Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-07-24 Enviromental Management Commission Minutes ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT COMMISSION MINUTES Wednesday, July 24, 2002, 8:47 a.m. Waimea Civic Center 67-5189 Kamamalu Street, Kamuela, HawaiÒi 96743 ALSO PRESENT COMMISSIONERS Barbara Bell:Dudley Akama PRESENT :Sam KawamuraSteve Cassulo Hugh OnoTiffany Edwards Mike Kaha Margaret Pahio Christine Ross Council member Curtis Tyler EXCUSEDSTAFF :Mack Asato:Galen Kuba David FrankelKristen Griffiths Luana JonesLarry Capellas Peter Martin Riley Smith Carolyn Witcher CALL TO ORDER 1. Commissioner Bell called the meeting to order and noted that no votes/action could be taken at this meeting due to not having a quorum of commissioners present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JUNE 26, 2002 MEETING 2. Minutes could not be approved but the floor was open for discussion of the minutes. Curtis Tyler questioned Bell presiding at the meeting as a Commi DirectorÓs Report her resignation is effective July 25, 2002. Tyler suggested that under the second sentence might read, instead of what it is, ÐBarbara BellÓs appointment as the Director of the Department of Environmental Management will be considered by the Council in July.Ñ He stated further that the next sentence says ÒMoving ahead with the Personnel SpecialistÈ Ð and noted he didnÓt know who is moving ahead or what that means. Bell suggested that it be changed to ÐThe department is moving ahead with the hiring of Personnel Specialist, Accountant III, and the Recycling Coordinator positionsÑ. Regarding the discussion with Allison Fraley, and for clarification, Larry Capellas stated that Kauai County pays $200/ton while Hawaii County pays $40/ton for diversion. There is no confirmation that the 10,000-ton greenwaste conversion weight is actual scale weight but possibly a very high estimate based on the County of HawaiiÓs diversion and grinding of greenwaste. At present Hawaii County pays $22.50/ton for metal recycling to have metal diverted from this island. Kauai County pays $347/ton, approximately 60 tons/month, because they have a flat rate rather than a per month basis. KauaiÓs tipping fee is $56/ton and Hawaii CountyÓs is $35/ton. STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC ON ITEMS LISTED ON AGENDA 3. Christine Ross stated she hasnÓt seen any action to correct the collection problem, which isnÓt necessarily a departmental problem but a problem with the County Charter. At this time, there is about a half million dollars owed to the County. If the landfill tipping fee is increased, the past due bill amounts will increase, the companies will go into bankruptcy and the county will never get paid. Ross suggested a proposal be made to correct the County Charter stating that the users who will have past due bills be unable to use the landfill. The subject of unpaid monthly landfill bills should be put on the agenda for discussion. Increasing the landfill fee will help, but it will also hurt if the process is not thought through carefully. It was clarified that it is in the County Code, not the County Charter. In regard to RossÓs comments, Curtis Tyler stated Council members would welcome suggestions for receivables. An ongoing complaint of his is the lack of enforcement and accountability. The small minority of the population that donÓt pay their bills on time creates problems for the majority that do, therefore one has to be careful with legislation to ensure the majority arenÓt penalized. Further suggestions/comments from Councilman Tyler were: (1)Regarding Commissioner FrankelÓs suggestion to delete incineration as an option from the ISWMP, he is also concerned that incineration would be problematic from a public health and safety standpoint. He also discussed the concern of Oahu Council member Okino regarding H- power, as being old technology that is hazardous. (2) Asked if any public meetings have been scheduled on the ISWMP Addendum, Bell stated that, to her knowledge, none have been scheduled but she will ask the Director for an update at this meeting. Councilman Tyler stated that the Public Works and Parks concern about getting the ISWMP updated as soon as possible, stating Mr. CapellasÓ concern about the impending closure of the Hilo landfill and othersÓ concerns about trucking all of East HawaiiÓs waste to West Hawaii. He urged the commission and the staff to let everyone know what is happening as soon as possible. (3)If the Commission recommends increased tipping fees, he cautioned equality for East and West Hawaii commercial haulers, as well as the public. (4) He regards the Greenwaste Composting Program in Kona a success and is aware the program has been terminated as a result of the exhaustion of funds. He has noticed that commercial haulers have been loading and removing huge amounts of mulch that, in some cases, have been showing up on the commercial market and in commercial operations. At the end of the contract, when the County takes ownership, he requested Bell, as incoming Department Director, to set policies and procedures whereby the residential public, who subsidized this program, can continue to get the mulch free but commercial operations be charged so the costs can be offset. He requested that the council be advised if they should set up fees at that time. (5) To clarify his absence from some of the commission meetings, he stated he is unable to attend the Commission meetings when there are time conflicts with County Council meetings. Regarding Councilman TylerÓs comments, Bell stated that Greenwaste is currently owned by HMR as clarification for the commercial users. Ross said that several residents have contracted with them, -2- at $40 a truckload, to pick up and deliver the mulch to their properties. The $40 is turned over to HMR and she thinks it is to pay for the use of the loader. Ono explained the original intent was that it would be available for residents to fill their small pickup truck or bag. Ross confirmed, when asked, that it was individuals and stated her company was not advertising. Councilman Tyler said he has seen companies with 30-yard trailers getting the mulch and stated again that if residents are subsidizing the program and commercial users are getting it for free, it should be looked at very closely. APPROVAL OF ADDENDUM AND/OR SUPPLEMENTAL AGENDA 4. This item could not be addressed without a quorum present. CORRESPONDENCE/REPORTS/DISCUSSION 5. DirectorÓs Report Galen Kuba submitted a written report to the Commissioners. Possible dates for the three ISWMP ththst public hearings are August 19, 20 and 21, depending on availability of meeting places. With the th 20 meeting confirmed in the County Council Room in Hilo, he asked Bell, as the new Director, to finalize the other dates and times for meetings in West HawaiÒi and a third location with Harding ESE. Harding will charge for their attendance at the meetings. At a council meeting, Councilman Tyler stated he was told by a Harding ESE representative that these meetings would be part of their contract but is aware that Director Kuba later said that Harding attendance at public meetings might be an extra charge. He does feel it is important for the commission to do what it can to enable the information to get out and afford the public an opportunity to comment on this proposed update. Kuba stated there was a set amount of meetings in the contract and the problem isnÓt with the public meetings. It occurred with the 2 or 3 extra meetings as a result of SWAC reorganization and thatÓs where the financial problems arose. Numbers of meetings are being addressed and contract renegotiation will occur. The time element has changed and has to be corrected, and the financial issues addressed. Bell feels that evening meetings are important. Kuba feels number of meetings, cost of contract attendance at meetings, should be agreed to in writing prior to the County making st commitments. Bell and Kuba will discuss with contractor prior to August 1 to reach an agreement. The Mayor is scheduling a meeting to further address abandoned vehicles on private property. CommissionersÓ input should be given to Bell prior to her meeting with the mayor. The Zoning Code permits property owners to have three cars that are not under their ownership on their property. More than three cars constitutes a business and violates the zoning code. There is no limit for number of cars owned by the property owners. Kuba requested a monthÓs extension on hiring a Public Works Pers list of questions. Accountant III and Solid Waste Recycling Coordinator positions are still pending. The Mayor sent the Deletion of the Sewer Connection Exemption Ordinance to council and it should be heard by Committee mid August. Due to a recent departmental fine from HIOSH, Wastewater Division is in the process of hiring a consultant to assist in their safety manuals and checking their sites. Kuba recommended to Bell that -3- she consider it as a departmental contract so that person can also assist Solid Waste. Capellas explained the HIOSH site visit/fine procedure as follows: -A meeting is held to address the fines and depending on how the issued are addressed, the fines will either be increased or decreased. He feels the depart felt that the department did not address the issues and did not want to hear how the department addressed the issues. -Fines issued were as high as $115,000; then dropped down to $60 -Although Solid Waste disagrees that state agency rules can be applied to a County agency and some negotiations still need to be done, the direct effect is that Solid Waste will be forced to spend $10,000 to $20,000 to provide new puncture-proof shoes for every Solid Waste worker. Kuba stated it is a countywide problem, not just Solid Waste. To be proactive, Wastewater wants hire the consultant before HIOSH arrives. Steve Cassulo asked if there was a Safety Coordinator position in the County. Charmaine Kamaka is in charge of Safety and also handles workers comp, and comes under the Civil Service Department. Cassulo suggested the County have one individual designated to visit every site as often as possible to do internal audits to help save costs for (1) safety violations and (2) workman comp claims, and also do employee training. Kuba said it was an Administrative decision and in the meantime, Wastewater is hiring itÓs own consultant to fill that function. Council member Tyler stated there was a Safety Coordinator in the past but the position was removed by the Charter Committee, however some of the workers co Civil Service. Since it is the council who ultimately has to approve payment when it is over $1500, and sees the costs of the lawsuits and settlements, etc., Councilman Tyler suggested that this Commission look into the matter further. Capellas stated that in the last five years, there has been only one sideways puncture on a shoe and six finger punctures but employees are provided with very expensive $10 gloves, costing thousands of dollars every year. Safety is a very important issue but someday the decision is going to have to be made how far we go in providing protection. Hugh Ono concluded, with safety program requirements continually increasing, it is highly unlikely that a manager or supervisor can execute a safety program effectively with all their other daily responsibilities so there is a need to create a unit that creates and administers the safety programs. At the August meeting, the commission will discuss and vote on the internal audit approach, and if agreed, will send a statement to the mayor suggesting that it be a countywide emphasis. Solid Waste Division ChiefÓs Report Larry Capellas provided a written report to the Commissioners. Honokaa Transfer Station gates will hopefully be up by the end of the month. Notice will be in the newspapers and posted at the site. After reading Mr. FrankelÓs data, he wanted to go on record stating that he believes facts should not be used to bias a report or there is the risk of having the general public or the Council having -4- questions in the future. He stated Frankel cited plants outside the United States and didnÓt mention plants located in the United States that are under the US EPA Standards Commission. H-power should have been addressed. An H-power article from the Business News was attached to the report. Regarding the Kailua Landfill, for the sake of continuity and because the work has proven to be very effective, we are trying to extend that contract another year. Hilo landfill is still operating. Should have an accurate estimate of air space left by October. Right now, estimating mid-2004 closure or sooner. Questions have been filed for the Recycling Coordinator interview portion. Pictures of Keaau and Pahoa were submitted and, as of this morning, the appearance at Honokaa did not look any better. Gates are being put up and security personnel employed to secure the transfer stations at a number of locations from trespassers during non-operating hours. There is no longer a problem of trash being left outside the gate at the Hilo Transfer Station and Landfill. There are some problems with users getting locked inside the station and running through the gate to get out. Councilman Tyler suggested that the commercial haulersÓ problem be addressed by identifying the abusers by video camera or some other means. The same abuse is happening at other locations. Margaret Pahio stated a lot of it is probably the contractors and not the commercial haulers. Pictures have been taken and abusers have been reported to the police. Wastewater Division ChiefÓs Report Peter Boucher was absent and this monthÓs report will be given in addition to next monthÓs report at the next meeting. OLD BUSINESS 6. Discussion and Approval of Addendum to the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan (Including Possible Council Actions) The floor was opened for discussion. Councilman Tyler stated that a mainland municipal solid waste expert reported the cost of scrubbing the air for an incinerator exceeds the cost of some of the other technology that the commission has asked the contractor to incorporate into their report. He indicated, for the record, that it is important to get the facts. The fact that Council member Okino, who is a planner by trade, has raised the incinerator issue should concern us all. Information is available for review to properly evaluate. Ono said he feels it is premature to delete the incineration proposal. At this time, it hasnÓt b discarded by the consultant producing the report and should be an alternative to be considered. Bell offered that this item should remain on the agenda for the next -5- Kuba said the Finance Department has formed a committee to look at receivables from all departments that collect money and attempt to establish a uniform procedure to handle receivables. Representatives from Solid Waste and Wastewater are attending those committee meetings. Most collections are handled by a Corporation Counsel Deputy and are not sent to collection agencies. Tyler offered that Wastewater uses a collection agency and that Peter Boucher has submitted a proposal to the County Council to cut off water services for people who donÓt pay their bills which was not approved by the council. State law provides certain restrictions to counties with respect to cutting off utilities, water being one of them and electricity b NEW BUSINESS 7. Discussion on Increasing Tipping Fees The consultants suggest increasing tipping fees. Capellas stated the cost is probably going to be less than $70 or $85, but what should be considered is the cost that is reflected in the transfer station operations. If the tipping fee is increased by $5/year for the next five years, an additional $500,000 would be brought in every year, for a total increase from approximately $3.3 million at present to about $6+ million in five years and that isnÓt including the anticipated annual refuse increase. If you put that into perspective, youÓre still 50% short from the anticipated Division budget, but the subsidy from the General Fund has been decreased from 70% to 50% probably cover the operation of a regional landfill in the future. Capellas feels the regional transfer station concept is the facility that should be put in place immediately. The expense gap between the landfill and the transfer stations still has to be addressed. He thinks a line item should be added to the real property tax to address that situation only for single-family residential units. The cost of solid waste is assessed on two levels; one for transfer stations and one for the landfill. Ono would like to see a Business Plan developed. Kuba stated that Larry and he went through an exercise with FEMA and thereÓs where they came up with some of these numbers. They wouldnÓt accept the $80; it had to be broken out by landfill and transfer station. There were questions before they accepted Hawaii CountyÓs $20/ton price for reimbursement to the landfill for the debris that occurred in November. No documentation could be produced because some cost is hidden in Administration, etc. A report was submitted to FEMA that was accepted and part of the cost will be reimbursed. Some assumptions will need to be made but Capellas feels a decent figure can be reached that will not vary significantly from the $5/year for the next five years Margaret Pahio addressed the commission on behalf of commercial haulers stating they are tired of subsidizing all the landfill costs and asked the commission to remember that part of the landfill costs has to be borne by the transfer stations. Businesses feel they shouldnÓt be bearing that burden of all residents. These are costs that they have to turn over to their customers. Not opposed to the increase; think itÓs warranted, but asked the commission to bear in mind they are concerned. Councilman Tyler feels the long range planning is important, along with Commissioner OnoÓs request for a Business Plan. The combination of these two will be very good for the County Council to make the final decision on the situation. The real property tax line item has been discussed by council members. You have to look at the subsidy issue from both sides, residents and commercial haulers. -6- To enable commissioners to get an idea of the projected billable tonnage, not including that which is brought into the Hilo Landfill from the transfer stations, Capellas read the following figures: East and West Hawaii, starting with FY 96-97: 78,000 tons 97-9882,000 tons 98-9983,000 tons 99-00 86,000 tons 00-0194,000 tons 01-02102,000 tons 02-03 103,000 tons projection Pahio asked why the commercial haulers arenÓt being billed a partial amount for the greenwaste and was told that it was a matter of the cost of administration and monitoring. Ono stated that everyone is interested in fairness and asked Councilman Tyler the status of a sale tax for the counties. Tyler stated, being legislative, it is a statutory issue and he doesnÓt think the legislature has passed a bill giving the counties a right to charge up to a certain percentage. The county doesnÓt have taxing authority other than real property tax. He also noted there is no scale at Kailua-Kona greenwaste yard. Bell asked attendees for their thoughts on a punch card system at the transfer stations and there was a discussion regarding commercial and private owner license plates. Kuba stated that some large private trucks are now receiving commercial plates. Bell asked Pahio and Ross that if the working number of $5/year tip fee increase over five years was implemented, would that be a small enough amount with enough would not be put out of business. Pahio responded yes. Discussion on Harding ESE Contract Status Harding is requesting approximately $40,000 additional monies for attending extra meetings not covered in the contract. Kuba was asked why it was just being brought up now and not during the transfer over from the old to the new Council. He was hoping to reduce the number of public meetings in the contract to offset the additional SWAC meetings, but at this point in time, there is a sense that the four public meetings should be retained, or only reduced by one. Capellas stated that the first contract was $303,000, of which $220,000 came from project impact grants. $36,000 is remaining. It was noted that there was no contingency for extra meetings in the original contract. Capellas clarified that approximately $53,000 was for meetings and an additional $11,000 for presentation to the council, which included research time. Kuba stated that on most of the contracts he has dealt with there are contingencies for extra meetings but not on this one. Discussion on David FrankelÓs July 1, 2002 E-mail re ISWMP Since Frankel was not in attendance, the discussion was deferred until next meeting. -7- FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Discussion of Safety Program as a Countywide issue (HIOSH and Workers Comp claims) Discussion and approval of Tipping Fee Analysis Discussion on David FrankelÓs July 1, 2002 E-mail re ISWMP Discussion and Approval of Addendum to the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan (Including Possible Council Actions) ANNOUNCEMENTS Wednesday, August 21, 2002, 9:00 a.m. Î 12:00 p.m., HawaiÒi Coun Street, Room 201, Hilo, HawaiÒi 96720 Wednesday, September 25, 2002, 9:00 a.m. Î 12:00 p.m., Kona MayorÓs Office Conference Room, 75-5706 Kuakini Highway, Room 103, Kailua-Kona, HawaiÒi 96740 Wednesday, October 23. 2002, 9:00 a.m. Î 12:00 p.m. Location TBA. ADJOURNMENT 8. Meeting was adjourned at 10:41 a.m. Minutes Respectfully Submitted by: SHARRON HENRY Environmental Management Secretary -8-