MINUTES OF THE METRO COUNCIL

REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING

Tuesday, October 6, 1998

Council Chamber

Chair Morissette called the meeting to order at 11:07 AM.

1.  CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES

Chair Morissette requested an addition and correction to the minutes of July 21, 1998.

Page 2, Agenda Item 2, Paragraph 3: “Chair Morissette noted that Metro’s approach in this is to keep fees and penalties low in relation to the size of the contract, and create incentives to do the right thing as opposed to penalties under the assumption that Metro has a good working relationship with the facilities partners.”

2.  REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR’S UPDATE

Bruce Warner, Director of Regional Environmental Management, called attention to his handouts. (Copies of which can be found with the permanent record of this meeting.) He introduced Leann Linson who started work as the department’s new Manager of Business and Regulatory Affairs on October 1, 1998. He said Ms. Linson had previously been the manager of administration and business support for ODOT and brought a wide variety of experience that would help REM address ways to improve Metro’s ability to provide service to its customers. He said she had extensive budget and finance experience and was picked from almost 100 applicants for the position.

Councilor Washington asked for an explanation of “business and regulatory affairs” and how Metro would “benefit from her knowledge and experience in information systems and budget, personnel, and technical software”. He wanted to know the duties of her position.

Mr. Warner answered that she would be responsible for the department’s budget and finances. He added that her position would be the link with support service functions like information systems, budget and facilities. He repeated that her experience in those areas would allow her to be very effective in the position.

Councilor Washington asked for an explanation of the job title “Manager of Business and Regulatory Affairs”.

Mr. Warner explained that it was the position formerly held by Roosevelt Carter who was responsible for financial, accounts payable, department budget, regulatory affairs, franchises and new licenses under the new code, and enforcement of that. He said it was a big job. He said he would bring Ms. Linton around for the councilors to meet and explain more the scope of her responsibilities.

He continued his presentation with the new hazardous waste flyer (a copy of which is attached to the permanent record of this meeting) handed out at household hazardous waste facilities and events. He said it was very comprehensive and held a lot of information in a small amount of space. He said there was also a Spanish version of which they were very proud. He noted that they would be available for any upcoming events.

Councilor McFarland said she understood that all the hazardous waste events had already happened except for the one in Troutdale this coming Saturday.

Mr. Warner said that was correct.

Councilor McFarland asked if that event was going to take all types of household waste or just hazardous waste.

Mr. Warner answered it was meant to be a household hazardous waste event which would take everything from motor oils, antifreeze, herbicides and insecticides to latex paint from households and small commercially exempt generators. He said they would take almost anything that was not eligible to be deposited in the normal trash.

Councilor McFarland noted that her children were going to clean out her garage that weekend and she wanted to be sure to get full use of the event.

Councilor Washington asked if the brochure was being considered for printing in other languages besides Spanish.

Mr. Warner said they did not currently have plans or resources for that but he thought it was a great idea. He said they had successfully used students or staff fluent in Spanish to develop the Spanish version and could try to do it that way.

Councilor Washington felt it was a good idea because of the sizable Russian and Vietnamese populations in the area.

Mr. Warner shared a letter of appreciation from Oregon City Fire Chief James Davis (a copy of which can be found in the permanent record of this meeting) commending Metro’s household hazardous waste personnel for helping dispose of numerous hazardous materials over the past year.

He related that REM had conducted transfer station surveys of self haul customers to try to understand why they used the facilities and did not use the haulers. He said a presentation of the survey had been given at the last solid waste advisory committee and there had been a lot of comments they were now using in an attempt to improve service to self haul customers. He offered that presentation to the committee.

Councilor McFarland said she remembered the survey and asked if self haulers actually cost more to deal with than the professional garbage haulers.

Mr. Warner said most definitely yes. He said the budget advisory process was underway and had their first meeting last Thursday. He said there would be at least 2 more meetings dealing with major policy issues confronting the department. He noted some work they had done to help local governments clean up illegal dump sites. He noted that some of the work they had done would probably result in conviction on an individual who dumped material from a meth lab.

He noted that BFI had an employee injured when a load shifted against the door of the trailer which hit him on the head and knocked him down. The man was in the hospital and there were concerns about his mobility because his spinal cord was damaged. He said it was one of the most serious accidents they had ever had at the transfer station but everyone was trying to remain optimistic. He said he would keep the committee updated on his condition.

Chair Morissette noted a letter of default that had been sent to USA Waste regarding the purchase of Waste Management. He asked Mr. Warner when the committee could expect to see this issue before it. He was very anxious to see the potential lower rates get to the rate payers as quickly as possible.

Mr. Warner said they had sent a letter but had not heard from the contractor regarding that letter. He said they have had discussions with the contractor and intended to have a full briefing before council this Thursday at the Executive Session to discuss the legal issues, the status of the process and negotiations, and how to move forward expeditiously.

Councilor Morissette said he was very interested in an open public process to make sure this moved on as quickly as possible. He believed there was a fairly substantial savings to the regional rate payers that could be generated through this process.

3.  ANNUAL UPDATE ON THE REM WASTE REDUCTION EDUCATION PROGRAM

Susan Duncan, Educational Specialist for REM, described specific accomplishments for the 1997-98 fiscal year. She said Metro’s waste reduction education program reached over 214,000 students attending 438 schools and encouraged waste reduction through recycling, composting, alternatives to hazardous products, and resource conservation. She said waste prevention programs provided the greatest environmental benefits of all the waste management alternatives, and waste prevention education for school age children provided a strong base on which to build a resource conservation and recycling ethic. The objectives and projects for the waste reduction planning and outreach division included the development and delivery of adult, youth and children’s education programs, messages and campaigns to support RSWMP schools for diverting approximately 250,000 tons of waste by the year 2000 and achieving a 50% recycling rate through residential and commercial waste prevention and recycling. The role of the waste reduction education program staff was to provide hands on classroom presentations, puppet shows, grants, community service projects, curriculum and teacher training sessions on waste reduction topics. A total of 38,000 youth, families and educators were reached through school and summer programs, projects and community events. One of the objectives was to target teachers through curriculum workshops so they would consider using waste reduction themes when teaching academic skills because teachers worked with generations of students and impacted many more students than a single classroom presentation. Project Learning Tree’s secondary solid waste module was adopted as the core curriculum for teacher workshops because it included activities appropriate for middle and high school students and the more recent issues of source reduction, composting, and recycling economics in addition to waste management. A partnership between Metro, DEQ and the Oregon Forestry Education Program at OSU provided every interested secondary teacher in the state with the curriculum through free 2-3 hour workshops. The national Project Learning Tree office recognized Oregon as a model for other states in creating partnerships between recycling education and forestry education. She reported that since January of 1998 Metro and the DEQ had sponsored 4 workshops for 77 educators, developed a facilitators handbook and trained 10 workshop facilitators across the state. She noted that Tualatin High School was highlighted in the final chapter of the book.

(Copies of the educational materials can be found with the permanent record of this meeting.)

Councilor McFarland asked if the program included K - 8.

Ms. Duncan responded that the K - 8 Project Learning Tree Guide focused on trees and forests and included quite a few recycling activities but this was a middle school through high school curriculum.

She continued that this year’s focus was the $500 school grants project for waste reduction education that helped 30 schools become recycling success stories, for instance when Dexter McCarty Middle School in Gresham did a waste audit and made significant strides in reducing the number of beverage containers in the trash, they were featured in a Gresham Outlook newspaper story. They used the grant to bring dishwashing back to the school and reduce the stacks of disposable cups and plates found by the audit. Clackamas High School used the $500 to inspire students to purchase reusable lunch bags designed and manufactured by the school’s Earth Club who used the funds from selling the bags to continue their waste reduction education efforts. The Association of Northwest Recyclers, Weyerhauser, and the Northwest Earth Institute recognized the students for their comprehensive recycling and reuse efforts with cash and prizes totaling approximately $2,000. Many students expressed gratitude and said recycling was becoming a habit.

Freda Sherburne, REM Elementary Educator, highlighted some of the techniques used to deliver waste prevention and recycling messages. She said one way to get the message to schools was by providing curriculum and resources to teachers and their students. Some resources were loaned to schools and some were given to them at no cost. She reported they took part in community events and workshops and school events such as science fairs. She said this was the 3rd year of the Earth Day billboard art project and the number of entries had doubled from the year before. She said 1,200 students did artwork this year. She said the resulting billboards were seen by about 35,000 people a day. Elementary students were primarily reached through classroom programs. She reviewed the Resource RRRescuers puppet show and shared the Ricky Raccoon and Maria puppets who performed for the committee.

She introduced Erika Poulin who would be working as Coordinator with the Oregon Green Schools primarily in Beaverton and east Multnomah County to help establish and maintain recycling programs in the schools. Those areas were chosen because other areas in the region were already provided with these services through their local governments. She would also help with the Resource RRRescuers and Compost City puppet shows.

She distributed a copy of the annual report to the committee. (A copy of this can be found with the permanent record of this meeting.)

Councilor McFarland asked if the educational material was only available to Oregon teachers.

Ms. Duncan said the Project Learning Tree guide was available nationally and Anne Mills was working with the Washington state coordinator.

4.  ORDINANCE NO. 98-771, FOR THE PURPOSE OF GRANTING A YARD DEBRIS PROCESSING FACILITY LICENSE TO NORTHWEST ENVIRONMENTAL & RECYCLING, INC., TO OPERATE A YARD DEBRIS PROCESSING FACILITY AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

Bill Metzler, REM Waste Reduction and Planning, said this yard debris license was for a new facility in Cornelius to be located on 6.11 acres zoned M-1, General Industrial. The City of Cornelius had already granted all approvals for the facility who would accept yard debris from commercial and residential sources and would be open to the public . They would accept approximately 30,000 cubic yards of debris a year and were also planning on accepting about 400 tons of horse manure a year as an additional composting feedstock. He recommended that the agreement also contain special conditions intended to augment the operating plan odor minimization and site design plans. The first condition required the applicant to blend the high nitrogen grass clippings and horse manure with bulking agents high in carbon and incorporate them into the windrows for active composting on a daily basis. He said stockpiling of these would not be allowed. The second condition was related to the site plan and would require improvement of the landscape buffer zone adjacent to an existing business south of the facility. It was his opinion that the applicant’s site plan did not provide an adequate buffer zone to help mitigate visual and physical impacts associated with composting operations. He felt these conditions would help prevent the potential for nuisance impacts associated with the proposed operations. He said there should be a slight increase in revenue from the annual license fees and current staffing levels should be able to adequately handle any technical assistance.

Chair Morissette opened a public hearing. Nobody came forward to testify so the public hearing was closed.

In response to a question from Councilor McFarland, Mr. Metzler said the applicant was Warren “Bud” Dow.

Chair Morissette assigned Councilor Washington to carry this ordinance to the Council.

5.  RESOLUTION NO. 98-2709, FOR THE PURPOSE OF APPOINTING PAUL L. MATTHEWS TO THE SOLID WASTE RATE REVIEW COMMITTEE.

Mr. Warner said Mr. Matthews who was unable to attend the meeting today, was the recommendation of the Executive Officer to fill the position previously occupied by Andrew Thaler who had held the position for over 11 years and had come up against term limits so he could not be reappointed. He said Mr. Matthews had rate setting experience and would be a valuable addition who would hold them accountable for properly allocated costs and make sure to have the best rates possible for the rate payers. He said it was the recommendation of staff to endorse and confirm the appointment of Mr. Matthews.

Councilor McFarland said she had worked with Andy Thaler for years and she was glad the new appointee had such a good resume because he had some large shoes to fill. She said Mr. Thaler had been a great asset.

Chair Morissette assigned Councilor McFarland to carry the resolution to the Council.

6.  RESOLUTION NO. 98-2710, FOR THE PURPOSE OF REAPPOINTING GARRY L. PENNING TO THE SOLID WASTE RATE REVIEW COMMITTEE.

Mr. Warner said Mr. Penning had filled a position vacated by another hauler and was willing to serve an additional 4 years. The Tri-County haulers felt comfortable with the appointment. Mr. Warner recommended him to continue on the committee.

Chair Morissette will carry this resolution to the Council.

COUNCILOR COMMUNICATIONS

Councilor Washington announced the arrival of Chair Morissette’s second son Henry last week.

ADJOURN

There being no further business before the committee, Chair Morissette adjourned the meeting at 11:50 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Cheryl Grant

Acting Council Assistant

i:\minutes\1998\remcom\10068rmm.doc

ATTACHMENTS TO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR THE MEETING OF OCTOBER 6, 1998