Great
River Regional Waste Authority Regular
Commission Meeting October
31, 2003 Minutes A
meeting of the Great River Regional Waste Authority Commission was held
Friday, October 31, 2003, at the Henry County Board of Supervisors Office,
Henry County Courthouse, Mount Pleasant, Iowa. The
following Commission Members were present: Chairman,
Marc Lindeen, Henry County; Commissioner Susan Dunek, City of Keokuk; Commissioner Steve Ireland, City of Fort Madison. Absent: Vice Chairman, John Emmett, Iowa State Penitentiary and Commissioner,
Bob Woodruff, Lee County. The
following were also present at the meeting:
Mr. Tim Yoder, Director; Ms. Kjrsten Bobb, Barker Lemar; Jeff
Phillips, Barker Lemar: Kerry Voelker, Theobald, Donahue & Thompson; Mr
Doug Napier, Legal Counsel; Mr. Bob Watson; Gerry Baskys from the media; and
guests Lennis Moore, Midwest Old Threshers and Lynn Whaley, Whaley Waste
Systems. I.
Meeting
Called to Order Chairman
Marc Lindeen called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. Chairman Lindeen called
for a motion to enter into Rule 2B. Commissioner Dunek made the motion,
seconded by Commissioner Ireland. Motion
adopted by unanimous voice vote. II.
Approval
of the Agenda Chairman
Lindeen called for additions, deletions, or corrections to the agenda. Commissioner Ireland moved to approve the
agenda, seconded by Commissioner Dunek.
No discussion. Motion adopted by unanimous voice vote. III.
Approval
of September 26, 2003 Meeting Minutes Commissioner
Dunek moved to approve the September 26, 2003 Regular Commission Meeting
Minutes as read, seconded by Commissioner Ireland. No discussion. Motion adopted
by unanimous voice vote. IV.
Public Comments None V.
Midwest Old Threshers
Reunion Mr.
Yoder presented the tonnages of waste disposed from the 2003 Midwest Old
Threshers Reunion event. Food waste
22.4 tons, Straw 5 tons, Manure 19.5 tons, Wood 11.7 tons, Commingled recyclable
(tin cans and plastic), glass and cardboard over 2 tons, and regular trash
43.4 tons. Everyone was hoping for an
80% reduction of waste to the landfill.
The 2003 event had a reduction percentage of 58. With more education for the 2004 event the
goal will be achieved. Some barriers that need to be overcome are containers
for plastic beverage bottles throughout the grounds and educating the workers
at the food tents at shift changes.
Special mentions were made for the workers at the St. Alphonsus food
tent, Rich Garrells at the Elk Burger tent, L&M Schools at the Lemonade
stand and the Mount Pleasant Christian School at the Funnel Cake tent. Lennis
Moore was presented a Certificate of Appreciation for participating in the
first on site organics composting event for GRRWA and a certificate was also
presented to Lynn Whaley from Whaley Waste Systems for their participation in
the 2003 event. Mr.
Lennis Moore thanked GRRWA for the certificate and was very grateful to have
such a facility this close to Midwest Old Threshers that is able to take the
organic waste. Mr. Moore did say that he will be sharing this program with
the state fair associations and encourage like events to participate with
their local waste disposal facilities. VI.
Operations Report The leachate seeps and intermediate cover violations have
been repaired. Silt fence and seeding has been completed on the east hillside
of the landfill. The work was
completed by October 21, 2003. Shane
Dodge from the IDNR Field Office came back Friday October October 24, 2003 to
re-inspect the landfill. He will sign
off on the notice of violations dut did note that there are still some areas
in the landfill that need more cover.
He also noted that the next time he inspects the landfill he will be
using his shovel and tape measure to measure the amount of cover in certain
areas. Towards the end of his visit,
he discovered that the drain plug had been taken out of the diesel tank
containment area. Contaminated water
had escaped into the storm water drainage area. Mr. Dodge also shared with the Director that GRRWA was looking
at a $10,000 fine but because of the fast response and attention to the
violations he would not enforce the fine at this time. He also stressed that if he would come
back to the landfill in the condition that the found it in as on September 9,
2003, he would pull the landfill supervisors certification. An Equipment Operator was hired in the month of
October. This operator will be
trained in the landfill for two to three months and then in the compost for
two to three months. A letter of expectations was given to staff from Waupaca
Northwoods on a possible working relationship with bagged compost and wood
mulch. Possible first year quantities
for the bagged soils would be around 1,500,000 bags. This number could increase by 3 to 5
times. At this time Waupaca is
looking for a commitment by GRRWA.
The letter contains four questions that need to be addressed. These questions are feelers for a long
term commitment to Waupaca. Unused shotgun slug shells were found in the cardboard
drop off bins at the Fort Madison facility on Monday October 27th. In light of the recent articles in the
press and on the radio it is very much a concern for the GRRWA and Lee County
Works staff. This may be a
coincidence but when the GRRWA past is brought up in the press, items such as
shotgun shells, appear in the recycling drop off containers. This is by far not the first incidence. Along with this, a couple of staff members
have brought to my attention that with the recent press coverage, they
personally and their children have been verbally harassed for being employed
at GRRWA. The majority of the current
staff has chosen to work for GRRWA.
GRRWA has not gone out and sought any of them for employment. This is
clearly the employee’s choice and is largely a choice to work for an
organization that provides services that are needed by the public in the
planning area of GRRWA. The GRRWA
staff is dedicated to the customers and to GRRWA an it is a shame to know
that their hard work and efforts can be affected by a few people who deem it
necessary to bring up the GRRWA past.
The current staff does not want to go backwards several years to when
they were verbally harassed and were haunted by a few members of the public
that threatened their lives if they continued to work for GRRWA. I have discussed with those staff members
that have brought their concerns to me that we as employees of GRRWA need to
look past the negative image of GRRWA and continue to be positive and provide
the positive customer service to the public because that image is what is in
store for the future of GRRWA. City Carton, Inc., a certified American Baler dealer and
service technicians, performed some maintenance work on the baler Wednesday,
October 22, 2003. An electric motor
was found in nonworking condition. It
appeared to have not been in operation for several years. Staff purchased a
replacement motor at a cost of $2495.
City Carton made necessary adjustments on the baler and shimmed the
cutting edge. The Landfill Operator Training at the Kirkwood Community
College in Cedar Rapids that was scheduled for October 20-23 was
cancelled. Staff has requested a 24
hour landfill certification training at GRRWA facility. Barker Lemar needs six committed people to
put the course on. GRRWA would have
four. Staff will be meeting with Van Buren County to explore
possibilities of mixed recyclable materials coming to the GRRWA facility to
be sorted. Many items still need to
be addressed, i.e. tonnages, materials, and costs. Fiscal Year 2003 Audit field work as been completed. Walker Egerton & Hunsaker began the
work on October 6, 2003 and was finished on October 17, 2003. VII.
Earthly Goods Report The
number of loads that have been committed to Earthly Goods from R&R
Marketing is now 500. VIII.
Legal Counsel Report None IX.
Barker Lemar Engineering Update and Comprehensive Plan Update Ms.
Kjrsten Bobb shared with the Commission
the Landfill Gas summary. She explained
that the gas results that they are seeing for GRRWA are comparable to Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines and
are equivalent to EPA models. GRRWA needs to make a decision on the form of
energy that they are planning to use in order for Barker Lemar to proceed
with the project. Mr.
Jeff Phillips presented the Commission with a summary of the feedback from
the cities and municipalities from the GRRWA planning area that responded to
the questionnaires that were sent to them.
The next step in the Comp Plan process is to determine what the
planning area is offering the residents and what the planning area is working
on to provide to the planning area and offer a realistic timeline for these
items. Mr. Phillips facilitated a
vision planning and will be sharing those results with the Commission in the
near future. X.
Action Items Resolution GRRWA 04-11: Resolution Approving Expenditures of the Authority. Motion by Commissioner Dunek seconded by
Commissioner Ireland to adopt Resolution GRRWA 04-11. No further discussion. Motion adopted by unanimous voice vote. Resolution GRRWA 04-12: Resolution Approving Purchase
of Equipment. Motion by Commissioner Dunek seconded by Commissioner
Ireland to adopt Resolution GRRWA
04-12. No further discussion. Motion adopted by unanimous voice vote. Resolution GRRWA 04-13: Resolution Approving Bank Account. Motion made by Commissioner
Dunek seconded by Commissioner Ireland
to adopt Resolution GRRWA 04-13. No further discussion. Motion adopted by unanimous voice vote. XI.
Other Business Commissioner
Dunek shared a packet of information with the Commission that was given to
the City of Keokuk Council. XII.
Board Member Comments Commissioner
Dunek thanked Chairman Lindeen for the letter that was sent to the Commissioners. Commissioner
Ireland stated that he has been out knocking on doors in Fort Madison and the
topic of conversation with a lot of people is the Waste Management Fee and
wanting to look into retiring the Waste Management Fee early. At the last Fort Madison Council Meeting a
Keokuk hauler came to the city Council with a concern of the meeting time
that the GRRWA Commission was meeting, the way work is being bid out and the
Waste Management Fee. Mr. Ireland
also stated that harassment of employees and children is something that he
does not condone but he will be bringing questions to the board from
constituents. The more education of
operations will help with negativism of GRRWA. Chairman
Lindeen commented that the Weekly Letters is definitely a learning tool when
the Director sends them out. There is
one Henry County Rural Resident that is interested in GRRWA operations and
had there not been a conflict in his schedule, would have went to the seminar
in Tucson. Mr. Lindeen also stated
that he stated his opinions in the letter that they received and asked the
Commission to stand behind Tim to help educate and change the image of GRRWA
operations. He also reiterated that
the Commission needs to look at ways to improve the image of GRRWA. XIII.
Adjourn With no further business before the Commission,
Commissioner Dunek made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Commissioner
Ireland. Motion adopted by unanimous
voice vote. Approved
as to form and content as adopted at the November 21, 2003 GRRWA Commission
meeting.
Thursday - December 04, 2008 - 02:11 pm CST