MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA THURSDAY,
SEPTEMBER 20, 2001
The Council of the City of San José convened in Adjourned Regular session at 8:10 a.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall to consider issues pertaining to the City’s Recycle Plus Program.
Present: Council Members - Campos, Chavez, Cortese, Dando, Diquisto, LeZotte, Reed, Shirakawa, Jr., Williams, Yeager; Gonzales.
Absent: Council Members - None.
Orders of the Day
Upon motion by Vice Mayor Shirakawa, Jr., seconded by Council Member Chavez, and unanimously carried, the orders of the day were approved. Vote: 11-0-0-0.
7.1 (a) Acceptance of the status report on the preparations for transition to the 2002 Recycle Plus Program.
(b) Acceptance of the Integrated Waste Management Efficiency Review.
(c) Approval of the customer rate structure for the Recycle Plus Multi-Family Dwelling Bin2 Program beginning July 1, 2002.
(d) Approval of the following Recycle Plus rates for services beginning July 1, 2002:
(1) Set the rate for the new 20-gallon mini garbage cart at $12.95 per month; and,
(2) Set the optional yard trimmings cart subscription rate at $2.00 per month.
(Environmental Services)
Documents filed: (1) Memorandum from Director of Environmental Services, Carl W. Mosher, dated September 17, 2001, transmitting a Recycle Plus Transition Update report. (2) Memorandum from Director of Environmental Services, Carl W. Mosher, dated September 17, 2001, recommending (a) Acceptance of the Integrated Waste Management Efficiency Review; (b) Approval of the customer rate structure for the Recycle Plus Multi-Family Dwelling Bin2 Program beginning July 1, 2002; (c) Approval of the following Recycle Plus rates for services beginning July 1, 2002: (i) Set the rate for the new 20-gallon mini garbage cart at $12.95, and (ii) Set the optional yard trimmings cart subscription rate at $2.00 per month., (3) Memorandum from Nina S. Grayson, Director of Equality Assurance, and from Carl W. Mosher, Director of Environmental Services, dated September 17, 2001, providing information on prevailing wage issues. (4) Hard copies of the overhead presentation given by the Administration. (5) Correspondence from GreenTeam of San José dated September 24, 2001, requesting Council approve a policy that retains an average ratio of one-to-one garbage-to-recycling volume in order to achieve the first year 25% diversion requirement, and continues to increase the diversion rate to 30% and 35% in the following two years.
Discussion/Action: Carl W. Mosher, Director of Environmental Services, made a presentation on the Administrations’ report on the preparations for transition to the 2002 Recycle Plus Program and stated Staff will present the Integrated Waste Management Efficiency Review, recommend a customer rate structure for the Recycle Plus Multi-Family Dwelling Bin2 Program beginning July 1, 2002, and Recycle Plus rates for services beginning July 1, 2002, present a prevailing wage study pertaining to the Recycle Plus Program, and will respond to Council questions. He introduced Ellen Ryan, Deputy Director for Integrated Waste Management (IWM); Elaine Leung, Manager of the Recycle Plus Program; and Lindsey Wolf, Assistant to the Director, who will report on the transition and outreach programs; and stated representatives of the three haulers, GreenTeam of San José, Green Waste Recovery, and Norcal are present to answer questions. He stated the new program begins July 1, 2002, with providers GreenTeam and Norcal servicing single-family customers, GreenTeam continuing to service multi-family facilities, and Green Waste Recovery and Norcal providing yard-trimming services. He stated a new 96 gallon wheeled co-mingled recycle cart will be the default cart—although residents may choose a smaller cart, including a new 20 gallon mini cart—and may choose a yard trimmings cart on a subscription basis; and street sweepings will be increased to two per month. He stated technology used by the haulers is changing with the introduction of a split garbage/recycling truck to decrease the number of passes through a neighborhood each day. Assistant to the Director Lindsey Wolf presented the transition and outreach programs planned for the next several months and described activities planned for the Pre-Selection Phase from October-December 2001; the Selection Phase from January-February 2002; the Launch/Program Rollout from March-September 2002, and the Post-Launch/Reinforcement Phase from October-December 2002; and reported on Contractor Preparations, Recycle Plus Facilities, and Service Enhancements in IWM’s Residential, Commercial and Civic programs.
Mayor Gonzales suggested Staff coordinate outreach efforts with Council Members’ Offices, using their network of neighborhood associations, and suggested including an implementation schedule in the outreach to residents.
Council Members Reed and Williams stated the
quality of street sweeping is as important as the quantity and expressed
concerns about improving the service.
Council Member Dando stated that increasing street sweepings will not help unless service is improved, suggested working with Council Offices and with all neighborhood associations on getting cars moved on sweeping days, and suggested using curricula in schools and co-venturing with newspapers for wrapper ads or inserts for outreach.
Council Member Campos concurred with their concerns and suggested Staff develop a specific plan to encourage residents to move their cars on street sweeping days, and stressed the importance of bilingual outreach efforts and communication with Council Offices on outreach schedules.
Mayor Gonzales stated the major issue of street sweeping is getting cars moved on street sweeping days and noted that residents cannot be cited without prior postings. He stated he would not want a proliferation of signs in neighborhoods and suggested using a targeted application of neighborhood postings and providing continued posting of street sweeping schedules, including putting notices on containers.
Responding to comments by Council Member Chavez, Director Mosher explained the pilot programs in Districts 1 and 3, stated educational programs and schedules will be explored, with enforcement considered a last resort, and stated Staff will come back to Council with options for consideration. Council Member Chavez suggested putting flyers on garbage cans and possibly using videos for residents with limited education or language skills, and hosting “brown bag” meetings with community leaders for input on street sweeping issues.
Council Member LeZotte stated
enforcement measures might be necessary for individuals who will not cooperate,
regardless of education/noticing efforts.
Council Member Reed suggested using e-mail distribution as a means of outreach in his district and identifying people with the ability to work with the Vietnamese media to involve that community. He stressed the importance of street sweeping efforts to control storm water runoff and address the pollution and sedimentation going into the Bay. Director Mosher stated Staff would report in December or January with a plan to address those issues.
Ellen Ryan, Deputy Director for Integrated Waste Management, provided a Transition Contractor Preparation Update. She stated all contractors’ equipment is ordered and due in time for training and regarding facilities, noted Norcal has acquired a 7 acre site in the Berryessa area, the permit for which is currently processing through the City’s planning process. She stated Norcal’s subcontractor, California Waste Solutions (CWS) is in the planning process for a Material Recovery Facility (MRF), and since their initial application was protested, they have submitted a new application. Should this permit not be approved by the first week of November, she stated Norcal would exercise contingency plans for other recycling facilities; Green Team’s existing MRF will be upgraded to handle the co-mingled recycling stream. She stated new routes are being developed for the split trucks, with preliminary routing to be complete by January and final routes set by June 2002, and Staff is working with haulers to develop processes to implement worker retention provisions in the contracts. Enumerating IWM’s accomplishments, Deputy Director Ellen Ryan cited the City’s 53% goal attainment, the largest city to attain a goal over 50%, commented on the new split/co-mingled cart pilot, the improved yard waste and cart option, composting education, the multi-family oil collection pilot, the new Construction & Demolition Diversion Deposit Program (CDDD), and the food waste and dry waste pilots, and described the major thrusts of the program for public, residential and commercial recycling, and explained the Staff recommendation for adoption of rates of $12.95/month for the new 20 gallon garbage cart, $2.00/month for the yard trimmings cart option, and multi-family services which compensate haulers on both garbage and recycling service.
Because of concerns about the time-frame for facilities to be on-line, Council Member Dando suggested Staff bring a status report in December 2001, stated the City should not penalize recycling, and indicated she is not supportive of the $2.00 charge for the yard waste clippings cart. Kerynn Gianotti of GreenTeam responded to Council Member Dando’s question about whether the recycle pickups being proposed are adequate, stating that GreenTeam thinks to meet the diversion goals recycle pickups would need to be more frequent than once a week. Council Member Dando stressed concerns about meeting the diversion goals and requested Staff review the issue of encouraging all multi-family residents to recycle.
Vice Mayor Shirakawa, Jr., stated the proposal under-estimates the number of people who would subscribe to the yard trimmings cart option. Regarding MRF facilities, he stated the site under consideration on Burke Street would not work for a MRF at the required capacity and suggested Staff research other sites immediately.
Council Member Chavez expressed concerns that costs could become a disincentive for residents to recycle.
Council Member Williams suggested
stressing use of the yard waste container as a way of helping achieve the
City’s goals for clean streets and storm drains, with a goal of eventually
phasing out the loose trimmings option. City Manager Borgsdorf pointed out the
unavoidable impacts of using an enterprise fund for services that are not cost
recovery.
Council Member Reed commented on concerns the proposed rates do not provide sufficient cushion against revenue shortfalls and threaten the General Fund and the 25% diversion goal. Director Mosher stated the revenues for the programs come from customers and AB939 fees, and alternative would be to change the revenue structure to build up the reserve, noting that one-month reserves are needed. Council Member Reed stated Norcal and CWS are looking at sites in his district and stressed the importance for the Planning Department to expedite these permits proactively, using special handling and a goal of creatively helping solve problems and meet the short timeframes; and stated his office will work with both Planning and the applicants to that end. Mayor Gonzales stated one-month’s reserves are too high and suggested reviewing the assumptions.
Regarding yard waste trimmings, Council Member Yeager asked which of the options, i.e., loose or carted clippings, would better meet the City’s goals. City Manager Borgsdorf stated when the RFP was prepared, Council had reflected a continuum between those wanting to offer residents a choice, and reflected a reluctance to change the pricing structure. Therefore, when considering internal costs, he stated Staff lacks a consistent approach to address the related cost recovery failure. Council Member Yeager stressed the need for outreach to multi-family complexes and to businesses.
Council Member LeZotte suggested public golf courses and other athletic venues be encouraged to implement recycling, and questioned whether rate increased are appropriate. Mayor Gonzales recommended that issue be considered at next year’s budget deliberations after monitoring resident responses to the new program.
Council Member Cortese stated Environmental Services and Code Enforcement need to work together on street sweeping goals, questioned whether the proposed $50.00/block penalty for street sweeping non-performance is adequate, stressed the need for monitoring, and suggested Staff work with apartment owners now to prepare for implementation.
Upon motion by Vice Mayor Shirakawa, Jr., seconded by Council Member Dando, and unanimously carried, Council action was deferred to Tuesday, September 25, 2001. Vote: 9-0-2-0. Absent: Chavez, Campos.
Responding to comments by Council Member Dando about the amount of subsidies required by the recycling program not being cost recovery, Director Mosher stated Staff would come back to Council with approaches for consideration.
Nina Grayson, Director, Office of Equality Assurance, presented the results of a study on prevailing wage as related to the MRF workers, in response to Council’s request when the new contracts were awarded. She stated prevailing wage has been in place in California for 70 years to ensure contractors pay employees similar wage rates to level the playing field between union and non-union operations and typically applies to the construction industry. She stated the City operates under three policies, the first adopted in 1988 applicable to construction contracts, extended in 1989 to prevailing wage for certain routine maintenance for the City, including street sweeping, garbage and recycling, janitorial and custodial services, parking lot maintenance and food service, and at the end of 1989 was extended to include housing projects that are eight or more dwelling units. She stated based on long-standing legal interpretations by the State Department of Industrial Relations, work performed on-site is subject to prevailing wages—on-site defined as publicly owned property—and applies to the collection of garbage and recycling, street sweeping and yard waste pickup which is performed on City streets. According to a 1999 study on prevailing wage, work performed on contractors’ property and not on city streets is not included. Therefore, work performed at Material Recovery Facilities is not on public property and prevailing wage would not apply, and in the City’s current Recycle Plus contracts and next year’s contracts, MRF workers are not included.
Mayor Gonzales asked the City Clerk to place the issue on the September 25, 2001 Council agenda, at which time Council discussion will continue, and asked Director Grayson to be present to answer Council questions on prevailing wage.
The following individuals addressed Council on the Recycle Plus Program:
(1) Ross Signorino
(2) Kerynn Gianotti, GreenTeam of San José
(3) Jeffrey A. Camera, working with Santana
Row, explained a unique program to help meet goals of AB939 through a wet/dry
system which allows recycling in all common areas; he expressed concerns about
the rates for compactor waste and impact on their closed loop system handling all
waste/recyclables on their site, and asked to work with Staff on compaction
rates. Mayor Gonzales stated he was welcome to present those issues to Staff
and to Council before the Tuesday, September 25, 2001 Council meeting.
Adjournment
The Council of the City of San José adjourned at 12:00 p.m.
RON GONZALES, MAYOR
ATTEST:
PATRICIA L. O’HEARN, CITY CLERK
By: NANCY ALFORD, ASSISTANT CITY CLERK