Environment and Recycling

CITY OF CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA Council Member – AT­LARGE John Kennedy Bailey Environment and Recycling Committee, Chair PO Box 2505 Ordinance and Rules Committee Charleston, WV 25329 Telephone: 304‐346‐5646 jkbailey@jkbailey.com TO: Environment and Recycling Committee FROM: John Kennedy Bailey, Chair RE: Committee Meeting A meeting of the Council Committee on Environment and Recycling will be held on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. The meeting will begin promptly at 5:30 PM. UNTIL FURTER NOTICE, MEETINGS WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC VIA ZOOM *Join via internet: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89443055554?pwd=V1p3ZmJreDdTOVFkS3dOa3VGZ0l3UT09 Passcode: 947122 *Join via Telephone: (312) 626‐6799 or (929) 436‐2866 Webinar ID: 894 4305 5554 Agenda APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES 1. 3‐3‐2021 DISCUSSION OF LAST GREEN TEAM MEETING DISCUSSION OF TREE PLANTING/REPLANTING PROCEDURE DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE MATERIAL RECOVERY FACILITY FOR CHARLESTON/KANAWHA COUNTY JKB/jb Page | 1 of  MINUTES ENVIRONMENT & RECYCLING COMMITTEE MEETING MARCH 3, 2021 – 5:30 PM- VIA REMOTE Committee Members Present: John Kennedy Bailey, Chair – Bruce King, Vice Chair Bobby Haas- Naomi Bays -Ben Adams – Will Laird Others Present: Brent Webster-Jered Lanham-Mackensie Spencer- Green Team Members: Rod Watkins-Linda Frame-Emmett Pepper John Kennedy Bailey, Chairman called the meeting to order. He entertained a motion to dispense with the reading of and approval of previous meeting minutes. Ben Adams made motion-Naomi Bays seconded. Minutes approved as written. Introduction of Green Team Members: The Chairman welcomed the Green Team Members present and asked they introduce themselves and provide a little bit about themselves. Rod Watkins- Retired ZMM Architect and Engineer and former member of the Solid Waste Authority and has had an interest in recycling for many years which he hopes can add something to this committee. Linda Frame- President of WV Environmental Council and has worked on Recycling issues at The legislature for the last several years. Looking forward to working with this committee to promote recycling as well as any other ideas that will be generated. Emmett Pepper- works for Energy Efficient WV- private attorney and Mountain State Justice He believes and hopes that his that energy efficient work background will be beneficial as a member of this Committee. Next Agenda Item: Discussion of Recycling Recommendations: The Chairman stated that post the recycling study would like to pick out a couple of items that the committee can focus on in the coming months and wanted to get some thoughts and views from the committee on recommendations from the report. He stated that most interesting to him was the idea of having a mini MRF or city owned facility in or near Charleston in cooperation with other municipalities, looking at possible sites, funding and working with the city administration. Ben Adams stated that one of the take aways from the study was talk about doing a rate study to determine what or what is not feasible and other options we might have. Rod Watkins stated he felt that many things in the report had been discussed 10 years ago with KSWA and agrees that transportation is driving up costs and that the current rate increase in thru the roof. He mentioned a facility downtown whose owners may be interested in leasing for recycling. The Chairman stated he would be interested in learning more about it. Naomi Bays stated she thought the report lacked a comprehensive survey of households. She also felt that with population downsizing the best way to go would be to combine other municipalities and county as a way to share the costs as a way to make it more attractive for grants and other funding options. Jered Lanham remarked the report was what he expected and agreed a household study would be needed to gauge what equipment and or manpower might be needed. Emmett Pepper stated that in his experience working with other municipalities has been Page | 2 of challenging. He also agreed that rates are an important piece and how it interplays with litter and waste in general. Rod Watkins stated that the PSC & State SWA have rules that inhibits competition, in that the certificate of need is held by Waste Management and whereby no other private/public entity can pick up recyclables baring a lengthy legal process. Added that Waste Management, as we know, is not operating a recycling program in West Virginia. The Chairman then asked Jered Lanham or Brent Webster about their thoughts on the semi-automation aspect of the report. Jered responded that there would need to be heavy reliance on the citizen to exclusively use the bins and that the tipper would be considerably slower than manually bringing to the truck. Additionally, there would be a lot of hydraulics involved, which would necessitate some specialized mechanic training to order to maintain the equipment. The Chairman stated that a good follow-up discussion would be looking at costs of recycling carts or bins and the equipment necessary to handle them. He added that he hopes to have that conversation with Brent Webster and or /Jered Lanham prior to the next meeting. The Chairman then asked if any committee member would be interested in looking more into the mini MRF aspects, i.e who makes, the costs, etc. Naomi Bays said she, along with assistance could investigate that. Ben Adams agreed that he would assist. Linda Frame remarked that there some City touring of the Parkersburg facility and asked if there could be some input from them as to their costs and what systems they have in place for curbside pickup. Will Laird remarked that there was no mention of recycling glass which can be used for aggregate. The Chairman added that there were at least a couple places within the city that use aggregate. Rod Watkins mentioned that several years ago there had been several attempts at recycling crushed glass but found the amount of glass needed far exceed the amount being produced. The Chairman stated he would investigate the possibility of ordinance changes with the administration that would require a certain amount of aggregate to be used in any city paving subject to availability, standards, etc. The Chairman also stated that he would like, as a goal in the future, to meet with members of other municipalities currently involved in the SWA, and perhaps a Kan. County Commissioner and members of Green Team to discuss about how we could all work together. There being no further comments or concerns, the Chairman entertained a motion to adjourn. Naomi Bays made motion. Ben Adams seconded. Meeting was adjourned. . Page | 3 of Page | 4 of Page | 5 of