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Home My WebLink About2008-10-22 SWAB MeetingNEW HANOVER COUNTY SOLID WASTE ADVISORY BOARD OCTOBER 22, 2008 MEETING PAGE 1 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Solid Waste Advisory Board met on Wednesday, October 22, 2008, at 4:10 p.m. in the Lucie F. Harrell Conference Room, Room 601, at the New Hanover County Government Center, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present were: Chairman Claud "Buck" O'Shields, Jr.; Vice-Chairman Robert W. Mitchell; Martin J. Michaelson; John Richard Newton; David Sims; Deputy County Attorney Kemp P. Burpeau and Deputy Clerk to the Board of Commissioners Kymberleigh G. Crowell. Others present: Assistant County Manager David F. Weaver and Environmental Management Director John Hubbard. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Chairman O'Shields called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone to the meeting of the New Hanover County Solid Waste Advisory Board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman O'Shields asked the members to review the drafr meeting minutes of October 15, 2008 for any needed corrections and/or changes. Hearing no comments, Chairman O'Shields called for a motion to approve the meeting minutes of October 15, 2008. Motion: Mr. Michaelson MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Newton, to approve the meeting minutes as presented. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. RECYCLING SITE FOR PORTER'S NECK AREA HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION In response to questions, Director Hubbard reported that a meeting will be held with representatives from the Porter's Neck Area Homeowner's Association in regard to a recycling drop-off site being established in the Porter's Neck area. Chairman O'Shields asked that Director Hubbard notify Chairman Greer and Commissioner Kopp about the meeting. REVIEW OF INVISTA MEETING ON OCTOBER 15, 2008 Mr. Michaelson provided an overview of the October 15, 2008 meeting summary held with INVISTA representatives, Director Hubbard, Mr. Mitchell and himself. In addition to providing the summary, Mr. Michaelson reported that INVISTA: • Impression is that most of their end-users are in industrial carpet and upholstery business; • Ships polyester liquid in railcars and powder via trucks; • If Landfill Gas RFP successful bidder, this would allow them to reduce their costs; • Is not under corporate incentive/objective to use methane in order to reduce greenhouse emissions; and • Sees RFP key variables as being gas BTU value and market value of alternative fuels. A copy of Mr. Michaelson's October 15, 2008 meeting summary is included as Attachment 1. In response to questions about the next steps in the process to issue the Landfill Gas to Energy and Greenhouse Gas Project RFP, Director Hubbard explained that once the RFP is approved as written or modified it would be ready to send out. The only end-users that he knows are interested in bidding are GE-Hitachi and INVISTA; there are several brokers interested in it and want to be included on the RFP mailing list. Discussion was held on the RFP and it being structured by narrowing down the alternatives; stating specific objectives. Staff stated that an option could be for members to provide suggestions about the RFP while it is in review phase; Mr. Mitchell has already provided Director Hubbard with his suggestions. Deputy County Attorney Burpeau reported that at the Board's request during the October 15, 2008 meeting, he investigated the legality of using different approaches in order to receive bids from interested and qualified bidders on the final RFP. In speaking with David Lawrence at the Institute of Government, Mr. Lawrence's opinion is that it is comparable to arrangements that have been done by counties and municipalities for sludge projects and could be structured in the manner suggested without limitations. If it were ever challenged/reviewed, Mr. Lawrence thinks the courts would view it as primarily a service rather than a commodity to be sold and that would put it NEW HANOVER COUNTY SOLID WASTE ADVISORY BOARD OCTOBER 22, 2008 MEETING PAGE 2 outside the context of just submitting a bid. Essentially, bidders could be required to pay some costs in order to bid and the issuing of refunds to non-winning bidder(s) is an option that is possible and have flexibility and maximize the price. Discussion was held that if this route was taken, this could minimize the County's dollar amount upfront to install wells and flaring equipment by sharing the costs and then with the better data results could maximize the revenue stream and know what is needed to satisfy the eventual end-user. If this is the case, instead of sending out an RFP, a document would be sent out explaining what the County is looking to do and what the formal RFP would be and inviting participants at this time. Staff explained what has been done to date for testing and information. They further explained that with the County's budget constraints, a gas collection system is not able to be installed at this time at County's cost. After discussion about various amendments that could be made to the draft RFP, Chairman O'Shields called for a motion to approve staff moving forward with preparing the draft Request for Proposals for Development of a Landfill Gas to Energy and Greenhouse Gas Project at the New Hanover County Landfill as presented with the inclusion of criteria of the bidder providing BTU quality pricing in connection with revenues and surety information. Motion: Mr. Sims MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Newton, to approve staff moving forward with preparing the draft Request for Proposals for Development of a Landfill Gas to Energy and Greenhouse Gas Project at the New Hanover County Landfill as presented with the inclusion of criteria of the bidder providing BTU quality pricing in connection with revenues and surety information. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Staff will provide a revised draft RFP to the Advisory Board for further review and possible action REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF FACTS/CONCLUSIONS DRAFT SUMMARY OF NEW HANOVER COUNTY LANDFILL, WASTEC, RECYCLING, AND METHANE GAS PROJECT Mr. Mitchell asked members to continue to view this as a working document. In response to questions, Director Hubbard responded that a daily average of 600 tons is received at the landfill, depending on the season, and there is a 500 ton capacity at WASTEC. He further explained that the average of what is received, on an annual basis, at WASTEC and landfill combined can vary based on year and season. In 2007, 245,000 tons were received with approximately 95,000 tons going to WASTEC and approximately 150,000 tons going to the landfill. Discussion was held on the updated draft summary. Chairman O'Shields reviewed his conclusions which will be included under a general conclusion section of the working document. In response to questions, Director Hubbard confirmed that his staff reviewed the metric information and had only one correction which has been included in the document. In response to Mr. Mitchell's questions, the general consensus is that the conclusions are fine and reflect that the essence is preservation of landfill life. Discussion held that while looking at the economic and fmancial information provided to date, there is a need to begin developing estimated numbers on the value of saving "x" cubic yards of landfill as all divisions (incinerator, recycling, etc.) contribute to it. DISCUSSION OF QUESTIONS FOR OCTOBER 29, 2008 PRESENTATIONS Mr. Sims clarified that his proposed questions were not limited to only Waste Industries but for all presenters; some members noted they are still in the process of developing questions. All organizations have agreed to make presentations on October 29, 2008. Discussion was held on the presentation order and Assistant County Manager Weaver stated that the presentation by Environmental Management would take about ten minutes. Presenters will be notified of the updated time frame. Further discussion was held that the Board would like for County staff to prepare a response on their view of the proposals for presentation during the November 5, 2008 meeting. Outside organizations were requested to provide soft copies of their presentations prior to October 29, 2008 as well as providing hard copies for the Board. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairman O'Shields adjourned the meeting at 5:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ,~~~ • ~. Kymberleigh G. rowell Deputy Clerk to the Board NEW HANOVER COUNTY 50LH) WASTE ADVISORY BOARD OCTOBER 22, 2008 MEETING PAGE 3 ATTACHMENT 1 Meeting, October 15, 2008 INVISTA Representatives Re: Methane Gas Recovery Project SWAB Sub-Committee Meeting with INVISTA division of Koch Corp., a privately held corporation. Present, John Hubbard, Bob Mitchell, Martin Michaelson - NHC -SWAB Present, Donna Lazzari, William E. Rush, XYZ - INVISTA INVISTA is a producer of polyester liquid and powder for industrial users. The methane produced by the NHC landfill would be used for cost avoidance; replacing natural gas and/or #6 fuel oil. INVISTA/Koch would not want to own the methane collection system, but would take ownership of the methane as it enters their property. Koch maybe prepared to finance the collection system; in exchange for a discount on the price of the methane gas. The key variables as expressed by the INVISTA representative are the BTU value of the gas and market value of their alternative fuels. There are no corporate objectives for green energy initiatives. An additional consideration would be the value of the "RFC's" and the value of the "greenhouse gas" credits. Respectfully submitted, M.IM/