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City Council - 11/03/1987 "t r APPROVED MINUTES AP EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL TUESDAY , NOVEMBER 3 , 1987 6:00 PM, CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS 7600 Executive Drive COUNCIL MEMBERS : Mayor Gary Peterson, Richard Anderson, George Bentley , Jean Harris , and Patricia Pidcock CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl Jullie , Assistant to the City Manager Craig Dawson, and Recording Secretary Jodi Miller ROLL CALL: All members were present. I . CALL MEETING TO ORDER Mayor Peterson called the meeting to order . Harris complimented Assistant City Manager Dawson on the excellent memo he had prepared for the Council regarding t waste management . x II . DISCUSSION ON WASTE MANAGEMENT Assistant City Manager Dawson summarized his memo of October 29th regarding waste management stating his memo focused on the City 's role in solid waste management . He said the Metropolitan Council had adopted a three phase approach which called for counties preparing policy plans and cities achieving 16% recycling through source separation. Cities questioned the success of source separation and Assistant City Manager Dawson identified, in his memo, several issues and alternatives relating to source separation and an analysis of likely response to those issues from other government agencies . He stated that the waste management legislation changes every year, therefore, it has become very confusing as to what the actual intent and impact of the legislation is . Mayor Peterson asked Assistant City Manager Dawson to elaborate on "How to Direct Waste to a Facility" , Page 2750D. Dawson replied that the City had been reluctant to contract with a hauler or group of haulers in the past because it was then acting within a private enterprise market . He questioned if the city , acting through a regulatory act , would be within anti-trust restraints . He stated this would require further legal analysis. Harris asked Dawson how St . Louis Park is having such success with their recycling program and how they are City Council Minutes 2 November 3 , 1987 handling apartments . Dawson stated their recycling program is five to six years old so the residents are in the habit of separating their recyclables . The City also provided three separate containers for separation of wastes which makes it easy for the residents (samples of which are in his office) . Dawson said St . Louis Park also has several yard waste programs and that is a significant portion of their program. Regarding apartment buildings, Dawson felt some of the buildings had a storage room available for use and/or recyclable waste was put in plastic bags by the dumpsters a on designated days . Harris inquired whether there was any new information on the Hennepin County Resolution on source separation . Assistant µ City Manager Dawson stated he was not aware of any changes in the resolution but that it would probably be considered by the Metropolitan Council for redrafting next year . Harris inquired as to the sentiments •of the Metropolitan Council . City Manager Jullie said he had had only informal discussion regarding this, but with the new Chairman of the Council , he fel it had changed its stand and was supportive of mechanical separation. Dawson stated Eden Prairie has asked for some flexibility in the recycling system to reflect what was best for the individual cities. Anderson asked City Manager Jullie if this City Council should go on record asking for mechanical separation since it has the plant to accomplish this . Anderson stated that since Eden Prairie has the - opportunity to do mechanical separation, should the Council ask the County Commissioners for their help and support as this system is a good alternative and will work well in Eden Prairie. Mayor Peterson said extraction of recyclables is the issue prior to mechanical separation. He stated there were a number of questions including. 1 ) How do you designate flow of waste? 2 ) What will happen to recyclable material in the next one to five years? 3) What contractural relationship can the City enter into? He said the list of questions gets longer and longer and these issues must be resolved first. Anderson questioned why we should investigate further if the j answer to mechanical separation is no. Mayor Peterson stated while that was true, it was improbable any agency would say no to mechanical separation once it was demonstrated to be a workable solution. Pidcock •said that the Council must keep in mind that at the City Council Minutes 3 November 3, 1987 last Metropolitan Council hearing the comment was made that Eden Prairie was doing nothing for recycling and the Metropolitan Council questioned why. Harris said she felt it was worthwhile to pursue all available options. She said there were many questions relating to this issue and that one does not preclude the other. Bentley asked about the market for recyclables and whether or not it was a problem for source separation. He also said he was in strong disagreement with the attitude of other levels of government proposing to modify behavior and he felt that was beyond the role of government. He said government may impose sanctions to force people -o do something but source separation should not be it. He also wondered where the 16% figure originated from. Assistant City Manager Dawson said studies had been done by consultants for Hennepin County and the Metropolitan Council which suggested 14% - 18% recycling could realistically be attained through an aggressive, successful program. Bentley said he felt the Council should proceed on the basis that Eden Prairie will use the Reuter facility as a recycling facility and mount a campaign to both residents and other levels of government that shows the wisdom of utilizing mechanical separation. However, he also feels the Council should have a contingency plan available. This creates the question of how to handle haulers taking the refuse to the designated facility. Assistant City Manager Dawson said more legal advise would be needed on that issue. City Manager Jullie said that given the Reuter facility is x there, he thinks its only natural that the waste generated in the surrounding area should go to that facility. He stated a backup plan was necessary and that Woodlake and BFI Sanitation expressed an interest in talking with the City and he suspected they may propose a curbside program. He also said Eden Prairie needed to keep its options open. j MOTION: Anderson moved, seconded by Harris that the City of Eden Prairie pursue alternatives employing mechanical separation of recyclables, explore ways the City may direct its waste to the Reuter facility, influence policies or legislation to expand definitions of what is recognized as recycling, and provide more recycling opportunities focusing first on residential generators before moving to business generators. Bentley said the Staff had recommended more legal investigation/analysis and that he felt an alternative plan ' to source separation must be laid out as a plan to fall back on. City Council Minutes 4 November 3 , 1987 Mayor Peterson then clarified the motion on the table and stated that the Metropolitan Council, not Hennepin County, would be the major problem. Anderson asked who gave credit for proper waste management, the Metropolitan Council or Hennepin County. Assistant City Manager Dawson stated credit came mainly from the Metropolitan Council, however, Hennepin County does have some grants available for source separation. He further stated that mechanical separation would not qualify for grant reimbursement. Harris said the Staff addressed the options and their investigation determined recommendations for the City. Therefore, the Council should feel comfortable pursuing the staff recommendations. Mr. Doug Reuter, Reuter, Inc. , commented with respect to the resolution adopted by Hennepin County stating it was more than they had hoped for. He said the most significant part of it was included in the last paragraph which stated the waste master plan should be modified to include recycling by mechanical separation. He said it was important because it was in violation of the waste Management Act, yet seven people knew this and voted for it anyway. This vote sends a clear message to the Metropolitan Council that the County Board saw it would be difficult to accomplish the waste management goals without including mechanical separation. City Manager Jullie asked what would happen to Reuter, Inc. if 16% source separation was accomplished. Mr. " Reuter said it would have an obvious financial affect a on the firm because they would not have as much material. Bentley stated that the motion before the Council directed the Staff to proceed along lines of their recommendations. He asked Mr. Reuter if a separate resolution should be drafted by the staff which would be supportive of what the county action has been. Mr. Reuter stated that at this time he would not recommend a resolution of this type. He further stated that he felt Eden Prairie should not go along with the Metropolitan Council plan and start a source separation program by January 1988 . He said he was confident that the master guide will be changed to include mechanical separation in the future. Bentley spoke to the issue of the feasibility of putting a source separation program into place by January 1988 if the Metropolitan Council was going to turn around and change the plan. Mayor Peterson questioned what powers the Metropolitan Council has to mandate their policies. A discussion was also held on the compost issue and whether Reuter, Inc. had received the lab report results rating the i City Council Meeting 5 November 3, 1987 burning of their pellets . Mr . Reuter stated the lab report was not yet available. Susan Varlamoff said she had spoken with both Nunn and Keefe and they had expressed concern that there was no source separation program in Eden Prairie. She also questioned whether landfill expansion could be a problem and said she felt the landfill expansion issue must be addressed. Bentley said the staff recommendation does address setting up a source separation program and if the motion is adopted the framework to establish such a program will be put together and ready to go in the near future. Assistant City Manager Dawson said the county ordinance requires a plan, not the actual program, in place by January, 1988. Harris asked if Eden Prairie is the only community not currently engaged in an active recycling program. Assistant City Manager Dawson said neither Bloomington , Minnetonka , nor Hopkins were actively engaged in recycling either . Anderson said much discussion had taken place and that the Council had originally allowed Reuter, Inc. to come to the community because that was a better alternative than landfill or a burn plant and that the Metropolitan Council should be notified of that . He said he felt behavior modification was important because Eden Prairie residents will not always live in this community . He feels behavior must be modified because of our society and existing conditions no longer allow for landfill . Consequently, recycling is needed . VOTE ON MOTION: Motion passed unanimously. Further discussion was held on whether or not the City had the authority to require biodegradable cartons be used rather than plastic and what could or couldn ' t be done about this on a local level . Discussion was also held on the recycling of paper . r III . ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7: 14 PM.