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Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
1. Introductions/Roll Call
Commission members present: Joan Felice, Steve Gjerdingen, Jan Vanderwall and Jim DeBenedet
Commission members absent: Dwayne Stenlund
Staff present: Duane Schwartz, PW Director, Tim Pratt, Communications Specialist and Recycling Coordinator
Others present: None
2. Public Comments
None
3. Approval of Meeting Minutes
May 26, 2009 Meeting Minutes
Member DeBenedet asked to verify the wording of Member Felice’s question on page 3. Member Felice stated the word “recyclables” should be changed to “energy.”
Member Vanderwal pointed out the misspelling of his last name on the top of page 6.
Member Gjerdingen asked to add a comment to the third paragraph from the bottom on page 3 about how the asphalt heating process is not the standard. Member DeBenedet stated the paragraph was clear to him.
Member Vanderwall moved to approve the minutes of the May 26, 2009 meeting of the Public Works, Environment, and Transportation Commission at next month’s meeting. Member Felice seconded.
Ayes: 4
Nays: 0
Motion carried
June 23, 2009 Meeting Minutes
Member Felice asked about the wording in the paragraph on the bottom of page 5 and the top of page 6. Duane Schwartz stated the words “would require a” should replace “we” in the first sentence on page 6.
Member Vanderwall asked about wording of the last sentence of the first paragraph on page 6. Duane Schwartz stated the sentence should be “Staff has reduced equipment request in response to finding shortfalls.”
Member Vanderwall moved to approve the minutes of the June 23, 2009 meeting of the Public Works, Environment, and Transportation Commission at next month’s meeting. Member Gjerdingen seconded. Member Felice abstained from vote since she was not at the June meeting.
Ayes: 3
Nays: 0
Motion carried
4. Communication Items
Duane Schwartz gave an update on the budget process. The staff has been holding a series of town hall meetings to solicit input on the budget and capital investment plan. Parks and Recreation gave a presentation on their capital planning process. There is an electronic response devise that is a part of the meetings to get input on where cuts should be made if needed. There will be two more meetings during the last week of July.
Member DeBenedet stated he thought they would talk more generally about the budget and he was disappointed more members of the public didn’t show up.
Member Felice received feedback about the electronic response devise. It would be nice to have another option besides A, B, C or D. Duane Schwartz answered there were comment cards so the public would have a way to give a different response.
Member DeBenedet asked if the results of the survey would be posted. Duane Schwartz stated they could be posted. He will include them in the next commission packet.
Member Vanderwall suggested there should be a broader sample of votes for these issues. Tim Pratt answered the electronic voting will not be represented as a scientific example. It is just one method of getting input but it is not the only way. Member Vanderwall stated his concern about how the results would be presented to the Council and that they need to be presented in context to make sense.
Member Gjerdingen asked if the public could give their feedback by email. Tim Pratt stated they would. Member Vanderwall suggested using Twitter to get comments from the public as an option.
Duane Schwartz mentioned the consultants hired to do cost of services analysis on the general funds supported items are nearly done. The Council will receive the results in August. The City Council was asked to respond and give feedback to the City Manager. The City Manager will then put together a recommended budget. The City Council will set up a levy by September 15.
Duane Schwartz stated the capital improvement plan has been updated. The 10 year needs indicated a slight increase from last year from $98,000,000 to $102,000,000.
Construction Update
Duane Schwartz mentioned the street reconstruction on Roselawn Avenue continues. The street east of Lexington Avenue has its first lift and they are ready to pave the pathway. The curb is in on the west side of Lexington Avenue to Fernwood Avenue and this should be paved in the next week. Utility work continues from Hamline Avenue to Fernwood Avenue.
Duane Schwartz stated the work on the Twin Lakes project continues. Installation of the storm water infiltration system has begun. Member Vanderwall asked if there have been any surprises with the project. Duane Schwartz answered they found some buried contamination of asbestos in the Right- of- Way that had been there for many year. It was disposed of properly.
Duane Schwartz mentioned Congresswoman McCollum would be visiting the site next week. The City had put in a request for federal dollars so she wants a tour of the site.
Duane Schwartz talked about the Sanitary Sewer Mainlining project up for bid estimated at $250,000. The Pubic Works staff is also working on the final plans for the Watermain Replacement project on Oxford Street and Churchill Street. The TH 280 project awarded to Lametti & Sons will begin next week.
Duane Schwartz mentioned the Shoreview pervious pavement project has completed some segments so far. A video was shown to the Shoreview City Council of dumping a tanker full of water on the pavement to see what happens. The water didn’t get more than 25’ to 30’ from the truck. This pavement is being installed just off Rice Street on Owasso Boulevard.
Member Felice asked if there was a way to catch the water that flows through the pavement if there is a toxic spill. Duane Schwartz answered there is no membrane to stop the water from infiltrating the ground. If there was a spill it would be dealt with just like any other spill with some sort of clean up. Three storm water ground monitors were installed as well.
Duane Schwartz mentioned the Grass Lake Water Management Organization is holding a stakeholder information meeting to present the findings of the Lake Owasso Use Attainability Study. The study evaluated the declining water fall trends over the past few years. It made some recommendations on how to turn this around.
Tim Pratt gave a reminder about the Green Community Awards Tour this weekend. Jan’s place is a location to check out. These awards recognize homes in Shoreview and Grass Lake Watershed Management District part of Roseville where homeowners are using best management practices of storm water. They have installed rain gardens, landscapes, shoreline buffers, rain barrels and native plantings. The City of Roseville website has more information.
5. Recap City Council Discussion
Member DeBenedet stated he thought the meeting went well. He also received compliments from residents that it went well. The one element of the meeting that could be talked about is that there was support from some of the City Council members that land development issues with environmental, transportation and public works elements should be reviewed in more detail by the Public Works Environment and Transportation Commission. The recommendation was to follow up with the ordinance zoning code update process. Member DeBenedet recommended one member of this Commission be offered to the Community Development Director to be a part of this process. Duane Schwartz stated the process starts some time this fall.
Member Vanderwall stated he thought the meeting went well also. He said he was glad to hear support from the City Council about the organized collection study.
Member Vanderwall was concerned the public waited until the City Council meeting to talk about the asphalt plant instead of commenting when the Public Works Environment and Transportation Commission had a public meeting about it. Member Felice stated this is in her neighborhood so she had many comment sent to her. They stated they wished there had been more advertisement in the paper about the subject so the public would be aware of what is going to be discussed.
Member DeBenedet stated perhaps there should be a change to the ordinance that states the people that are within 300 feet of a subject property will be notified ahead of a time of a public meeting. He thought may be there is a need to relook at this ordinance.
Member Gjerdingen stated there is a newsletter that is emailed to residents as a communication process. He also heard that 1500 feet could be a more appropriate distance than 300 feet.
Member Felice suggested putting notices in the newspaper to reach those residents that are beyond the 300 or 500 feet who might be affected by a project.
Tim Pratt stated from a staff perspective it is difficult to know which subjects will be controversial and should be advertised in the newspaper.
Member Felice mentioned perhaps any subject that deals burning and things that get into the air or with water should be thought of as controversial and should be communicated.
Member Vanderwall mentioned if there are many comments from the public about an issue perhaps the City Council can hold off on the discussion until we can get the word out about the subject. Member DeBenedet stated the problem with holding off on a subject is that there is a 60 day limit from the time the application is filed until they take action. Duane Schwartz stated the City Council did discuss revisiting the notice policy.
6. Organized Collection Study / Next Steps
Duane Schwartz mentioned there is a statute for cities considering a waste collection process. The City Council holds the hearing about organized waste collection. The topic that needs to be discussed is prior to starting the statutory process what types of research is needed or what additional study is needed.
Member DeBenedet stated they were given a copy of the City Attorney’s letter dated January 8, 2009 along with a 30 point question and answer list that staff developed from Tim Pratt’s office. Duane Schwartz added that this list has been updated since then.
Tim Pratt mentioned there are two tracks. One is the statutory process that Duane Schwartz mentioned. The other is the process of the Public Works Environment and Transportation Commission gaining the knowledge it needs to know to make informed decisions and recommendations. Tim suggested the Commission goes down the second track to first to gain knowledge before this topic goes to the City Council and the public hearing. Generally what has happened in other cities is once this topic goes to the public hearing the waste collection companies begin their own campaign of sending out information and any information from the Public Works Environment and Transportation Commission is lost.
Duane Schwartz stated they should gather enough information to be able to make a recommendation to the City Council as to whether or not the Council should start the statutory process. They should be able to tie a recommendation to a list benefits of why starting this process would be a good idea for the City.
Member DeBenedet stated it would be significant if they could get the top three or four benefits to residents listed. One benefit would be that the City would expect to get better rates. They would create a table to site the rates other cities in the area have received to compare them.
Duane Schwartz mentioned that 70% of waste collection in the country is organized. Tim Pratt stated this is along the coasts of the nation.
Member Vanderwall asked if it is possible to get the mileage from waste collectors to see how much they are driving in Roseville. Tim Pratt answered there is some data in a state report. The Pollution Control Agency completed a report on organized collection of trash based on field observations.
Member Felice asked to see how other municipalities made this beneficial for the haulers as well as residents. Also, did they choose one hauler for the whole city or divide it up. Tim Pratt answered that it varied from city to city.
Member Vanderwall mentioned it would be helpful to also see the process that other cities used to make their decision on organized waste collection. Tim Pratt stated since the statue has been in place in 1991 there has not been a successful switch to organized waste collection.
Member DeBenedet stated the next step then would be to find out why the other cities failed to switch. Tim Pratt stated he has already talked to the other cities and they were not able to switch because a large amount of information was sent out to the public from the trash collectors that caused many complaints from residents. The politicians then decided not to switch.
Member DeBenedet suggested they need to get as much information as possible out to the public over the next year.
Member Felice stated sometimes garbage haulers will offer extra services like sending out a truck for composting. It would be interesting to ask people if they get these types of extras.
Duane Schwartz stated that one of the benefits to organized collection would be to contract for extras such as large items.
Member Vanderwall asked how will the Public Works Environment and Transportation Commission listen to negative comments from the public and be respectful of their wishes. Member DeBenedet suggested having an email set up for the public to send comments to. Member Vanderwall then suggested that comments could be researched by City Staff.
Member DeBenedet stated they would need to come up with three good reasons to switch to convince the public. The first one would be cost. The second would be the street damage question. Duane Schwartz stated there have been studies to try to quantify damage.
Member Vanderwall suggested the third reason should be level of service. The level of service should be maintained as well as extras offered.
Member DeBenedet suggested that staff research the issues of cost and street damage and bring back the results to the next meeting. Member Gjerdingen asked if mileage could be included in the research. Member DeBenedet stated that mileage would be more a part of the street damage issue than an issue of its own.
Member Vanderwall suggested they research if trash collection and recycling collection is being done in the same vehicle. Tim Pratt answered there were no vehicle like this that he was aware of and they are very expensive.
Member Felice asked could some of the information they are collecting show how this would benefit the trash collectors also. Tim Pratt answered there was a study done with focus group of small and large haulers. The small haulers feared losing market share. The large haulers feared regulation and would want a certain amount of small haulers also.
Member DeBenedet asked if there is market share information about existing haulers. Tim Pratt stated they did a survey so they have an idea but nothing official. Member Vanderwall asked to see the information they do have at the next meeting.
Duane Schwartz announced the City Council plans to have their budget meeting at the same time and place as the next Public Works Environment and Transportation Commission meeting. He asked for suggestions on what to do about the August meeting. Member Vanderwall proposed the August meeting be cancelled.
Member DeBenedet stated that he only had two agenda items for August meeting. One item was to follow up on garbage collection. Duane Schwartz stated his staff would not be able to do research for this topic in the next month. The other item was about the illicit storm water discharge. Duane Schwartz stated due to a resource issue they have applied for help with Green Core to get assistance from college students. They would work with the City on sustainability. Tim Pratt stated there is a deadline of September.
Member Vanderwall moved to cancel the August meeting. Member Felice seconded.
Ayes: 4
Nays: 0
Motion carried
7. Agenda for Next Meeting on September 22, 2009.
- Electronic Communication Policy
- 2010 Budget Update
- Solid Waste Collection Information
- Storm Water Ordinance Update
8. Adjournment
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