per day. Fayetteville runs about 100 tons per day. Morton stated there are a number of landfills we have been in contact with that are all interested in bidding on long term disposal options for the City --DeWitt, a couple in Oklahoma, and one in south central Missouri. There may be others, particularly if we have the rail connections. The transfer facility will help keep our competitive options open for disposal. Marinoni stated keeping the station located on the Highway 71 corridor will be really important for getting the material in and out. The decision is coming up really fast, and the City needs to put the station in the right place. Martin stated he agreed with Marinoni that the City does not need to 'fumble the ball' on this issue. He is encouraged that independently the City Solid Waste Management Department and the Northwest Arkansas Solid Waste Planning Group came up with the same conclusion for the intraregional transfer stations being necessary. This gives him some comfort in a rush decision. Vorsanger stated one of his concerns was location. There will have to be expenditures for a building as well as the equipment. February 27, 1990 Bob Kelly stated the building will be a tall structure of only about 2000 square feet. It will have 20 foot sidewalls to allow for trucks to dump. Vorsanger stated the concerns expressed by citizens on this type of issue is what will the facility look like and the debris scattered from trucks hauling the waste. He asked if Springdale or Rogers would have a transfer station. Bob Kelly stated Rogers has one now and they utilize Fulton landfill. He stated the transfer stations are very clean and do not smell. They just look like a metal building. Morton stated all of the dumping takes place inside the building, and if the building is properly designed and operated, there is no chance for the debris to blow outside the building. There are transfer stations around that are not completely enclosed, and that can be a problem. Springdale will most likely have a transfer station. There will probably be one in the western part of the county in the Lincoln and Prairie Grove area and two or three in Benton County. Madison and Carroll counties will probably have two facilities each. Vorsanger stated that if in the next 5 to 10 years there is a regional incinerator, willthe transfer station be able to work with that. Morton stated that*it would. The transfer station allows the City to package out solid waste to conveniently transport it economically and efficiently. Morton pointed out that,the transfer station gives us the opportunity to screen the trucks and determine if there are improper wastes being disposed. In addition, it can be used to further the recycling program. Green stated this has a familiar ring, buying a piece of equipment before it is sited. He thinks the site will be necessary to find out the public's concept of this program. Bob Kellyrecommended that the Board approve the site of the water operations center. Martin asked if that would provide insulation from other city activities around -it, e.g., no residential encroachment for the most part. Kelly stated there was a landscape business next to it, a residential home on top of the hill, and a day care center around the hill from the site. Morton stated it was zoned I-1. Green asked if the roads going into the area were suitable for the high volume, heavy truck traffic. Kelly stated there would have to be another drive built off of Cato Springs Road to have a separate entrance. Lancaster asked how many acres were at the site. Morton stated he was unsure of the figure, but there was more than enough space for the station. Lancaster asked if this were to become the regional site if there would still be adequate space. 1 Bob Kelly stated the space was needed for trailers or storage for the bales before they are loaded on the rail cars. There will be 3 trailers needed for Fayetteville and 5 to 8 for the regional area 1•'. • • v February 27, 1990 Spivey asked how the odor is controlled especially if there are several loaded trailers waiting to be hauled away. Kelly stated most of the waste refuge has not been there long enough to go bad. It is in and out in one day. Landfills have the odor because the waste has been there a number of days. There will be complete washdown capability of the building. Vorsanger stated he did not feel good about this situation because he does not feel the citizens have been given a chance to really see what kind of a bind the City is really in on the waste management issue. The City is moving ahead again before the citizens really feel the pinch. He felt this should be approached by looking at reducing services yet maintain the trash we are collecting and in some way continue to find alternate methods. Linebaugh stated Staff does not like the situation we find ourselves in. However, with one landfill that will be operable in the area, Sunray, will only have 9 months of usage if we go there. There is no way to site a landfill in this area before Sunray is full. If we have to haul the solid waste out of this area, which we are going to have to do very soon, and if we have to haul it uncompacted, the costs will be very high and make this $200,000 look small in a short period of time. In addition, we are in the beginning stages of this project. There are many options at this point, and we do not want to eliminate any of them. The Board will have to approve the siting of the station. At this time we need to get the equipment purchased. Green stated that the ordinance before the Board today was just for the purchase of the compactor at about $31,000. Linebaugh confirmed this. Lancaster stated that the Board knows there is a problem. The average citizen is not aware of the trash problems. He feels the majority of the citizens are going to have to be made aware of the problems and feel the pinch to really realize the magnitude of the problems. He would be in favor of ordering the equipment but would like to have public feedback about the proposed sites. Martin stated he has heard all of the comments as well, but he feels the Board may be paranoid about the decisions they have to make. By doubting Staff's recommendations and the consensus of planning in this area, we can incite fears and make this into something that it is not. We have been told that transfer stations are not new, and there are examples of them around us that are clean. He is glad that everyone is sensitive to public concerns, but he feels the Board needs to show a little leadership in the issue. Robert Reus stated he felt if the station is property sited, then he felt the public would be behind the project. Upon roll call, the ordinance passed by a vote of 7 to 0. ORDINANCE NO. 3472 APPEARS ON PAGE /pit OF ORDINANCE AND RESOLUTION BOOR ADJOURNMENT r The meeting adjourned at 9:29 a.m.