Productivity Committee Minutes 10/24/2001 COLLIER COUNTY GOVERNMENT
PRODUCTIVITY COMMITTEE
Minutes
October 24,2001
3:00 P.M.
Members Present: James Gibson, William Adams, Thomas Casale, Edward Ferguson, Thomas
Grootemaat, James Horner, Karl Otto, Jean Ross-Franklin, and Janet Vasey
Members Absent: Donald Campbell, Sharon Hanlon, and Commissioner Pam Mac'Kie
Staff: Winona Stone, Tom Wides, and George Yilmaz
Introduction: Jim Gibson, Chairman, opened the meeting at 3:20 P.M. Prior to the meeting being
called to order there was open discussion on the V2 penny sales tax referendum for funding
transportation projects.
Minutes: The minutes of the September 19, 2001 meeting were unanimously approved.
Old Business:
A. Discussion and Approval of the Report to the Board of County Commissioners on the
Review of the Airport Authority:
Jim Gibson recommended that once the report has been approved by the full committee it should be
provided to the Clerk of Courts and the Airport Authority in an effort to afford them the opportunity
to respond to the Committee's findings and recommendations. A three-day time frame was
suggested for receipt of any responses that will be appended to the final report and then transmitted
to the Board of County Commissioners.
After revisions to the wording of two recommendations under the Business Plan and Development
section, the Committee approved the final report.
B. Update Report on Waste Management and the Landfill:
Jim Gibson introduced Tom Wides, Interim Public Utilities Administrator, and George Yilmaz,
Solid Waste Department Director. They provided a brief verbal update on the status of Waste
Management and the Landfill. The following items were discussed:
1. There is currently a pilot project working with local growers to compost bio mass (yard
waste and sludge). If this test project is found to work and is fully implemented it is
projected to save the County about 1.2 million dollars annually in disposing of sludge.
2. A gasifyer is being studied to determine its possible benefits to the County in disposing of
municipal solid waste. It vaporizes organics but doesn't use oxygen to burn like an
incinerator; and therefore, it has very low emissions, doesn't generate heat but generates a
natural gas that can be used to generate electricity. An RFP is scheduled to be presented to
the Board in January.
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➢ Staff would like to provide the Productivity Committee with a presentation prior to
going before the Board.
3. Household recycling has increased curbside pick up from 7 to 24 different items, resulting in
and 18 to 22 percent increase in recycling.
4. The commercial recycling ordinance is being reviewed with the hopes of revising it to be a
"business friendly"mandated and voluntary program.
5. The gas smell problem at the landfill has been resolved as far as the Florida State
Department of Environmental Protection is concerned and the consent decree has been
lifted.
6. Waste Management, Inc. is building new cells to last 12 to 15 years and a study is being
conducted on remediation of cells one and two.
Both Jim Gibson and Karl Otto noted the tremendous amount of progress staff has made in the last
year in dealing with the County's waste management issues.
New Business:
There was no new business discussed.
Comments/Suggestions:
The meeting concluded at 5:15 P.M.
Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Productivity Committee is scheduled for Wednesday,
Y
December 5, 2001, 3:00 P.M. in the County Manager's Conference Room, 2nd Floor of the W.
Harmon Turner Building (Building F, Administration Building).
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