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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-10-29 SWAB MeetingNEW HANOVER COUNTY SOLID WASTE ADVISORY BOARD OCTOBER 29, 2008 MEETING PAGE 1 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Solid Waste Advisory Board met on Wednesday, October 29, 2008, at 4:10 p.m. in the Lucie F. Harrell Conference Room 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; Assistant County Attorney Sharon Huffrnan and Deputy Clerk to the Board of Commissioners Kymberleigh G. Crowell. 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 draft meeting minutes of October 22, 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 22, 2008. Motion: Mr. Sims MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Michaelson, to approve the meeting minutes as presented. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. PRESENTATIONS OF STRATEGIES FOR MANAGEMENT OF NEW HANOVER COUNTY'S SOLID WASTE Chairman O'Shields stated that the purpose of this portion of the agenda is to receive presentations on strategies for the management of the County's solid waste from the same organizations that made presentations to the Board of Commissioners on May 19, 2008. New Hanover County Department of Environmental Management (WASTEC) John Hubbard, Director of the New Hanover County Department of Environmental Management, presented the Environmental Management Department proposal. He stated that this was a brief overview as he has been involved in extensive discussions with the Board about the department. He explained that the tipping fee is the predominant item that funds the sections of the Department of Environmental Management and various other programs within each section and described recent changes affecting solid waste collection and disposal. He described the long term goals for landfill and recycling divisions and the variables that affect the landfill life estimate. In response to questions, Director Hubbard responded the 26 year life estimate with WASTEC assumes ninety percent efficiency and description includes the southern property. At today's volumes, cell life depends on several variables such as size of cell, approved permitting to extend existing cells and the possibility of expanding into the southern property. The southern property is not permitted at this time but is grandfathered as an expansion of an existing landfill. There have been no significant permit violations issued by NCDENR. The comprehensive plan is due to be updated in the summer of 2009. Tipping fees are approved by the County Commissioners during the budgeting process. In response to consumer recycling questions, Director Hubbard stated his department has done an estimate of landfill life extension based only on curbside recycling. With this type of service, approximately 15,000 tons of solid waste could be diverted to the recycling program and estimated to add 3 to 4 years of life. The landfill is only permitted for New Hanover County waste; Waste-to-Energy plant can take waste from out of county, called special waste and is primarily for companies with a no-landfill policy such as Honda, Del-Labs, Goodyear and takes in classified waste. Waste Industries, Inc. David W. Pepper, Landfill Division Operations Manager, presented the Waste Industries, Inc. proposal. Waste Industries is a regional solid waste services company providing solid waste collection, transfer, disposal, and recycling services to approximately 870,000 customers in 6 southeastern States. Their operations consist of 37 collection operations, 29 transfer stations, 10 landfills, 72 convenience sites, and 12 recycling facilities. They have provided services in New Hanover County since 1972. He explained what his company understood to be the New Hanover County priorities and reviewed the financial comparison of programs between New Hanover County, South NEVV HANOVER COUNTY SOLID V~'ASTE ADVISORY BOARD OCTOBER 29, 2008 MEETING PAGE 2 Carolina, Brunswick County, Pitt County, and southeastern Virginia. To create the comparison, the company took New Hanover County's solid waste budget and divided it by the County's population to arrive at $89.82 per capita for the current program. 'The proposal information was developed through meetings with County staff in an effort to understand the department's programs and what was understood as the request from the Board of Commissioners. In response to questions, Waste Industries staff explained that the per capita calculations are based stricth' on the County's budget; the contracted rate is an agreed rate with the Brunswick County Commissioners and includes an escalation provision. Brunswick County has four recycling sites and does include curbside recycling in several municipalities. Mr. Pepper presented the landfill capacity analysis for North Carolina and the percent of waste from southeast North Carolina disposed at the Sampson County disposal facility. In response to questions about the site.. Mr. Pepper pointed out that the estimated life of the Sampson Landfill is 40 years and the lifespan may reduce with company's expansion. Waste Industries will guarantee that they will preserve landfill for New Hanover County for 20 years. He estimated that the majority of contracts are for l0 years or longer. In connection with rate negotiations, explanation was given that contracts normally have an escalator clause that adjusts based on CPI and how this clause works; a "not-to-exceed" number can also be negotiated. In connection with the Sampson County agreement, it prohibits out-of--state waste but not out-of-county waste and can be negotiated. Waste Industries owns the resources (i.e.: methane gas) produced at the Sampson County site. Fuel surcharge language is also included in the contract and discussion was held that at the height of surcharges the cost was $.40 per month per household. In taking into consideration the information gathered from meetings with County staff and based on impact of Senate Bill 1492 and other legislation, the proposed cost per ton is 540.43/ton. Waste Industries ~~ould pay for transfer station construction and provide up to $300,000 towards the construction of a C&D recycling area based on what New Hanover County staff wants to construct. It is anticipated that the County would pay for mothballing the landfill and incinerator. The $40.43/ton is based upon the contract length and all non-recyclable waste coming to the transfer station and ultimately going to Sampson County for disposal. He further explained the potential cost savings that could be realized by the County. In response to litigation questions, Harry Habets explained that the antitrust case in the State of Virginia was in connection with the acquisition of Allied Waste operations in the Tidewater area of Virginia. After further discussion regarding various litigation and employee predatory practices, Waste Industries will supply current litigation information to the Board. Further discussion was held on the cost of mothballing the operation and Mr. Pepper explained that their understanding is that the driving force for the County is reduction of costs, which is why the mothballing concept is being proposed. Waste Industries does provide curbside recycling. The cost estimate based on 75,000 units in New Hanover County is approximately $4 - $5 per unit for service with net of proceeds of the program costing New Hanover County approximately $3 - $4 million to divert approximately 15,000 tons. Recycling is not an incorrect route to take but it is very costly and not self-paying. In discussion regarding prohibitions from a company policy/operation standpoint, it was stated that the prohibitions of what goes into the Sampson County landfill would be the same as prohibitions for any landfill in the state. Chairman O'Shields called for break from 5:30 p.m. to 5:40 p.m Waste Mana ement of the Carolinas Greg Peverall, Director of Market Area Development of Waste Management, presented the Waste Management of the Carolinas proposal. Locally, Waste Management of the Carolinas has operated in New Hanover County since 1972; employs over 48 people and operates 35 trucks; services over 8,600 customers. Provides 9 essential services to the area and the River Road facility has recovered approximately 9,000 tons of waste for the year based on 2008 data. Wheelabrator and Waste Management Recycle America are sister companies while there are companies within Waste Management. Mr. Peverall explained the company's green initiatives proposal for an environmental park and the proposed services of the park. He reviewed how the proposal was prepared based on what is viewed as the issues such as the recycling program, utilization of WASTEC, capacity challenges and renewable energy issues and gave further explanation as to how the environmental park would be laid out and operated. NEW I~ANOVER COUNTI' SOLID WASTE ADVISORY BOARD OCTOBER 29, 2008 MEETING PAGE 3 Mr. Peverall explained the technology for the automated recycling center program of which the company has exclusive use and how the program could be used by citizens. He explained the recycling initiatives with Waste Management Recycle America and the effort to reduce the cost of curbside recycling. The company would fund the approximately $2 million needed to capture the landfill gas from the existing landfill and as it is built out, utilize the gas to put it into the grid. He described the company's involvement in the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program stating that it would be an asset to the community. He further described the sustainable services offered such as LampTracker and Green Squad. Mr. Peverall gave an overall view of waste-to-energy in the U.S. and described the Wheelabrator organization which is awaste-to-energy company with 16 facilities. He went on to explain the opportunities Waste Management sees in their evaluation to maximize the WASTEC facility. In response to questions, Mr. Peverall confirmed that the "reduce process ton cost" in their evaluation is tied directly to better utilization, reviewed a schematic of their waste-to-energy process and 2005-2007 operating comparisons information. He explained the company's landfill operations stating that there are 6 active landfills in the Carolinas market area and that all facilities in the network meet or exceed local, state and federal regulations. Funding would generally be from utilizing the existing $51/ton currently being used by the department. Revenues may be increased by making areas such as electricity and steam more efficient as well as using other funding initiatives. He further explained the features, advantages and benefits of the proposal stating that Waste Management of the Carolina would like for a New Hanover County advisory committee to oversee the entire negotiation process and remain in place during the length of the agreement, which he proposed to be 20 to 30 years. In response to questions, Mr. Peverall confirmed this is a privatization proposal being offered with the ability to offer services and capability of enhancing current programs, immediately providing approximately $8 million in capital for recycling, the capital for repairs and maintenance of the Waste-to-Energy facility and includes the current solid waste employees at their current rate of pay. During the discussion about litigation, Mr. Peverall stated that there have been prior executives that have had issues with Federal authorities and the company will provide information on any current litigation. Discussion was held regarding the financial aspect of the proposal. Mr. Peverall stated that their numbers are $51/ton at 280,000 tons per year with annual CPI escalations; dependent on regulations, taxes, and surcharges and there may not be a need for County monies over the life of the contract. He further explained what would and would not be provided in the recycling division. The Company would be the operator but the County would continue to own the landfill and permits. Liability issues were discussed with clarification that these aspects would be discussed during negotiations. Presenters explained how regular inspections are done and occur at their facilities. In response to facilities maintenance questions, Mark Schwartz with Wheelabrator responded that they have never shut down a facility. He explained the safety programs, stating that he sees the WASTEC facility as a valuable asset and would look to expand the facility over time. In response to expansion questions, Mr. Schwartz stated that to double the capacity, it would cost approximately $100 million. He explained what it would take to get WASTEC itself up to speed and that it could cost up to $2 million and it was clarified that the $8 million quote is the approximate cost of infrastructure development. Mr. Peverall thanked the Board for the opportunity to make the Waste Management of the Carolinas presentation. Republic Services of NC, LLC Ed Joran and Ray Hoffinan presented the Republic Services of NC presentation. In North Carolina, there are 21 Hauling Companies, 4 Landfills, 11 Transfer Stations & MRF's and the company provides collection services to over 335,000 customers throughout North Carolina with 433 vehicles and over 900 employees. Company operates as A-1 Sanitation in New Hanover County. Republic Services is currently in the process of merging with Allied Waste. The merger will be voted on by stakeholders on November 14, 2008 and is scheduled to be closed by the end of 2008. Mr. Joran reviewed the public-private partnerships and explained that municipal agreements account for a large portion of total Republic revenue. Ray Hoffman, Landfill Engineer, explained how Republic proposes maximizing landfill life through conserving airspace, recycling and operational improvements. Republic would work with WASTEC to meet recycling goals and it believes recycling is the key component to save landfill life. Republic uses GPS compactors NEW HANOVER COUNTY SOLID WASTE ADVISORY BOARD OCTOBER 29, 2008 MEETING PAGE 4 and rovers for increase compaction density and landfill airspace conservation. Mr. Hoffinan reviewed what is essential to provide enhanced design components, how the proposed lower emissions standards will have an effect on operations, the landfill gas to energy issue and the calculations for increase in density based on what is found to be the facility's remaining airspace. He completed his part of the presentation by reviewing the company's compliance tracking and geographic information system information. Mr. Joran continued the presentation by reviewing several questions that Republic feels the Count}' should be asking while reviewing solid waste management options. He stated that the company continues to recommend that the Board of Commissioners and the Solid Waste Advisory Board consider hiring an engineering firm to develop a request for proposal document to allow each company an opportunity to submit proposals based on the County's specific objective for each component of solid waste management. The company's goal is to be qualified by the County to respond to a formal Request for Proposals for apublic-private partnership involving the County's integrated solid waste management systems based on its extensive North Carolina public/private partnership successes. Mr. Joran reviewed Republic's recommendations for the WASTEC and landfill facilities, recycling drop- off centers and proposals for the department. In response to questions, Mr. Joran stated the quote given by prior presenters of $4 - $Siunit for curbside recycling is a good number with the cost per unit depending on the number of houses involved and type of cart used. He explained how the service works in Guilford County. Vince Sanuto confirnied that the fuel surcharge passed on to customers at the height of the fuel increases was no more than $.40 per month per household. In response to litigation questions, the company will provide information on litigation that involves Republic Services. Chairman O'Shields thanked the organizations for their presentations and explained that during the Board's review of the presentations, if further information is needed the companies will be contacted. Chairman O'Shields called for a break from 7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. DISCUSSION OF PRESENTATIONS General discussion was held on the presentations with the general consensus being for members to break into teams on each presentation to review and present summaries on their findings to discuss in upcoming meetings. The reviews will be done on the three outside presentations and divided up as follows: • Waste Industries -Messrs. Mitchell and Sims; • Waste Management -Messrs. Michaelson and Newton; and • Republic Services -Chairman O'Shields. Mr. Newton will do some research for any anti-trust/trade litigation information that may be available for the three outside companies. Further discussion was held about the monetary quotes given by the companies. the task of looking at the entire operation in reviewing the proposals and at the request of the Board, Director Hubbard will provide open issues found with the presentations at the November 5, 2008 meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Chairnan O'Shields adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ~, Kymberleigh G. rou~ell Deputy Clerk to the Board