MINUTES OF THE METRO COUNCIL

SOLID WASTE & RECYCLING COMMITTEE MEETING

Wednesday, April 4, 2001

Council Chamber

Members Present:  Bill Atherton (Chair), Susan McLain (Vice Chair), Rod Monroe

Also present:    

Absent:    

Chair Atherton called the meeting to order at 3:35 p.m.

1.  CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH 21, 2001 SOLID WASTE & RECYCLING COMMITTEE MEETING

2.  REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR’S BRIEFING

Terry Peterson, Director, Regional Environmental Management Department, discussed the scrap tire legislation (HB 3909), reported on the status of the hazardous waste roundups, discussed the construction status of public unloading areas at Metro Transfer Stations, talked about the City of Portland’s request for proposals for organics processing, and updated the committee on the St. Johns landfill closure work plan. (For more detail, see copy of the Director’s update attached to the permanent record of this meeting.).

Chair Atherton asked how people found out about the haz-waste cleanups.

Mr. Petersen said mailers were sent, there were ads in local newspapers, and some of the haulers helped distribute flyers at the cans.

Councilor Monroe said the information was also available on Metro’s Recycling Hotline.

Chair Atherton suggested looking in to street banners to advertise the haz-waste events.

Councilor McLain commented that she had sent the flyer to the CPOs and neighborhood associations in her district.

3.  RESOLUTION NO. 01-3054, For the Purpose of Confirming the Appointments of James Strathman and Bernard Deazley to the Solid Waste Rate Review Committee.

Mr. Petersen reviewed the resolution to confirm the appointments of two members of the rate review committee. (For more detail, see information included in the agenda packet with the permanent record of this meeting.) He pointed out that there was still one vacant position on the committee.

Councilor McLain asked the Chair for direction to staff to send a letter regarding the open position, asking them what they would like Metro to do to assist with the applicant process.

Chair Atherton agreed the letter should be reissued. Mr. Petersen said he and Mr. Houser would work on a letter.

Chair Atherton will take Resolution No. 01-3054 to the full Council as chair of the Rate Review Committee.

4.  WORK SESSION (Status of the Recycling Business Market Development program)

Doug Anderson, Waste Reduction and Planning Manager, and Steve Engel, Recycling Market Development Coordinator, presented a PowerPoint overview of the Metro Recycling Business Assistance Program (RBAP). (For more detail, see memo and background materials included with the permanent record of this meeting.)

Councilor McLain asked for a description of the pros and cons of working alone and/or with partners.

Mr. Anderson handed out a detailed summary of the criteria that his department wanted the council to consider. He said timing was one pro for going it alone because they could get off the ground pretty quickly without a partner. He said monetary Impact was a pro for partnership because there would be more money for the project. He said partners with mutually complementary goals had the potential for a greater scope. He felt that the way to get the best projects if they worked alone was to have a competitive solicitation. He added that with a larger partnership the administrative costs could be shared over a broader pool of monies.

Councilor McLain commented that this work had taken five years. She said it was superb work. She said thumbs up on the goals and criteria. Regarding whether to go it alone, she felt they were ready to act now, and even a small amount of money would help them know what they would want to do with partners. She thought they should give it a try, and then come back to get serious with a bigger group of people.

Chair Atherton agreed that what he had seen looked good, but thought the proof would be in the response to the ads.

5.  STRATEGIC PLAN DISCUSSION (Decision Matrix and Goals and Criteria)

Janet Matthews, Policy and Program Manager, presented the Metro Regional Services REM Department Strategic Plan 2001. (For more detail, see the hard copy of the slide presentation included with the permanent record of this meeting). She welcomed the committee input and said in defining their vision and goals they could certainly refer to the Regional Solid Waste Management Plan (RSWMP) for guidance. She said there should be a relationship between the strategic plan and the RSWMP although they have different purposes; the RSWMP focuses primarily on direction and coordination while the strategic plan focuses entirely on Metro’s part in the system.

Councilor McLain commented that the RSWMP document had been ten plus years in the making and it had just been updated. She said it was a valuable policy document that was the core of how Metro did business. They are not separate, they are the essence of what you want the program and service to be. They have to be integrated to make sense. She suggested they did not need to recreate the world because they already had the basic documents. She saw a need for an integrated relationship but not a need to redo simple statements.

Ms. Matthews discussed identified strategic issues. She clarified with the committee whether or not this range of options should include getting out of the service arena altogether because of the RSWMP language of goal 15 on facility regulation.

Councilor McLain felt this was the most important element that Ms. Matthews had brought to the committee so far. She said this committee was not the majority of the Council and the code said part of the Metro strategy and responsibility was being a service provider. To the question of looking at options that would include not being a service provider, she said absolutely not unless they were going to the Council with some very good reasons to go against 11 years of wisdom from the REM department. She did not see the value of a 6-month process to undo 11 years of work when they had good sound reasons for getting to where they were. Regarding the question of whether to be a service provider or not, she said she would be open to looking at other options.

Councilor Monroe said the question was whether diminishing or increasing Metro’s role as a service provider strengthen or weaken our ability to reach the goals of reducing, recycling and detoxifying waste.

Chair Atherton shared a decision matrix he had produced to help with a range of options. (See copy with permanent record of this meeting.)

ADJOURN

There being no further business to come before the committee, Chair Atherton adjourned the meeting at 4:44 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheryl Grant

Council Assistant

ATTACHMENTS TO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR THE

SOLID WASTE & RECYCLING COMMITTEE

MEETING OF APRIL 4, 2001

Testimony Cards: None.