21-05-26 EMC minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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c. Implementing the goals and priorities of the ISWMP (Requested by Chair Adams) Director Mansour repeated that the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan is a living document that the County has to submit every decade to let the state know where we stand. As he was listening to Mr. Hayducsko’s presentation, he noted that staff are trying to take action items from the ISWMP, and trying to start on the implementation. There are certain things we need to start tackling as we move forward to show progress on the plan. Some things need to be moved forward and some need to be rethought for the bigger picture of the entire operational plan. He hopes to get an answer from solid waste staff sometime soon. Chair Adams pointed out there is a table as a standard part of the director’s report that will continue to be tweaked to show progress being made. She said she is happy to see that one of the top priorities of renegotiating th continue to be funded. 3. Solid Waste Division Projects and Updates Chair Adams asked Director Mansour to comment on the administrative rule prohibiting trailers at transfer stations, which was a topic of lively discussion at a recent virtual town hall hosted by the Waimea Community Association. Director Mansour said it’s an ongoing issue. He wanted to make clear we aren’t banning trailers; we are only banning trailers from transfer stations. People can still take trailers to the landfill. People can still use their trailers but they have to take it to the landfill, so you can get rid of your greenwaste or household waste. We are going to continue trying to figure out how we are going to continue providing the service. One of the challenges we get is related to closing the transfer stations when someone gets sick. We needto maneuver around that. We need to find solutions, because it is disappointing to constituents who drive to a transfer station to find out it is closed because somebody is sick and the Department cannot subsidize or augment the service. We are going to be working on that, and also finding out how to continue providing the service when someone calls in sick within our Department, he said. We need to figure out a way to continue with the service. We cannot hire a security contract because they must have certain credentials, and they cannot do any work that the solid waste facility attendants (SWFA) do. All they can do is open and close the gate. So we are looking into that. We are looking into planning a better solution that could allow us to augment staff to continue opening the gate and, if the SWFA is calling in sick, to perform those duties normally done by the SWFA. Commissioner Olson noted that Puna has limited resources in terms of transfer station availability and accessibility, and we are building out at a breakneck pace. It’s going to be about more than who opens the gate; it’s going to be about when we are going to add additional transfer stations. The ISWMP did not address population expansion in Puna. Director Mansour said that was one of the options he directed staff to look into. We need to look into the bigger picture, he said. Do we continue building transfer stations or do we shift to 20