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Meeting
Minutes
Tuesday, October 28, 2008,
at 6:30 p.m.
1. Introductions/Roll
Call
Commission
members present: Joan Felice, Dwayne Stenlund, Ernie Willenbring, and Jim
DeBenedet
Commission
members absent: Jan Vanderwall
Staff
present: Duane Schwartz, Public Works Director; Deb Bloom, City Engineer;
Tim Pratt, City Recycling Coordinator
Others
present: none
2. Public
Comments
None
3. Approval
of September 23, 2008, Meeting Minutes
Member
Willenbring moved to approve the minutes of the September 23, 2008, meeting
of the Public Works, Environment and Transportation Commission. Member
Felice seconded.
Ayes: 4
Nays: 0
Motion
carried
4. Communication
Items
Grass Lake Water Management Organization Board Opening
Jim
Stark has resigned, and his position will be filled towards the end of the
year. Duane Schwartz invited commission members or anyone else to apply if
interested.
Street
Maintenance Funding Recommendation
Member
Stenlund inquired how the City Council responded to the recommendation from
the PWETC about continuing to fully fund road maintenance instead of cutting
the budget. Mr. Schwartz responded that there hadn’t been any discussion on
the matter since that recommendation was made. The next budget discussion is
set for November 17.
5. Organized
Waste Collection Discussion/Compostable Food Waste
Tim
Pratt, City Recycling Coordinator, presented information on this topic. Roseville has open collection, which allows everyone to choose their own trash hauler from
seven licensed in the city, rather than organized collection, in which the
city provides the collection, either by doing it themselves or by contracting
with a hauler. Organized collection can provide many benefits, including
lower cost, less wear on streets, less pollution, etc. Chair DeBenedet
wondered why it was so important for some people to be able to select their
own trash hauler when there were so many benefits with organized collection.
Tim
Pratt went on to discuss sort separated organics, which is organic material
that wouldn’t go into a backyard compost bin, such as meat scraps, bones,
pizza boxes. Member Felice asked if there was any data yet on cities that
have started using this. Mr. Pratt responded that Wayzata has had good
success so far, with about 25% of residents participating. Member
Willenbring asked if Roseville was going to have organics recycling. Mr.
Pratt said it would be a City Council decision.
Member
Stenlund proposed that the city move to an organized collection system.
Member Felice proposed bringing up the liability factor because a lot of
people aren’t aware of it.
Member
Felice suggested printing information in the Roseville newsletter updating
residents of possible options and changes. Mr. Schwartz asked Mr. Pratt what
options there were to obtain input from the public. Mr. Pratt suggested
having a survey in the newsletter, a form on the website, or phone calls as
possible options. Mr. Schwartz suggested posting pros and cons for options.
Mr.
Schwartz suggested that since this could become a “hot topic” an information
piece should be worked up and brought back to the next meeting before
actually going to the public with it. Member Felice said she would like to
meet with the trash haulers as well. Chair DeBenedet thought it might work
better to have a proposal spelled out first before meeting with trash
haulers.
Chair
DeBenedet listed off the main points of discussion:
·
What is the proposal?
·
City contracted trash collection
·
Hauling
·
Divide city into zones, each zone to have one hauler
·
City designates trash to go to a resource recovery facility
·
City bills homeowners (do we include commercial?)
Member
Willenbring wondered why the city would bill, why not the hauler, as we don’t
need another layer of government. Chair DeBenedet replied that if the
current utility billing system is used, maybe there could be additional cost
savings since all the information and the process was already in place. The
hauler would appreciate knowing the bill would be paid and not having to deal
with delinquent accounts. Residents could have the convenience of the trash
bill included with the utility bill. Mr. Schwartz said the city does have the
ability to certify unpaid utility bills to property taxes, and he would check
with the City Attorney to see if that included trash pickup.
Mr.
Schwartz restated the Commission’s intentions as that they would like staff
to formulate a recommendation to the City Council in terms of how to
proceed. Chair DeBenedet said that maybe just a question sent to the City
Council asking if this is something they would like PWETC to pursue; and if
so, the Council could forward back a specific proposal of what they wanted
done. After that the Commission could go on to meet with trash haulers, and
maybe even members of the 2002 Citizen’s Committee, or other groups that have
been involved with these questions in the past. Mr. Pratt said the League of
Women Voters has been involved with trash issues in the past.
Member
Felice requested a fact sheet be created to have pertinent information close
at hand.
6. Twin Lakes Infrastructure
Preliminary Design
Deb Bloom, City Engineer, presented the latest information on the Twin Lakes Design.
7. Roselawn Avenue Reconstruction Preliminary Design
Deb Bloom, City Engineer, presented the preliminary reconstruction design. Currently, from
Hamline to Lexington the pavement is 32’-34’ wide. The plan is to construct
it 35’ wide, which would include a 4’ shoulder on the south side, two 11’
traffic lanes and a 9’ parking bay. The 8’-wide sidewalk will be attached to
the curb.
Chair
DeBenedet asked what material was being used for water service replacements.
Ms. Bloom responded that the city doesn’t replace the service, just
reconnects it to the main.
Member
Stenlund requested that staff check into what the city of Morehead is
requiring for utilities to do work within the city, regarding such pollutant
generating issues as concrete management, dewatering, etc.
8. Utility
Rate Information/Billing Follow-up
Duane Schwartz presented follow-up information on this topic from last month’s agenda.
Member
Stenlund said it would be helpful to have historic information on the utility
bill, such as how much water was consumed the previous year, the weather
conditions, etc.
9. Agenda
for Next Meeting – November 25, 2008
Follow-up from Organized Waste Collection
Storm Water Pond Cleanout Program
Storm
Water Harvesting and Reuse
Chair
DeBenedet suggested canceling the December meeting, as it falls close to
Christmas. All agreed.
10. Adjournment
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