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BCC Minutes 12/05/2006 W (Solid Waste Management) December 5, 2006 MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY WORKSHOP Naples, Florida, December 5, 2006 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Collier County Board of County Commissioners, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 1 :00 PM in a WORKSHOP SESSION in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Commissioner Frank Halas Commissioner Jim Coletta Commissioner Fred Coyle Commissioner Donna Fiala Commissioner Tom Henning ALSO PRESENT: Jim Mudd, County Manager Jim DeLony, Public Utilities Administrator Daniel Dietch, Malcolm Pirnie (consultant) Sue Filson, Executive Manager, BCC Office Toni Mott, Real Estate Services Judith Nothdurft, Waste Reduction & Recycling Mgr., Solid Waste Mgt. Dept. Ken Resor, Operations Manager, Solid Waste Management Dept. Dan Rodriguez, Director, Solid Waste Management Dept. MaIjorie Student-Stirling, Assistant County Attorney John Wood, CH2M Hill (consultant) Dr. George Yilmaz, Director, Waste Water Dept. John Y onkosky, Director, Utility Billing &Customer Service Sue Zimmerman, Real Estate Services Page 1 December 5,2006 1. The meeting was called to order at 1 :01 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance by Chairman Frank Halas. Jim Mudd, County Manager, noted that the BCC had directed the Public Utilities Division to come before it in this Workshop to talk about the long-term prospects of solid waste disposal in Collier County. Jim DeLony, Public Utilities Administrator, introduced key members of the Project Delivery team. He stated that a few years ago the County faced a solid waste crisis when the County landfill was under a consent order due to odors. County Manager Mudd, who was then the Public Utilities Administrator, convened a workshop that developed a plan to address the immediate crisis, and provided the framework to better manage solid waste going forward. The Solid Waste Management Department is committed to providing environmentally sound and cost effective solid waste management services for the County. Mr. DeLony proceeded with a slide presentation (attached) and discussion. 2. Workshop Purpose . Recommend an Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy . The recommended components include: o Source Reduction, Materials Reuse and Recycling o Diversion o Optimizing Existing Assets and Resources o Obtaining Additional Facilities . Receive BCC Guidance and Direction Mr. DeLony proceeded to present the Workshop Agenda items. 3. Enduring Guiding Principles . The Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy is based on previous BCC direction to achieve: o Environmental and Growth Management Compliance . Managing impacts on the air, soil and wildlife, as well as quality of life impacts such as aesthetics, noise and traffic associated with solid waste management. . Satisfying growth management requirements in the Annual Update and Inventory Report (AUIR), as well as the provisions of the Growth Management Plan. o Airspace Preservation . Extending the disposal capacity at the County's landfills o Operational Excellence o Best Value Service Page 2 December 5, 2006 4. BCC Direction for Today's Workshop . During a 4/18/06 presentation relative to April 2006 Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) based amendments to the Growth Management Plan, the BCC provided the following guidance to the Solid Waste Management Division: By fiscal year 2010 the County shall acquire and/or retain the land inventory required for future solid waste operations based upon selection of including but not limited to one or more of the following options in order of priority: o Partially or completely divert solid waste from the landfill o Gain additional airspace capacity o Explore emerging conversion technologies o Secure and utilize additional landfill capacity o Conduct this Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy Workshop 5. Past and Present Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy Results . A slide listing Solid Waste Management Goals indicated that all short and intermediate range initiatives have been completed. Most long-range initiatives are also complete, with three others currently under way. . There has been a successful transition from reactive a solid waste management program with barely two years of disposable capacity to a pro-active program with more than twenty years of disposable capacity at the Collier County landfill. . The strategy works, and in this Workshop the strategy will be updated to enhance what works and to explore new options to make continued progress. . The County's total waste stream is about 783,000 tons per annum. o About 36% of waste is disposed in the County landfill; of this, 36% is from residential customers and 64% is from commercial customers. o About 64% of waste is diverted/recycled; of this, 12% is from residential customers and 88% is from commercial customers. . The County's significant active physical solid waste management infrastructure assets include the following: o The Collier County Landfill o The Immokalee Landfill which is currently used as a transfer operation to divert solid waste from the Immokalee area to Okeechobee Landfill o Three recycling centers o Two inactive facilities, the Eustis and Immokalee Landfills o The following ongoing capital programs that will increase capacity: . New Scale House . Landfill Gas-to-Energy . Solid Waste Park . Northeast Recycling Center . Drop off Recycling Centers . With the current strategy, existing permitted landfill capacity will be fully used by approximately year 2025 to 2028. Page 3 December 5, 2006 6. Development of a Future Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy . As the County continues to grow, the quantity of solid waste that needs to be managed continues to grow. The strategy presented in this Workshop ensures environmental compliance, airspace preservation, operational excellence and best value service for the next fifty years and beyond. . It takes a long time to bring new solid waste initiatives on-line, so waiting to take action is not a good option. . The Project Delivery Team developed a process to identify and select preferred solid waste management options. o Best solid waste management options implemented by other communities were identified o These options were screened to yield recommendations described in the next section. 7. Recommended Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy . Source Reduction, Materials Reuse and Recycling o Source Reduction is the design, manufacture, purchase, use or reuse of materials or products to reduce their amount of toxicity before they enter the solid waste stream. o Materials Reuse is using an object or material again without significantly altering the physical form of the object or material. o Recycling is the recovery and reprocessing of usable products that might otherwise become waste. o These activities will: . Preserve airspace . Promote environmental stewardship . Increase recycling opportunities . Enhance and ensure environmental compliance . Diversion o Diversion is the redirecting of municipal solid waste that would otherwise be disposed in the Collier County Landfill to another landfill. o Many diversion options target commercial waste generators who today are the source for nearly two thirds of the solid waste disposed at the Collier County Landfill. o Diversion activities will: . Preserve airspace . Contribute to environmental growth management compliance . Provide best value service . Optimizing Existing Assets and Resources o This refers to developing the people, processes, relationships and policies that optimize the current solid waste management infrastructure. o A short-term option is Vertical Expansion of the Collier County Landfill. . Currently the landfill height is limited to 108 feet. . A preliminary evaluation by Waste Management shows the landfill is designed to support a vertical expansion. Additional analysis is Page 4 December 5, 2006 necessary to determine whether and to what extent a vertical expansion would be possible. . Staff has looked at increasing the height to 150 feet, which would provide an additional seven years of capacity, or to 200 feet, which would provide another eleven years of capacity. This takes into consideration increasing waste streams due to expected future increases in County population. These assessments were done with the assumption that retaining walls would not be placed on the landfill; adding retaining walls would enable the landfill to accept greater volumes. . Mr. DeLony stated that he will provide the Commissioners with a list of some landfills that currently have retaining walls in response to a request for this information from Commissioner Coletta. . The only negative to this approach is that it would build over portions of the landfill that have already been capped, preventing them from being opened and re-mined in the future when the trash in them is stable. Some contents will have decayed and turned to dirt that can be used, creating more disposal space. However, this approach is not yet effective in terms of technology. . Vertical expansion maximizes the use of existing County owned infrastructure. . One other option with regard to expanding the existing site is to look at an area to the south of the current landfill, a wet area that has some restrictions. This option at the current height restriction of 108 feet would provide another five years of capacity. Discussion followed at this point. Daniel Dietsch of Malcolm Pirnie (consultants) spoke about solid waste technology. He said that 26 different solid waste processing technologies were reviewed in conjunction with developing Collier County's solid waste management strategy. With the exception of a landfill, a materials recovery facility and, to a very limited extent, landfill mining, there are no commercial solid waste processing technologies that are a best value fit for Collier County. The County will always need a landfill. The market is constantly being monitored for the development of new technologies. Commercially proven technologies are those that have been operating in the U.S. for at least one year and can operate on a scale that can manage the type of waste generated in Collier County. Emerging technologies operating on a small or pilot scale were also reviewed, but are generally not as reliable as commercially proven technology today. Developing technologies such as plasma arc gasification that St. Lucie County is looking at are very innovative but their application for solid waste is not proven at this time. The market should continue to be monitored to take advantage of new developments that would make sense to use in Collier County. Page 5 December 5,2006 Dan Rodriguez, Director, Solid Waste Management Dept., spoke in response to a question from Commissioner Henning concerning solid waste parks. In March 2006, the BCC approved a contract with PBSJ, a firm that does environmental impact studies and also develops solid waste parks. At that time PBSJ began an environmental impact study on 360 acres of County owned property north of the landfill, looking at wildlife, natural resources, and the wetlands, as well as environmental impacts, to facilitate the preparation of zoning changes necessary to utilize this property for a landfill extension. The information from the study will be compiled this winter to determine what part of the property can be utilized. Fifty percent of the property cannot be developed based on current zoning, and there are other restrictions such as those on wetlands. When the study has been completed it will be brought to the BCC with a conceptual plan of what can be utilized in the north property. In addition, there are two or three small tracts of property in the center of that solid waste park that Real Estate Services is in the process of negotiating with the private owners. Mr. Dietsch spoke about landfill gas to energy in response to a question from Commissioner Henning. Consistent with BCC direction in 2003, the feasibility of a landfill gas to energy project in association with the Collier County landfill is being explored. When garbage decomposes, it produces methane which can be cleaned up and used as a fuel source, much like natural gas. The Florida Environmental Protection Agency has identified the Collier County landfill as an ideal candidate to beneficially use landfill gas. There is an inherent conflict between odor management and beneficial use of landfill gas. Work on this is being done with Waste Management, so that there is a single source of responsibility challenged with producing gas while controlling odor. A proposal for a pilot project to assess the viability of a full-scale project is expected from Waste Management soon. County Manager Mudd added that odor control is of major concern and must be controlled. Also, relative to the possible landfill extension, the 360-acre site is in a sending area. The state of Florida has given the County an exception to sending area responsibilities for this site. The state requires that sending areas have 85% natural cover, but was willing allow 50% natural cover on this property because about 50% of it is wetland. Mr. DeLony noted that because the 360-acre site is in a sending area, use of it will require an amendment to the Growth Management Plan and other steps. Commissioner Coletta stated that the East of 951 Committee needs to receive the information from this Integrated Solid Waste Management Workshop. Mr. DeLony responded that Public Utilities staff is part ofthat effort, and he will make sure that the East of 951 Committee receives this information. Commissioner Fiala asked why the landfill being a good candidate for gas to energy. Page 6 December 5, 2006 Mr. DeLony responded that there is an effective gas extraction mechanism already in place. Many landfills don't have this, and the Collier County landfill already has the necessary pipes in place. Break 2:18 PM Reconvened 2:34 PM 7. Recommended Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy (continued) · The forth and final component of the Solid Waste Management Strategy is Obtaining Additional Facilities o Definition: Locate, procure, permit, construct and operate additional solid waste management facilities. This is getting more of what Collier County has, not just maximizing what it has. o Options include: · Investigating and procuring transfer stations and recycling centers. . Developing a materials recovery facility. · Expanding the boundaries of the current Collier County landfill site (the solid waste park north of the County landfill site will be developed as previously directed by the BCC). · Potentially procuring an additional landfill site. o Siting additional solid waste management facilities is a tough process. · Decisions must take into account environmental and community values. · The decision process must be reasonable, fair and open. · The majority of undeveloped land in Collier County is excluded from further consideration because of Federal, State, and local regulations and policies. Commissioner Coletta asked if the point has been reached that a new landfill needs to be permitted. Mr. DeLony responded that there is no better time than now to buy land. Given Collier County's current growth rate, this option should be considered. A tract of 1,200 acres is not too large to be thinking about in terms ofa future landfill site. Commissioner Halas asked what growth rates were based on in determining how long the present landfill would be active, and what growth rate is anticipated on a yearly basis. Mr. DeLony responded that the same assumptions have been used the last four years from the AUIR. The population for the County in the years under consideration comes from the Community Development Environmental Services Division. Commissioner Fiala asked if these calculations take into consideration numbers of tourists as well as winter residents. Mr. DeLony responded that the AUIR population numbers come from a blend of six months of peak population and six months of permanent population. Page 7 December 5, 2006 Historically about. 72 tons of solid waste per person per annum goes into the landfill. Commissioner Fiala commented that it is a long, 10 to 15 years process to get a landfill permitted, so it is necessary to have the site well before it is needed. John Wood of CHM2 Hill (consultants) stated that the last landfill in Florida took 12 years of development time from the time that it was decided to move forward to the time that it began operations. Commissioner Coletta asked where there is 1,500 continuous acres in Collier County that could be used for a landfill, what it would cost, and how that cost would be borne by today's taxpayers - money for this is not in reserve. Mr. DeLony responded that a study that would provide these answers has not been done. The necessary funds are not in the capital budget right now. Commissioner Coletta stated that it might take $100 million to obtain an appropriate new landfill site. The County's number one priority at present is getting roads built. Mr. DeLony stated that he has no authorization or direction to conduct a study unless he receives that direction as a result of this Workshop. A study would cover all issues. Commissioner Henning stated that all of the things that Mr. DeLony is speaking about have already been done. In the 1990s work was done to extend capacity out to year 2050 or even further. He asked why that study isn't being used instead of recreating it. A study for increasing the air space to 180 feet has been done. The sitting Board at that time did not move forward because of the odor problem. He expressed concern that people are being hired to create information that is already available. Mr. DeLony responded that, if given direction to do a study, information from the earlier study would be looked at and included. County Manager Mudd noted that a new study would build on any studies done in that the past. The preferred site for the alternative landfill identified in the earlier study is where Ave Maria sits today. He added that this Board will have opportunities relative to a new landfill site in working with developers who want to develop immense tracts of land in the east part of the County . Recommendations for this Workshop o Adopt the Enduring Guiding Principles and the recommended Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy consisting of the following components: · Source Reduction, Materials Reuse and Recycling . Diversion · Optimizing Existing Assets and Resources . Obtaining Additional Facilities o Authorize staff to evaluate and develop the options within each component for implementation consistent with BCC direction. Page 8 December 5, 2006 8. BCC Guidance and Direction Commissioner Coyle said that it appears to be prudent to proceed with increasing the landfill height to 150 feet, and an expansion into the southern portion of the current landfill. He stated that he would like to see a cost effectiveness study on retaining walls, estimating what will be gained compared with the cost to build. He expressed some concern with going to 200 feet initially. Mr. DeLony suggested designing supporting infrastructure for a 200-foot retaining wall. The final height could stop short of that. Commissioner Coyle, upon clarifying that land for an additional landfill would be within Collier County, supported County Manager Mudd's comments about holding some new communities responsible for having their own landfill and wastewater and water production plants. The intent of those rural villages is to make them as self sufficient as possible. Mr. DeLony said that with solid waste it's the larger the better, so having rural villages build their own landfills might not be the best option. Commissioner Coyle agreed, adding that he would look for rural villages to build their own wastewater and water production plants to County specifications, and then turn them over to the County for operation. There is no reason that people developing a number of rural villages couldn't get together and identify landfill sites and water sewer facilities to service these villages. Commissioner Halas agreed that developers have an obligation to provide the land for a landfill. 9. Public Comment Bob Krasowski of The Zero Waste Collier County Group stated that nothing new was presented at this Workshop that wasn't already presented by his Group. He noted that tens of thousands of dollars were paid to Malcolm Pirnie to redeliver this to the BCC in this Workshop. An engineering firm was already hired to consider the feasibility of building the higher landfill, and this is in the minutes of the Productivity Committee from a 1998, 1999 or 2000 meeting. He questioned continuing to use Malcolm Pirnie who years ago told the BCC that the only viable alternative was to burn waste. He recommended creating a Citizens Advisory Committee, and said this would be more efficient in dealing with the situation. Gary Elliott of Catalytics LLC, a group of entrepreneurs on Marco Island, stated that Catalytics is investigating the conversion of biomass into ethanol for blending into the gasoline supply. They believe conversion technologies are becoming commercial and the economics appear to be favorable. He suggested that in working to extend the life of the Collier County landfill, considering the use of an ethanol biorefirnery in the mix of options. Catalytics has recently requested grant monies from the Florida DEP to investigate and commercialize a seven million gallon a year ethanol plant using 100,000 tons of biomass per year. The biomass could be a combination of 50,000 tons per year of biomass presently diverted Page 9 December 5, 2006 from the landfill and 50,000 tons from energy crops grown within the County. The landfill also produces methane gas which can be used as a raw energy source for this biorefinery. Catalytics would like to situate the ethanol plant at or near the landfill to take advantage of co-location, co-generation, the availability of feedstock and the market for the product. This project will create both agricultural and industrial jobs, solve the landfill methane issue and help with the diversion of biomass. He asked to be included in the County's planning. John Fillmore of Yahl Mulching and Recycling, Inc. stated that he and his wife own a horticulture dump site adjacent to the landfill, and they have the capacity to take all of the horticulture that goes into the landfill, process it, composte it and turn it into top soil. Commissioner Henning said that he uses some Yahl Mulching topsoil and it is good quality. He questioned having a mulching facility in the landfill when Yahl could take this on. Mr. DeLony stated that Waste Management currently does what Yahl Mulching does. He recommended looking at the economics and seeing where the best value is as part of the strategy. Commissioner Henning said that the existing 300-acre landfill footprint is 40 years old. He stated that it has plenty of space if the mulch is taken out. Commissioner Halas stated that all options from the Recommended Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy should be left open, and areas for a potential landfill in the eastern area should be looked at. Commissioner Coletta stated that the first guiding principle should be cost, and getting the best value for the taxpayers. He said he expects the cost of a new landfill to be astronomical. If the land could be obtained at a reasonable cost, or if it is donated to the County, it could be used for other things before it is used for its ultimate purpose. The most important thing now is to plan for the next 30 years. Commissioner Coyle said that the County could not purchase suitable land for a landfill. He recommended that the BCC's guidance should be specifically directed toward getting the land needed as part of developer contribution agreements in conjunction with the rural villages and towns that are going to be built in the eastern part of the County. He encouraged the pursuit ofthings like Land Development Code changes that would be helpful, and pursuing alternatives within the County's control. He also asked for a cost feasibility analysis on retaining walls. He suggested that the Enduring Guiding Principles and the Recommended Integrated Solid Waste Management Strategy be adopted with the emphasis on specific items discussed here, and also looking at emerging technology. Commissioner Halas asked the Commissioners if they were in agreement with Commissioner Coyle's recommendations, and all agreed. Page 10 December 5,2006 County Manager Mudd stated that he expects developer contribution decisions will be the BCC's to make within the next two years because ofthe threat of hometown democracy being on a ballot in 2008. He added that if that happens, it will change the way zoning is done within this state. There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was concluded by order ofthe Chair at 3 :29 PM. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS _ PRODUCTNITY COMMITTEE WORKSHOP Ch.-~~- aIrman ommlsslOner ra a as ATTEST: DWIGHTE. BROCK, CLERK By:.... tkv.. ~ 0_( . Attest II ~ ci. tN' IfGinlt... ~h- f.... These minutes approved by the Board on \ ~ - aoC1-, as presented ./ or as corrected Page 11