City of Lawrence

Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB)

May 9, 2007 (5:30 PM) Meeting Minutes

MEMBERS PRESENT:	Chris Cobb, John Craft, Dickie Heckler, Sarah Hill-Nelson , Daniel Poull, Laura Routh, Cindy Strecker, Marie Stockett, Brent Swain
MEMBERS ABSENT:	Jae Chang (leave of absence)
STAFF PRESENT:	Tammy Bennett, Kevin Doyle, Kathy Richardson, Bob Yoos
GUESTS PRESENT:
PUBLIC PRESENT:	Carey Maynard-Moody, Matt Lehrman

ANNOUNCEMENTS

None.

Approval of meeting Minutes

Copies of the minutes from April 11, 2007 were distributed and reviewed by the board. SAB members expressed a desire to have the draft minutes in the first two weeks following a meeting.

Discussion with Kevin Doyle, Infrastructure and Development Coordinator, regarding energy initiatives

Kevin Doyle updated the board on various energy initiatives in the City, including progress on: Facilities Conservation Improvement Program (FCIP), Sierra Club Cool Cities Campaign, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and EPA Green Power Community Campaign.

Facilities Conservation Improvement Program (FCIP). Kevin Doyle mentioned that City Hall was built in 1980 and an energy audit was completed in 1993. Tammy Bennett added that the HVAC and lighting systems have been completely updated at City Hall. Other city buildings are on the wish list of building improvements. Daniel Poull asked if SAB could receive reports from Kevin Doyle regarding the FCIP. Kevin agreed that the City should begin to track the FCIP.

Sierra Club Cool Cities Campaign. Kevin informed SAB that the Lawrence Mayor signed the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement in March 2006 and directed staff to establish a baseline and come up with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Lawrence has not completed the greenhouse gas emissions baseline and has not developed the plan. Kevin is looking at emissions from: 1. Building & Systems, 2. Transportation, 3. Residential Consumption, and 4. Land Use.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Kevin has no update on when the future Public Library building discussion will be. Kevin mentioned that although the City values LEED as high priority it is not a definite with the new reclamation facility. Marie Stockett asked if the plant could be built by LEED standards but not go through the certification process. Kevin suggested that SAB speak with Dave Wagner, Director of Utilities, regarding details of the new plant construction.

£ Action: Invite Dave Wagner to future SAB meeting to talk about LEED certification for the new reclamation facility.

EPA Green Power Community. Kevin informed SAB that he is planning an expanded Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) campaign in conjunction with the Home Energy Conservation Fair in October.

Discussion with Bob Yoos, Solid Waste Division Manager, regarding questions previously submitted by the Sustainability Advisory Board

Bob Yoos, Solid Waste Division Manager, presented a written summary of answers to questions previously posed by the SAB. (Attached.)

£ Action: Tammy will e-mail the SAB members the Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) study from 1996.

£ Action: Laura will e-mail a copy of a registration form she has used for registering recycling businesses.

Home Energy Conservation Fair (HECF)

The HECF has become a very large event. Originally conceived and implemented by the Recycling and Resource Conservation Advisory Board volunteers, most of the organizational functions have transferred to staff over time. This year, staff is unable to accomplish this project without assistance of some kind. The WRR division is down 2 full-time employees and all other employees are new in their assigned jobs. Tammy Bennett asked the SAB members for assistance for this year’s program.

Some of the board members agreed to assist with the program this year. However, it was strongly expressed that the boards intention is for this program to be a regularly budgeted and staffed event within City government (either WRR or Kevin Doyle, etc.). Chris Cobb recommended that the majority of the meeting in June be dedicated to the HECF topic.

Waste Reduction and Recycling Report – Staff

Printed copy of the monthly updates provided to SAB.

Miscellaneous and Guest Comments

None.

Agenda items:

Next meeting: June 13, 2007

Prairie Park Nature Center and use of herbicides, presentation by Amy Davidson (5 to 10 minutes)
Home Energy Conservation Fair (primary focus of meeting)

Future meetings

LEED certification and City facilities, requesting Dave Wagner, Director of Utilities, to discussion status of LEED certification for both the Water Reclamation Facility and the existing Wastewater Treatment Plant
Green Campaign (Marie Stockett)

Meeting adjourned 8:35 p.m.

Attachments:

Memo, Kevin Doyle
Summary of answers provided by Bob Yoos
Waste Reduction and Recycling Division report

Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO:	David L. Corliss, City Manager Debbie Van Saun, Assistant City Manager
FROM:	Kevin Doyle, PE Infrastructure & Development Coordinator
CC:	Tammy Bennett, Kathy Richardson Lisa Patterson/Communications Department
Date:	April 4, 2007
RE:	Green Power Partnership / Green Power Community Campaign

Please include the following item on the consent agenda for the April 10, 2007 City Commission meeting.

Authorize the Mayor to sign the EPA Green Power Partnership Agreement and launch a Green Power Community Campaign in conjunction with Earth Day, April 21, 2007.

Project Description: The Green Power Partnership is an EPA program designed to encourage the use of renewable energy (see attached brochure). The Green Power Community Program is an extension of the Green Power Partnership designed to encourage community wide support and use of renewable energy (see attached overview).

The Partnership Agreement (see attached Agreement) includes three basic requirements:

Purchase green power (renewable energy credits or Green Tags¹) based on Partnership requirements (3% of municipal operations – completed, Fall 2006);
Report on green power purchasing activities annually;
Use the Green Power Partner mark appropriately.

As a Green Power Partner, the City receives formal recognition from the EPA and is allowed to publicize its participation in the program and use its Green Power Partner status for purposes that include: economic development, public outreach, personnel recruiting, etc.

The Community Program is an extension of the basic Partnership that provides additional recognition once city-wide use of green power reaches some minimum level (2% for communities that exceed 100,000 MWh annually).

Currently, there are less than 10 Green Power Communities in the country, and staff would like to see City of Lawrence join this distinguished group.

Project History: On September 20, 2006, the Recycling and Resource Conservation Advisory Board (RRCAB) recommended the City Commission purchase Green Tags as an initiative to support the U.S. Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement and mentioned the EPA’s Green Power Community program (see attached letter). Based on 2005 municipal energy usage of approximately 28,970 MWh’s (3% of which is approximately 869 MWh) and citing the additional community benefits of purchasing Green Tags from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (Zephyr Energy), Debbie Van Saun recommended that the City Commission purchase 870 Green Tags (See attached memo). On September 26, 2006, The City Commission authorized the City Manager to purchase 870 Green Tags, and the purchase agreement was executed November 29, 2006.

Project Funding: Funding for the 2006 Green Tag purchase ($8,690) was split equally between Utilities, Sanitation, and General Fund Overhead. The Green Power Partnership Agreement has no additional funding requirements. Future Green Tag purchase recommendations will be presented to the City Commission for its consideration at that time.

Initially, the Green Power Community Campaign is intended to utilize existing municipal functions, principally activities put on by the Waste Reduction and Recycling Division including Earth Day and the Home Energy Fair. In addition, information regarding the campaign will be posted on city web sites and included in regular City press releases.

At this time, no additional funding is requested. If future initiatives require additional funding, a memo outlining the initiative and defining the funding requirements will be presented to the City Commission for its consideration at that time.

Staff Recommendation: Authorize the Mayor to sign the EPA Green Power Partnership Agreement and launch a Green Power Community Campaign in conjunction with Earth Day, April 21, 2007.

SAB Questions (03/07)

To generate better recycling data, will the city consider conducting a waste sort of residential waste streams, and/or pursue more comprehensive planning efforts which provide data on population, demographics, waste generation trends and disposal capacity? (Bob indicated that he is working internally on waste stream and population analysis.)

We are always looking at data related to these variables. We will utilize EPA data to adjust local generation rates based on population and provide those to SAB. Based on past experience and knowledge of waste stream characterizations, we do not expect to see a great change in the proportions of different recyclable materials generated.

Will the city consider surveying residents as to their usage of current options, and interest in curbside recycling?

Yes. In fact, the Division has submitted a request for a professionally conducted survey as part of the 2008 budget process.

Targeted materials collected by drop-off programs presume, among other things, transportation, storage space and physical ability. What can the city do to accommodate those residents without cars, storage room or the physical strength/capacity to recycle?

The extent to which this is a problem is unknown. It is likely that friends and relatives provide assistance related to many life activities to those without cars or physical abilities who cannot otherwise afford to pay for assistance. The vast majority of residents have a means to have their trash out on trash day (we currently serve about 95 “hardship” cases citywide for trash).

Will the city pursue surveying as a method of assessing participation?

This question could be included in the survey of residents

Can/will the city quantify the total number of residents currently participating in curbside? (The last estimate was ~400.)

We can if each of the curbside providers will provide that to us to use as a total (not reveal individual business customer counts).

Can the city verify tonnages collected curbside? If the city cannot generate this number now, can this data requirement be part of any future licensure process?

No. The curbside providers take their recyclables to either city drop-offs or private drop-offs. None of these have a way of weighing incoming recyclables. We know of no recycling facility or MRF that weighs incoming recyclables. Tonnages are usually determined at the moment of shipment to a broker, or by the broker upon receipt of the recyclables. Since curbside providers are using local outlets for their collected materials, the tonnages are accurately captured. What is not captured precisely is the tonnage numbers for curbside collectors versus individual recyclers.

Through the proposed hauler “registration” process, what specific protections can we provide to ensure that haulers manage materials appropriately? (It is noted the city already has generic authority through city code to license both recycling vendors and recycling centers. Litter, unlawful disposal and nuisance conditions were discussed.)

Curbside recyclers will provide us with information on what they will do with the recyclables (where will they go?) as part of the registration process. Recycling centers provide us with annual reports on materials and tonnages recycled.

Planned marketing was described to support current curbside businesses; what is the theme of these media messages? (Inserts were discussed.) What is the timeline for their release? Has input been solicited from haulers (this was suggested)?

Specific print media ads will focus on curbside providers. Other media messages will identify curbside providers and locations of drop-off facilities and other recycling venues within the community. Media include newspapers, radio ads, pamphlets and utility bill inserts. Specific ads for curbside providers have not yet been developed as we have not yet received input from haulers. The other media are currently being utilized.

What was the legal services department response regarding franchise areas?

The question on franchising by areas has been referred to the City’s legal staff. This may be an area where it is better to wait until the survey is completed and the direction of the program, if changes were to be made, is more clearly understood. This is similar to the agreement to delay consideration of containers to be used by curbside providers.

In regard to staff’s updating of the 2004 feasibility study for a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), will this assessment consider public-private partnerships or a larger waste shed than Lawrence? Does the city believe that Lawrence alone has the tonnages locally to justify a full blown MRF? (This was discussed, and Laura Routh indicated that a broader scope analysis was needed before dismissing the MRF concept.)

Serving a larger waste shed would necessitate agreements between various local units of government. It would be difficult to achieve meaningful economies of scale because Lawrence would likely not partner with areas that had a sizable population. Most likely costs for a MRF would increase if it were to serve the smaller communities within reasonable proximity to Lawrence. Public-private partnerships would be one possibility but that would be a policy decision for the City Commission based upon various criteria they wished to consider.

Lawrence generates plenty of tonnage to require a MRF if most recyclables within the community were going to that MRF. Whether it would be “justified” depends on the costs versus the additional benefits to the community.

In regard to Neighborhood Centered Comprehensive Recycling Drop-ff Centers, can the city provide a map of current locations, and has an assessment been done to address underserved areas?

In regard for additional drop boxes for mixed paper, how many boxes will be placed? When?

We will start with a pilot location (hopefully Hy-Vee on Sixth Street). If successful, we will put them at all locations that have room for another box. We are always looking for new drop-off locations that are suitable (underserved areas, excess parking spaces, good access for our vehicles, well-traveled street, etc.).

In regard to Pay As You Throw (PAYT), is the staff’s most recent response the City’s final answer on PAYT? What formal assessment has been done to justify this? Many larger cities have alleyway collection and multi-family dwellings. Has research been done to look at how cities comparable to Lawrence have implemented PAYT?

Implementation of PAYT would be a policy decision. We looked extensively at PAYT systems in use throughout the United States in 1996. It was our conclusion that they weren’t a good fit for Lawrence. We continue to monitor PAYT systems. It is difficult to find cities comparable to Lawrence (low landfill rates, large disposal capacity, majority transient population, high percentage of multi-family dwellings) that have instituted PAYT. Most communities turn to PAYT because of diminished disposal capacity or high disposal costs. We do know of examples of communities with large transient populations and PAYT systems that have had issues with illegal dumping, backyard stockpiling of trash, trash with recyclables, etc. (Havelock, North Carolina is dropping their PAYT system to return to a mandatory fee for city collection. Havelock has a large transient population that moves in and out frequently.)

Will the City consider conducting formal research (or hiring a consultant to further research this option) before dismissing PAYT?

The professional staff of the Solid Waste Division is continuously reviewing current systems and other communities systems to provide the best services we can for the citizens of Lawrence. The solid waste management system in Lawrence is by no means static. The decision on whether or not to hire a consultant to do a feasibility or advisability study on PAYT would be a policy decision for the City Commission.

Has an assessment been conducted on the viability of PAYT if implemented just

for residential single family dwellings and or dwellings with less than 4 units?

This is a common model for university towns.

This has been looked at. Of the 37,037 housing units in Lawrence (2005), 16,604 were single family units. 20,433 were not stand-alone single family units. 15,429 of those units were triplexes or greater. 5,004 units were duplexes or attached units.

What recent action has the City taken to promote a bottle bill? (This is a topic included on the City legislative wish list, to no avail thus far.)

We are not aware of any recent action other than the legislative wish list. This would be a good issue for SAB to present to the City Commission. The Solid Waste Division would support this whole heartedly.

Waste Reduction & Recycling Division - Update for April 2007

Waste Reduction and Recycling Division Update

April was a busy month for WRRD with the Imagination & Place Environmental Awards on April 18^th and Earth Day Parade for the Earth and Celebration at the Park on April 21^st.

With the approval of the City Manager, WRRD converted a vacant Specialist position to a Field Supervisor for Fibers Program, including fibers collection and processing operations. The new position was open for internal applicants only. Interviews were held April 27^th and 30^th. The City of Lawrence offered the WRR Field Supervisor position to Michelle Crank. Michelle’s start day will be May 14^th.

Fibers Report

Old Corrugated Containers (OCC)

Cardboard Tons Revenue

Current YTD 346.92 $38,998.05

Prior YTD 294.72 $19,236.50

Avg. Price/ton thru Apr. 2007: $112.41 Avg. Price/ton thru Apr 2006: $ 65.27

Old Newspapers (ONP)

Newspaper Tons Revenue

Current YTD 325.79 $31,113.75

Prior YTD 310.26 $24,046.35

Avg. Price/ton thru Apr. 2007: $95.50 Avg. Price/ton thru Apr 2006: $ 77.51

Office Waste Paper (SOP)

Sorted Office Paper Tons Revenue

Current YTD none $ n/a

Prior YTD 10.08 $ 609.84

Avg. Price/ton thru Mar. 2007: $n/a Avg. Price/ton thru apr 2006: $ 60.50

(we are holding for full load)

Old Magazines (OMG)

Magazines Tons Revenue

Current YTD .63 $40.63

Prior YTD 0 $0

Avg. Price/ton thru Mar. 2007: $ Avg. Price/ton thru Mar 2006: $

TOTAL ytd tons Revenue

673.34 $70,152.43

Prior YTD 615.06 $43,892.69

Will be piloting new Mixed Waste Paper bin- 2 Bins are built and still need to be stenciled. We have permission to place one in location at HyVee on 6^th (2^nd bin will be a replacement bin).

Yard Trimmings Collection & Compost Program Report

Yard Trimmings collection: Year to date

	January	February	March	April
Total Tons collected curbside	21.45	NA	1114.98	1413.36
Commercial YW received	2.00	1.80	29.00	data forthcoming
Other YW received	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
Total tons this month	23.45	1.80	1143.98	1413.36
Average Preferred Container Compliance	100%	NA	98%	99%

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program Report

Outreach and Education

April 3 and April 5: SWAN tour and outreach – KU Speech, Language and Hearing Play groups (Jennifer Knell – 913-485-7959. jknell@ku.edu) April 3: 4pm-5pm, approx. five kids 4-6 yr olds, 5pm-6pm, approx. six kids fm. 7-9 years old. April 5: 5pm-6pm, approx. 3 kids, 7-9 years old

1) tour 2) relay game in warehouse 3) worms! 4)memory game 5)story book-“Why Should I Recycle?”

Worms were most popular, some lost interest in memory game – too long. We gave them color books, tattoos, battery bags. Teachers commented that kids had fun at this play date and that they thought it was cool that the kids actually learned something!

April 18: Imagination & Place Environmental Award ceremony took place in conjunction with the Community Mercantile’s Annual Earth Day Forum, featuring remarks by Dan Nagengast, director of the Kansas Rural Center, and the showing of a feature documentary film "The Future of Food." Artist Laura Ramberg and writer Ken Lassman, both of Lawrence, are the 2007 winners of the Imagination & Place Environmental Award. Ramberg and Lassman received artworks by Lawrence photographer Rick Mitchell at a ceremony at the Lawrence Arts Center on Wednesday, April 18.

The I&P Environmental Award is designed to recognize Douglas County community members who have made a demonstrable and positive impact on the local, regional, and/or global environment. The awards honor one of the following categories (in a four-year cycle): businesses, educators, artists and outstanding volunteers. Specially commissioned artworks constitute the awards themselves. The inspiration for the award comes from the idea of giving something beautiful for something beautifully done.

April 21: On Saturday, April 21^st, 2007, the City’s Waste Reduction & Recycling Division (WR/R) hosted the 7^th annual Earth Day Parade for the Earth and Celebration at the Park. Events included a parade down Massachusetts St. from 7^th to 11^th Streets ending at a celebration in South Park. The Lawrence Transit System offered free rides all day, providing the experience and benefits of public transportation on all fixed routes.

The day began with over 200 participants assembling at Watson Park for the parade. The parade arrived at the celebration on the east side South Park about half an hour after leaving Watson Park. South Park activities were for all ages and included live music, informational booths, children’s activities, and, for the third consecutive year, the celebration featured a Water Festival for Douglas County with nine activities focused on water quality and pollution prevention organized by the City’s Stormwater Division. An estimated 500 to 600 people passed through the celebration throughout the afternoon, peaking between 12 and 2 p.m. At noon, Kevin Doyle, Infrastructure and Development Coordinator for the City of Lawrence made the announcement that Lawrence has become an EPA Green Power Partner and accepted the Certificate of Partnership on behalf of Mayor Sue Hack from EPA Region 7 Representative and Pollution Prevention Expert, Chet McLaughlin.

Left: Representatives from the City’s Sustainability Advisory Board lead the parade carrying the Parade for the Earth banner. Right: Children from the Montessori Children’s School walk and roll in the parade.

The parade emptied into the east side of South Park, where the Earth Day celebration, including live music, informational booths, and children’s activities, continued until 4 p.m.

Left to right: Kevin Doyle, Infrastructure and Development Coordinator for the City made the announcement that Lawrence has become an EPA Green Power Partner and accepted the Certificate of Partnership on behalf of Mayor Sue Hack from EPA Region 7 Representative and Pollution Prevention Expert, Chet McLaughlin. Sarah Hill-Nelson, Representative, Bowersock Mills & Power Co., thanked the City for becoming an EPA Green Power Partner and purchasing green tags to support renewable energy.