San Juan County
Solid Waste Advisory Committee
November 21, 2005
Members Present: John Day, Francie Hansen, Calvin Den Hartog, Michael Kaill, Tom
Munsey, George Post.
Staff Present: Commissioner Bob Myhr, Jon Shannon, Ed Hale, Helen Venada, Erin
O’Rourke, Mark Tompkins, Angela Carlson
Guests Present: King Fitch, Claudia Mills, Wilma Munsey, Brian & Karla Pouillion
Chair Michael Kaill called the meeting to order at 12:00 pm at the Community
meeting room of Islanders Bank Annex. Minutes of the October 17, 2005 meeting
were approved as read.
Comments:
Brian Pouillion said there is concern with San Juan Island waste as far as the disposal of
electronics, the lack of Roche Harbor recycling, yard & building material waste that is
put into the Transfer Station each month.
Jon Shannon said the Lopez Transfer Station has had some success with recycling cell
phones and computer monitors in the past. The main issue is having the proper legally
established space to store this type of waste.
As for Roche Harbor recycling, Michael informed the group that a thirty yard drop box
has been put in place by San Juan Sanitation at Roche Harbor for the collection of
recyclables. It has been in place for the past month and a half. This drop box is then
transported to the recyclables area at the transfer station by San Juan Sanitation. In
Addition, Calvin Den Hartog noted that as far as enforcing recycling it is up to Roche
Harbor to implement. The incentive is that it costs $160 per ton of waste plus the hauling
fee of $114.00 to haul the drop-box; where there is only the hauling fee of $114.00 for
recyclables. Roche Harbor has built a step ladder to the recycling container making it
more accessible for all.
Karla Poullion asked if there is enough room to improve the traffic flow to the recyclable
area at the Solid Waste Transfer Station on San Juan Island?
Jon Shannon said at the moment there is not enough room to improve traffic flow. This is
partially due to the loss of structural integrity to a portion of the transfer station on San
Juan Island. That portion was deemed unsafe by the Town Building Inspector and had to
be temporally closed to the public from November 22 to 30, 2005; until that area was
made safe. Ed added that there are some girts between the vertical posts, along with cross
bracing that is loose. The damage is so far gone that rather than repair the cross bracing it
is safer and more cost effective to remove the steel structure above the tipping area. We
will also recycle all of the steel that is removed.
HDR Cost of Service Analysis, Ed Hale, the Interim Solid Waste Manager reported that
this study was initiated by customer questions such as: What does it cost the County to
handle the waste & recyclables it collects? The purpose of the study is to aid in the
managing of costs effectively, evaluating the types of services provided and total revenue
requirements.
Depending on how waste and recyclables are collected and how many times it is handled
greatly effects the Total Cost of Operation. With the goal of operating with a balanced
budget: The Cost of Operation is off set by combining the fees collected and securing
grants. It has been noted that insufficient funds have been allocated for reserves,
depreciation and capital improvements. HDR suggests a reserve of three months of
operational costs.
The primary source of current revenue is the Tipping Fee, collecting an average of
$195.79 per ton.
Tipping fees:
1) Commercial waste: $160.00 / ton
2) Self haul waste: $238.00 / ton.
3) Self haul waste: $32.00 / yard
It is important to note that this report is a third party evaluation by HDR Engineering,
and is based on the 2005 budget and the 2004 actual costs of operations, taking note that
no changes in rates have been made recently. They also took into consideration the total
revenue requirements for the San Juan County transfer stations to be a viable entity for
the people of this county in the future.
After further evaluation, Ed said a more in-depth interpretation of these figures is
anticipated as there are more items of interest that need to be factored into this analysis.
New Business:
After a concerned citizen asked what could be done to help resolve the matter with the
disposal of yard & building material waste, a suggestion was made by Michael that it
may be beneficial as a citizen to write a letter to the Commissioners stating the need for
this type work to be performed.
Discussion followed on:
1) The plans for improvement of the San Juan Transfer Station,
2) the safe operation of the S. J. I. transfer site while working with a volume of
traffic that far exceeds the site’s capacity,
3) and possible rate changes.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 pm.
Recording Secretary: Angela Carlson