[Call to Order]
[00:00:03]
UH, LET'S SEE YOU AND I SEE JONATHAN WELCOME.
UH, LET'S SEE, UH, KATHY KATUSA MISSION A GOOD TOO.
MISSIONER MUSSINO AH, THERE YOU ARE.
UH, COMMISSIONER MUSSINO COMMISSIONER WHITES.
COMMISSIONER'S SEEING THAT OUR CLOCK HAS STARTED.
WE HAVE A 30 MINUTE WINDOW HERE AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET A COUPLE OF MORE COMMISSION MEMBERS SO WE CAN GET THE MEETING STARTED STAFF.
THANK YOU FOR THE PATIENCE AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE SUPPORT GUYS.
AND WE NEED ONE MORE BODY AND WE'RE SET TO GO.
IS THAT A WONDERFUL, THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS.
WE, WE HAVE AN OFFICIAL QUORUM FOLKS AND IT IS APPROXIMATELY SIX OH TWO AND LET'S SEE THE AGENDA.
THE AGENDA IS A PRETTY STRAIGHT FORWARD AGENDA.
THIS IS PREDOMINANTLY GOING TO BE THE, UH, UH, I MEAN, I MEAN THE STAFF'S STAFF MEETING, THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, A LOT OF PRESENTATIONS.
I THINK THAT YOU GUYS HAVE PREPARED FOR US.
AND HAVING SAID THAT I'D LIKE TO JUST MOVE RIGHT DOWN THE, UH, AGENDA POSSIBLE OF WHICH THE FIRST ITEM IS, UH, THE CALL TO ORDER, WHICH WE HAVE DONE.
SECONDLY, WOULD BE, WOULD BE CITIZENS COMMUNICATION.
[CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, NO ONE HAS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK.IS THAT CORRECT? UH, STAFF, SIR, WE HAVE JEFFREY.
THAT'S GOING TO SPEAK ON ITEMS. OKAY.
SO ITEM TWO, A AND A, JUST AS A REMINDER, WE DO HAVE A HARD STOP AS A COMMISSION.
OUR HARD STOP TIME IS SEVEN 30, SO WE GOT AN HOUR AND A HALF TO CONDUCT BUSINESS, AND I'M CONFIDENT THAT WE CAN DO DO THAT WITHIN THAT TIMEFRAME.
I COMMISSIONERS THE NEXT ITEM HERE IS TO LOOK AT AS
[1. APPROVAL of the April 14, 2020, Regular Meeting Minutes]
THE APPROVAL OF THE APRIL 14TH MEETING MINUTES.AND I WOULD ENTERTAIN A MOTION ON THAT.
COMMISSIONER ROTHROCK MOVES APPROVAL.
DO I HEAR A SECOND? YEAH, THIS IS YANO.
DO I HEAR ANY DISCUSSION ON THE ITEM, ERIE? NO DISCUSSION.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, WAVE YOUR HAND OR SEND SOME KIND OF A SMOKE SIGNAL HERE.
I THINK, OH, THAT'S A HIGH FOR ME AS WELL.
SO IT LOOKS LIKE A UNANIMOUS, UH, APPROVAL OF THE MEETING MINUTES FROM APRIL 14TH, GUYS.
[2A. Discussion and Action: Truck and Hauling Services RCA-Victoria Rieger and Amy Slagle]
ITEM HERE IS A RCA AND I THINK THE RCA HERE IS DEALING WITH A TRUCK AND HAULING SERVICE CONTRACT OF WHICH, UH, VICTORIA.WE'RE GOING TO GIVE US PRESENTATION.
YOU AND AMY, IS THAT CORRECT? HI THERE.
SO, UH, THIS IS, UM, THIS IS, UH, AN RCA FOR A MULTI-DEPARTMENT ITEM.
UM, YOU'VE GOT THE COVER SHEET THAT WAS SUBMITTED AND I THINK I'LL HAVE A CHANCE TO LOOK AT IT, BUT THERE'S SOME PRETTY DETAILED INFORMATION THERE ABOUT THE ITEM.
I'M GOING TO COUNSEL ON THE 20TH AND WE'RE HERE TO SEEK YOUR APPROVAL FOR THAT AUTHORIZATION TO TAKE THIS TO COUNCIL.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, WE HAVE STAFF HERE AVAILABLE AND IS AVAILABLE ON THE LINE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, BUT THIS IS A, A THREE-YEAR CONTRACT FOR CHUCK CALLING SERVICES, UH, TO BE USED BY PUBLIC WORKS WATERSHED AND AUSTIN
[00:05:01]
RESOURCE RECOVERY.SO TWO QUESTIONS IF I MAY, CORRECT.
UH, W ONE, SO IS THIS, IS THIS SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORT FOR, UM, FOR CONSTRUCTION? IT SEEMS THAT, UM, KIND OF OVERFLOW FROM WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST IS THE FIRST QUESTION.
AND THE SECOND IS, DOES IT, UM, HOW DOES IT FALL IN LINE WITH PREVIOUS BUDGETS? IN OTHER WORDS, IS THIS KIND OF AS EXPECTED IN TERMS OF THE RATE OF INCREASE OR IS IT THE SAME AS IT HAS BEEN IN THE PAST? JUST KIND OF GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
SO I CAN LET AMY RESPOND ON HOW ARR IS CURRENTLY, UH, UTILIZING THE TRUCK CALLING SERVICES, IT A FAIRLY RECENT, UH, UM, YOU SAID THE DEPARTMENT HAS HAD, UM, I'M NOT AWARE OF US USING THE D UH, TRUCK HAULING SERVICES IN THE PAST.
UM, I CAN ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THE SECOND QUESTION.
UM, YOU KNOW, VICTORIA, I, UH, SORRY, I GOT, I'VE LOST MY CONNECTION, BUT I'M BACK ON TO HELP ANSWER QUESTIONS.
I GUESS IF YOU WANT TO ADDRESS HOW, HOW ARE, IS CURRENTLY USING THE, UH, TRUCK HAULING SERVICES? SURE.
I'M ALSO UNABLE TO TURN MY VIDEO ON, BUT, UH, WE, UH, UTILIZE THE, THE HAULING SERVICES CONTRACT, UH, TO HELP MOVE OUR ORGANIC MATERIAL, UH, DURING OUR HEAVY SEASON, UH, THE, OVER THE LAST ABOUT SEVEN TO EIGHT WEEKS, UH, WE EXPERIENCED A, ABOUT A 60% INCREASE IN OUR COMPOST MATERIALS FROM THE WINTER STORM.
SO WE WERE EXPERIENCING SEVERE DELAYS ON OUR COLLECTION ROUTES AND WE, IT WAS TAKING US AROUND SEVEN AND A HALF TO EIGHT DAYS TO COLLECT THE FIVE DAY, UH, CYCLE.
SO WE WERE, WE UTILIZE THE HOLLAND CONTRACT TO HELP GET THAT, UH, MATERIAL TO ORGANICS BY GOSH, AND KEEP OUR TRUCKS OR RETURN OUR TRUCK TO THE ROUTE QUICKER VERSUS CALLING TO, UH, TO THE DUMP SITE OR TO THE DISPOSAL SITE.
AND YOUR, YOUR SECOND QUESTION, IAN WAS REGARDING THE BUDGET.
SO AMY CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT I BELIEVE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT THAT ARR HAS UTILIZED A TRUCK HAULING SERVICES.
SO, UH, THE AMOUNTS THAT WERE AUTHORIZED FOR, UM, IN THE, IN THE CURRENT BUDGET, IN THE RCA THAT YOU SEE IS THE FIRST AMOUNT.
WE DON'T HAVE A HISTORICAL NOT TO PROVIDE YOU.
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE EVER UTILIZED THAT CONTRACT.
AND IT WAS, IT WAS DONE OUT OF ABSOLUTE NECESSITY.
SO THIS IS AN OUT OF BUDGET EXPENSE AT THIS POINT.
YEAH, BUT IT'S, AND THIS WAS SPECIFICALLY, IT SOUNDS LIKE FOR THE WINTER STORM CLEANUP AND THE BLOOD IS, IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THIS WILL END, THIS NEED WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS.
SEEMS LIKE A THREE-YEAR CONTRACT, RIGHT? THIS IS A CITY Y CONTRACT AND ARR WANTS TO HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TO TAP INTO THAT CONTRACT.
SO ARE THE DEPARTMENTS PROVIDING FUNDING, THE ONLY ONES WHO ARE GOING TO TAP INTO THIS SERVICE RIGHT NOW? IT'S PUBLIC WORKS ARR IN WATERSHED, I THINK YOU SAID THAT'S CORRECT.
SO ARE THOSE THE ONLY DEPARTMENTS WHO WOULD BE USING THE HALL? THAT'S CORRECT.
IF THERE IS A NEED FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD AND A DEPARTMENT DECIDES THAT THEY NEED THIS SERVICE AT THAT TIME, THEY CAN GET WITH THEIR PARTICULAR BUYER.
AND IF THERE IS ROOM ON THE CONTRACT, FOR EXAMPLE, YEAH.
OR DOESN'T USE ANY OF THE AUTHORITY ON THE CONTRACT AND IT'S YEAR TWO OF THE CONTRACT AND, UH, ANOTHER DEPARTMENT NEEDS IT.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE IS ROOM TO ADD THAT FOR THE DEPARTMENT, BUT AT THIS POINT IT'S JUST THE THREE DEPARTMENTS LISTED.
AND ARE THE AMOUNTS HERE REFLECTIVE OF HOW OFTEN YOU ANTICIPATE EACH DEPARTMENT NEEDING THAT SERVICE? I SEE IT AS YOU KNOW, IT'S A LOT LESS FOR WATERSHED, FOR EXAMPLE, IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY'RE CONTRIBUTING COMPARED TO, UM, ARR.
SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THE AMOUNTS YOU SEE REALLY AREN'T AN ACTUAL OUTFLOW OF MONEY.
IT'S REALLY JUST, UM, A CREDIT LINE.
SO WE COULD POTENTIALLY SPEND UP TO THIS AMOUNT.
UM, I CAN'T SPEAK FOR THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR SPECIFIC AMOUNTS, BUT THE AMOUNT THAT WE ESTIMATE POTENTIALLY COULD BE USED IN THE COMING, UH, CONTRACT TERM IS, IS WHAT YOU SAY STATED THERE.
SO CAN YOU JUST TO GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE, COULD YOU CLARIFY
[00:10:01]
WHAT WOULD BE A USE FOR ARR VERSUS A USE FOR WATERSHED OF THIS SERVICE? UH, AMY SNUGGLE, ARR, I FORGOT TO INTRODUCE MYSELF EARLIER.UH, AN EXAMPLE COULD BE COMPOST MATERIAL OR BRUSH STORM DEBRIS COMES TO MIND, UH, AS, AS PROBABLY THE MOST LIKELY, UH, OR A LIKELY ITEMS. SO, RIGHT.
SO THE STORM DEBRIS WOULD BE YOU ALL, OR WOULD IT BE WATERSHED OR WOULD IT BE KIND OF A MIX OF WHOSE WHOSE BUDGET IS GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, UH, PORTION OF THE CONTRACT? IF ARR IS UTILIZING IT FOR OUR SERVICES, IT WOULD, IT WOULD COME OUT OF OUR CREDIT LINE, SO TO SPEAK AND THEN WATERSHED WOULD UTILIZE THEIR, THEIR FUNDING.
DOES THAT HELP ANSWER THE QUESTION? NOT, NOT, I THINK I'M ASKING IT INCORRECTLY.
IF IT'S IN THE STREET, IT TAKES ARR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT.
IF IT'S IN A STREAM THAN WATERSHED IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HAULING COST, IS THAT HOW THAT WOULD WORK OR I GUESS I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THEIR CONTRIBUTION IN THIS OR THEIR USE OF THIS SERVICE COMPARED TO ARR.
I DON'T KNOW SPECIFICALLY WHAT WATERSHED WOULD USE IT FOR, BUT IN THE EVENT THEY WERE HAULING STORM DEBRIS FROM A WATERSHED, THEN IT WOULD GO TO THEIR, ON THEIR LINE, NOT ARR AS LINE, SO TO SPEAK.
COMMISSIONER NICHES CAN SNIPES.
UM, SO, SO BASICALLY WHAT ENDS UP HAPPENING IS THE CONTRACT ALLOWS US TO EXPEDITE THE TYPE OF SERVICE THAT WE WOULD NEED KIND OF, UH, AT THAT MOMENT, SO THAT WE'RE NOT WAITING UNTIL WE HAVE AN EMERGENCY, OR WE HAVE A NEED TO TRY TO CREATE A CONTRACT, WHICH TAKES A, YOU KNOW, A PERIOD OF TIME, RIGHT? SO THIS CREATES THE CONTRACT UPFRONT, AND IF WE NEED TO USE IT, WE'VE DESIGNATED AMOUNT OF AUTHORITY THAT WE COULD USE UP TO, UH, AND THAT, THAT HAS BEEN APPROVED.
SO, UM, THAT'S BASICALLY HOW THAT WORKS.
SO ANY OF THE DEPARTMENTS UP TO THE AUTHORITY THAT THEY DESIGNATED WOULD BE ABLE TO USE THAT CONTRACT.
I HAVE A QUESTION IT'S KIND OF A SILLY QUESTION, BUT NONETHELESS, ALASKA, TO, WHEN YOU GUYS PUT THESE, PUT THESE OUT THERE, THESE BIDS, DO YOU SPECIFY THE TYPE OF TRUCK THAT IS NECESSARY THAT IS NEEDED? IS THAT AN END DUMP BELLY DUMP A REAR DUMP? WHAT, YEAH, THEIR SPECIFICATIONS ARE PRETTY DETAILED.
THAT'S ONE OF THEM, ONE OF THE DOCUMENTS, THE SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS THAT DOES GET POSTED, UH, AND COMMUNICATED TO THE VENDOR COMMUNITY OR SPECIFIC, UM, YOU KNOW, DEPENDING ON, ON WHAT THE DEPARTMENT'S NEEDS ARE.
UM, THOSE ARE LISTED ON THE BID SHEET.
UM, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR, THERE, I BELIEVE ARE VARIOUS TRUCK SIZES.
AND, YOU KNOW, AMY COULD PROBABLY SPEAK MORE TO THAT, BUT YES, THE ANSWER IS YES, THE SPECIFICATIONS ARE LISTED IN PRETTY, PRETTY GREAT DETAIL.
AND AGAIN, THIS LEADS TO MY NEXT QUESTION.
WHEN I, WHEN I THINK OF THE NUMBER OF TRUCKS, THE TYPES OF VEHICLES, I'M WONDERING THE FISCAL NOTE HERE, STATES THAT YOU WENT THROUGH THE SMB, OUR DEPARTMENT TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANY MINORITY OPPORTUNITIES OUT THERE.
AND I GUESS I'M KIND OF CONFUSED THAT, UH, NONE WERE IDENTIFIED OR MAYBE PERHAPS NONE ANSWERED THE, UH, SOLICITATION, WHICH IS PROBABLY A BETTER WAY OF PUTTING THAT.
BUT I'M CURIOUS THAT DOES GO OUT ON THE STREET AND IT DOES, UH, GO THROUGH THE SMB, OUR FOLKS, AND THEY SUBMIT THAT.
SO THEY, THEY DO EVALUATE ALSO AS STATIONS BEFORE THEY HIT THE STREET FOR ANY POTENTIAL, UM, UH, SMB ARE GOALS THAT ARE, THAT THEY DETERMINED, UM, THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR, UH, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE RESULTS OF THAT.
UH, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE RESPONSE, THE, WHO THE RESPONDENTS WERE, SO I CAN TELL YOU WHETHER OR NOT, UH, ANY OF THEM FALL WITHIN THOSE CATEGORIES, BUT I CAN CERTAINLY GET THAT INFORMATION TO YOU.
THANK YOU, VICTORIA COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS I JUST WANT TO, I WOULD WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THAT QUESTION.
UM, CAUSE BY NAME, IT LOOKED LIKE THERE MAY HAVE BEEN SOME RESPONDENTS THAT SHOULD HAVE FIT THAT CATEGORY.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS? QUESTIONS HEARING NONE.
COMMISSIONER STIER MOVES APPROVAL.
DO I HEAR A SECOND? DO I HEAR A SECOND ON THIS
[00:15:01]
COMMISSIONER? DO WE WANT TO APPROVE THIS? UH, IF WE DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS LAST QUESTION.COMMISSIONERS AND THAT'S, UH, THAT'S A, THAT'S A GOOD POINT.
AGAIN, THIS IS A CONTRACT THAT IS IN DIRE NEED OF ACCEPTANCE AND OR THE DECISION, IS THAT CORRECT? DAN? YOU'RE ON MUTE.
AND IT ALLOWS US TO BE PROACTIVE AND NOT UPON OURSELVES IN A SITUATION WHERE WE'RE ESSENTIALLY CREATING A CONTRACT WHEN WE NEED IT, AS OPPOSED TO PRIOR TO SO THAT WE HAVE IT BECAUSE THERE'S USUALLY A DELAY.
UH, IT COULD BE A COUPLE OF WEEKS SOMETIMES BEFORE WE CAN ACTUALLY GET THOSE THINGS DONE OR LONGER.
SO, UM, BUT THIS THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT, WHAT THAT'S ABOUT, BUT IT IS A FAIR POINT, UH, ABOUT THE SOLICITATION PROCESS.
UH, OF COURSE WE DON'T, WE DON'T OWN THAT PROCESS, BUT IT IS.
WELL, I, I JUST WANT TO ADD, UH, WHEN, WHEN THESE, UH, SOLICITATIONS ARE POSTED ANY VENDOR THAT IS REGISTERED UNDER THE PARTICULAR COMMODITY CODE.
SO IN THIS CASE, ANY VENDOR THAT'S REGISTERED AS PROVIDING TRUCK HAULING SERVICES, AND I'M SURE THERE'S PLENTY IN AUSTIN AND WHO IS ALSO REGISTERED TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE CITY WILL AUTOMATICALLY GET NOTIFICATION THAT THERE IS A SOLICITATION OUT THERE.
UH, AND, AND THEY HAVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO THAT SOLICITATION.
SO I WOULD IMAGINE SOME OF THOSE VENDORS DO QUALIFY AS, UM, SOME VR VENDORS, UH, THAT, THAT PARTICULAR STATEMENT ON THE RCA REALLY JUST PERTAINS TO, UM, THE GOAL DETERMINATION PROCESS, UH, THAT IT'S NOT TO SAY THAT, UH, NO MINORITY ON BUSINESSES RECEIVED NOTIFICATION.
UM, DOES THAT HELP ALLAY SOME CONCERNS THERE, THERE, THERE, IT DOES LOOK LIKE THERE WAS A BID THAT WAS LOWER.
UM, SO I'M ALSO WONDERING WHY THE LOWEST COST, IT WAS NOT THE ONE AWARDED, I'D DEFINITELY LOOK INTO AMANDA.
I'D LIKE THE FOLLOW ALONG, WHICH DOCUMENTARY ON OKAY.
THROUGH, ON THE DOCUMENT THAT HAS, UM, THE LINK TO THE SOLICITATION.
SO IT GOES TO THE FINANCE ONLINE ACCOUNT AND THEN CAN SEE THE THREE, UM, UM, LET'S SEE.
IF YOU SCROLL DOWN, WHERE'S THE LINK TO THE SOLICITATION.
MAYBE IT'S THE OTHER VERSION OF THIS DOCUMENT.
THAT'S NOT IN THE NICE FORMAT.
THAT'S JUST A, IT'S THE PDF, UM, CALLED ITEM 21 DASH 1857, TRUCKING HAULING.
IT'S A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FORMAT OF THIS.
I'M WONDERING IF WE CAN PUT THAT IN THE CITY, PUT THAT FORMAT UP FOR US, RIGHT.
WHERE IT WAS, AND THEN THERE'S, THERE'S THE LINK SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS.
I THINK THAT THE REQUEST, JUST TO CLICK ON THE LINK THAT SAYS SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS.
I DID JUST WONDER, UM, I, I'M NOT SEEING IN HERE, LIKE HOW MANY TRUCKS AND SORRY IF YOU'VE ALREADY SAID THAT AND I MISSED IT.
HOW MANY TRUCKS ARE GOING TO BE AVAILABLE? COMMISSIONER, WHY IT'S REALLY JUST BASED ON WHATEVER THE DEPARTMENT'S NEED IS, UH, THAT THEY MAY HAVE A, A GREATER WATERSHED MAY HAVE A GREATER NEED OR A PUBLIC COURSE DEGRADE OR NEED, AND THEN ALSO RESOURCE RECOVERY.
IT JUST DEPENDS ON THE JOB THAT THEY'RE, UH, UH, THEY'RE BEING ASKED TO HELP WITH, BUT I MEAN, THE COMPANY DOESN'T HAVE INFINITE SHARKS, SO THERE MUST BE SOME MAXIMUM NUMBER THAT THEY'RE MAKING AVAILABLE.
MICHIGAN, I THINK IN THIS CASE, IT WOULD BE MORE ABOUT THESE ARE, THESE ARE TYPICALLY SMALLER JOBS THAT, YOU KNOW, HIGH IMPACT.
WE NEED THEM NOW TYPE OF DEAL.
SO THEY'RE NOT LONGER DURATION ACTIVITIES LIKE STORM RESPONSE.
[00:20:01]
SO IT'S MORE ABOUT, UH, THE, THE AMOUNT OF MATERIAL THAT'S ON THE GROUND.AND FOR EXAMPLE, THEY MAY RUN A SMALLER NUMBER OF TRUCKS AS MANY TIMES AS NEEDED TO GET THAT MATERIAL PICKED UP.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LIKE, I MEAN, IS THAT A, NOT AT ALL SPECIFIED IN THE CONTRACT, CAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S WOULD BE KIND OF IMPORTANT.
SEE OURS, WE HAVE A LISTING OF OURS, UM, IN THE DOCUMENTS.
SO THESE, UM, THESE QUOTES HAVE THEIR 6,300 HOURS OF WORK, RIGHT.
SO I THINK WHAT I'M HEARING HERE IS THAT THIS IS A SOLICITATION.
IT BASICALLY IS ALLOWING THESE CITY DEPARTMENTS TO BE ABLE TO USE AS NEEDED WHEN NEEDED AT THESE RATES, THE VARIOUS TRUCKS THAT THEY MIGHT NEED BASED ON THE SITUATION AT HAND.
AND SO THAT WILL BE DETERMINED BASED ON WHATEVER EVENT OCCURS IS THAT I THINK THAT'S RIGHT.
AND DOES THAT ANSWER? THAT'S A GOOD SUMMATION.
AND IT DOESN'T ANSWER MY QUESTION.
I GUESS YOUR QUESTION COMMISSIONER WHITE IS, IS HOW MANY TRUCKS ARE IN THE PARTICULAR FLEET OF THIS, UM, OF THE RESPONDENT.
UM, THAT TYPICALLY I'D HAVE TO DO SOME DIGGING.
I DON'T HAVE THAT ANSWER IN FRONT OF ME, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THAT INFORMATION WAS SUBMITTED TO THE CITY.
IT, IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S TYPICALLY REALLY EVIDENT.
I'D HAVE TO GO DIGGING THROUGH SOME DOCUMENTS TO SEE IF WE CAN DETERMINE, UH, WHAT THE SIZE OF THEIR FLEET WAS.
I THINK SO I HAVE A SECOND QUESTION, I GUESS, ABOUT THE RESPONSES, IF WE COULD GET THIS INFORMATION.
SO THE LEWIS CLARK IS SLIGHTLY MORE EXPENSIVE.
UM, THIS THEY'RE AT FOUR 89, TWO 76.
UM, AND THEN, BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER RESPONDENT MELENDEZ TRUCKING THAT IS AT FOUR 68, EVEN.
SO MY QUESTION IS, WHY DID, WHY NOT GO WITH THE LOWER BID ON THIS? THERE'S A SLIGHT DIFFERENCE IN THEIR EQUIPMENT.
UM, IF YOU, IF YOU LOOK AT THE LINE ITEMS, SO THEY SEEM TO HAVE A SMALLER CAPACITY FOR THIS SUPER TRUCK AND A LARGER CAPACITY FOR THIS QUAD TRUCK, BUT, UM, IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO KNOW WHY, WHY WE DIDN'T GO WITH THE CITY, DIDN'T GO WITH THE LOWER BID HERE.
I CAN CHECK AND GET THAT INFORMATION BACK TO YOU AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN.
UM, LIKE I SAID, THIS IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT BECAUSE THERE'S MULTIPLE CITY DEPARTMENTS SUBMITTING THEIR REQUIREMENTS AND THAT SORT OF THING.
SO, UH, THIS IS NOT A CONTRACT THAT'S UNIQUE TO US.
SO WE WOULD HAVE TO DIG INTO THAT TO SEE WHAT THE REQUIREMENTS MIGHT'VE BEEN FROM THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS AS WELL.
AND A KIND OF A CLARIFYING QUESTION HERE ON THE, ON THE TIMING OF THIS IS, UH, JUST GOING TO THE WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION ALSO, OR WATERSHED FOLKS, OR IS IT STRICTLY INNATE OR ARE, WELL, I DON'T KNOW.
I WOULD IMAGINE IT WOULD A VICTORIA.
DO YOU KNOW IF THIS WOULD GO BEFORE THEIR COMMISSION AS WELL? I DON'T KNOW.
IT'S NOT CURRENTLY LISTED AS GOING TO EITHER OF THOSE COMMISSIONS.
UM, YEAH, SO I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION.
AND WE ARE THE LEAD GROUP ON THIS, CORRECT.
I MEAN, WE WOULD EXECUTE THE CONTRACT OR WHAT EACH ONE OF THE DEPARTMENTS SIGN OFF ON THIS.
SO WE ARE NOT THE LEAD DEPARTMENT, OUR, OUR PORTION, UM, MAYBE THE SMALLEST PORTION I'D HAVE TO LOOK, BUT, UH, I WOULD IMAGINE PUBLIC WORKS IS THE, THE LEAD DEPARTMENT.
SO I GUESS I'M TRYING TO CLARIFY WHAT HAPPENS IF, UH, FOR SOME REASON WE TABLE THIS ITEM, DOES, UH, DOES THE OTHER DEPARTMENT, UH, WATERSHED OR PUBLIC WORKS, I SHOULD SAY, WOULD THEY, UH, CONTINUE ON WITH THIS? OKAY.
I COULD IMAGINE IT LIKELY STILL WILL GO.
AND DEPENDING ON, YOU KNOW, THE CRITICAL NATURE OR CRITICAL NEED OF THE, OF THIS PARTICULAR CONTRACT, I BELIEVE THE CURRENT CONTRACT EXPIRES, I THINK IT'S OCTOBER.
I'M NOT, I'M NOT SERVING IF THIS WILL HOLD THEM UP OR NOT.
COMMISSIONERS, DID WE RESOLVE, IS THERE STILL A QUESTION ABOUT THE REVIEW BY THE MINORITY OWNED WOMEN OWNED BUSINESS PROCUREMENT PROGRAM?
[00:25:01]
IT SEEMED LIKE THAT WAS BOILERPLATE AT THIS POINT, BUT, UM, MAYBE I MISUNDERSTOOD SOMETHING.I THINK IT WAS BOILER BOILER PLATE IN THAT, UH, IT IS REVIEWED.
AND, UH, AS A VICTORIA STATED THAT I CAN ATTEST THAT THESE DO GO OUT, THEY GO OUT TO MOST, MOST PEOPLE WHO ARE, WHO ARE LITERALLY PART OF THE SMB ARE AND WHO MEET THE CRITERIA THAT'S NECESSARY.
THEY, THEY ALL DO GO OUT TO DO THOSE CONTRACTORS.
THAT'S A DIFFERENT STORY ALTOGETHER.
AND I'M ASSUMING THAT, UH, WITH THE NATURE OF THIS CONTRACT THAT PERHAPS ONE OR TWO PROBABLY DID SUBMIT SOME TYPE OF A RESPONSE, BUT NONETHELESS, I HAVE NO, NO IDEA.
AND, AND AGAIN, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT IN THE FUTURE THAT WE COVER ALL OF THESE OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UH, PARTICIPATION BY THE MINORITY SMB, OUR FOLKS.
I MEAN, IT SOUNDS AS THOUGH WE'VE DONE A GOOD JOB IN THE PAST OF AT LEAST MAKING THE PUBLIC AWARE THAT THIS OPPORTUNITY IS THERE AND, UH, SPEAK UP A MINORITY COMMUNITY.
WE, WE CAN HELP THEM BE A PART OF THIS.
AND I JUST DIDN'T, I DON'T REMEMBER, DID SIMILARITY SAY WHETHER OR NOT ANY OF THE THREE RESPONDENTS FELL INTO THAT CATEGORY? WELL, THE LOWER COST ONE IS LISTED ONLINE AS BEING MINORITY AND WOMEN, A WOMAN OWNED.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT MEANS THEY'RE LISTED WITH THE CITY, PERHAPS THEY'RE NOT, BUT IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL TO GET CLARIFICATION, UM, ON WHETHER THEY ARE OR NOT.
YEAH, I WOULD SHARE THAT REQUEST.
AND I GUESS JUST TO TOUCH BACK ON WHAT I WAS ASKING ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE REASON THAT I WAS ASKING ABOUT THE NUMBER OF TRUCKS THAT ARE EXPECTED TO BE AVAILABLE IS I'M WONDERING IF ANY ANALYSIS HAS BEEN DONE TO EXAMINE WHETHER OR NOT CONTRACTING IS PREFERABLE TO BUYING SOME NUMBER OF TRUCKS AND OPERATING THEM WITH CITY EMPLOYEES.
AND MAYBE THE ANSWER IS NO, I'M JUST WANTING TO KNOW IF, YOU KNOW, IF THAT HAS BEEN EXAMINED.
AND MY CONCERN IS AROUND, YOU KNOW, WORKER STANDARDS AND BENEFITS AND THINGS LIKE THAT THAT APPLY TO CITY EMPLOYEES AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, ENVIRONMENTAL KIND OF STANDARDS AROUND VEHICLES AND MAINTENANCE AND ALL OF THAT.
SO THERE ARE REAL BENEFITS TO HAVING THINGS DONE IN HOUSE AND, YOU KNOW, IF THERE IS A REALLY STRONG FISCAL REASON AND WE'RE ALSO APPLYING OVERSIGHT TO THE CONTRACTORS THEN, OKAY.
BUT I, I GUESS I'M, THAT'S THE NATURE OF MY QUESTION.
UM, RICHARD MCHALE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, JUST TO ADDRESS YOUR QUESTION, UM, FOR ARR OUR NEEDED REALLY SEASONAL.
SO IT REALLY DIDN'T MAKE SENSE FOR US TO BUY THE ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT AND STAFF TO HAVE THEM ON, UH, ON CALL AT ALL TIMES.
SO FOR US, IT WAS A BETTER DEAL TO THAT, A CONTRACT TO DO IT.
AND, AND AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF TRUCKS, TYPICALLY IN SITUATIONS LIKE THIS CONTRACTORS, IF THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TRUCKS USUALLY WORK TOGETHER, IF THEY HAVE BIG PROJECTS AND TO BRING ON NEW TRUCKS, I THINK IN OUR CASE, I THINK AT THE MOST WE WOULD EVER NEED, IF WE WERE RUNNING SOME SORT OF TRANSFER OPERATION WOULD BE FIVE OR SIX TRUCKS AT ANY ONE TIME JUST TO MOVE MATERIAL.
SO, UM, THAT, THAT'S HOW, YOU KNOW, WE SEE IT FOR US.
IT'S NOT, UH, IT'S NOT A GOOD REASON FOR US TO GO AHEAD AND PURCHASE TRUCKS AND HAVE THOSE.
CAUSE THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A COST TO THAT, A CAPITAL COST TO THAT.
AND WE ALSO HAVE TO PAY ONGOING MAINTENANCE AND ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO HAVE A PLACE TO PARK IT AND THAT'S BEEN A REAL CHALLENGE FOR ARR AT OUR SERVICE CENTER IS WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF SPACE AND WE REALLY DON'T HAVE A PARKING.
SO AS WE CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER, UH, FOR, AND LOOK FOR A LITTLE RELIEF THERE, UM, WE'RE TRYING TO, AS MUCH AS WE CAN JUST, UH, LOOK FOR THINGS THAT WE'RE NOT NEEDING ON A FULL-TIME BASIS, HAVE THAT CONTRACT.
UM, AND I GUESS SINCE YOU MENTIONED AT THE END THAT IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT WE SEE MORE COMING UP.
UM, I'LL, YOU KNOW, I GUESS SAY THAT I, I'M CURIOUS AS TO WHAT, IF ANY STIPULATIONS OR REQUIREMENTS ARE PUT IN THE SOLICITATIONS AROUND, UM, YOU KNOW, I MEAN ANYTHING TO DO WITH, YOU KNOW, LIVING WAGE, SICK TIME, UM, AND ALSO, YOU KNOW, MAINTENANCE OF THE VEHICLES, UM, YOU KNOW, AND, AND, AND AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, ARE WE GOING TO BE, YOU KNOW, LOOKING FOR, YOU KNOW, ELECTRIC VEHICLES OR
[00:30:01]
LOWER EMISSIONS VEHICLES, THAT KIND OF THING.UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH, WITH WHAT YOU SAID IN, IN THEORY, BUT I THINK IT ONLY, WE ONLY MAINTAIN OUR STANDARDS IF WE THEN APPLY THEM IN THESE CONTRACTS.
AND, AND PERHAPS A VICTORIA CAN TALK TO THE LIVING WAGE REQUIREMENT, I BELIEVE, AND, AND, AND I'LL, I'LL DEFER TO HER, BUT I BELIEVE THERE IS A LIVING WAGE REQUIREMENT FOR ANY CONTRACT WORK DONE FOR THE CITY.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS TRUE, BUT I DON'T LIKE TO ASSUME THAT'S RIGHT.
AND I ALSO WANT TO JUST ADDRESS A COUPLE OF OTHER QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL HAD ABOUT THE MINORITY, UH, ENTERPRISES.
UH, APPARENTLY THE, OF THE THREE RESPONDENTS, UH, TWO OF THE ONES THAT WERE NOT AWARDED WERE, UH, MINORITY OWNED ENTERPRISES, AND ONE OF THOSE AND THE LENDER DOES BELIEVE THAT'S GOING TO PRONOUNCE IT.
THEY WERE DEEMED NON-RESPONSIVE.
UH, SO THE, THE AWARD WENT TO THE LORE OF THE REMAINING TWO.
YOU KNOW, JUST ANOTHER COMMENT, UH, KIND OF COMMENTING ON RICHARD RICHARD'S STATEMENT THERE.
THE CITY HAS BEEN REALLY GOOD ABOUT ASKING THAT LIVING WAGES BEING INCLUDED AND BASICALLY KIND OF THE SAME TYPE OF, UH, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES BE INCLUDED WITH SUBCONTRACTORS TO AR AR.
I KNOW I'VE SEEN THAT IN SOME OF THE SOLICITATIONS THAT I'VE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW, BUT A DEPARTMENT'S BEEN GOOD AT THEN.
WHAT ABOUT SICK TIME? I THINK THAT'S PART OF THIS RICHARD, I, THAT I CAN'T SPEAK TO.
I KNOW THAT THE LIVING WAGE ITEM IS DEFINITELY ON THERE.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE SICK TIME.
I WOULD HAVE TO DEFER TO VICTORIA ON THAT.
I DON'T BELIEVE THAT THAT WAS OUR REQUIREMENT IN, I GUESS, MOST CITY CONTRACTS, BUT I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE.
I HAVE TO GET MORE INFORMATION ON IT, BUT I DON'T BELIEVE THAT'S.
THAT IS A REQUIREMENT YOU CAN MAKE NOTE OF THAT AND GET BACK TO YOU.
COMMISSIONER KATHY, I THINK THIS MIGHT BE A GOOD, UH, AGENDA ITEM, SO WE CAN HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS, ON WHAT, WHAT IS ON THE SOLICITATION AND SOME THINGS WE WOULD RECOMMEND FUTURE.
COMMISSIONER, BACK TO THE ITEM AT, UH, AT HAND HERE, AND I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION EITHER WAY ON THIS.
UM, SO KNOWING THAT THE, UH, THE LOWEST PRICE BID WAS CONSIDERED NON-RESPONSIVE, UM, I'M WILLING TO MOVE.
CASINO MOVES APPROVAL DOWN HERE WAS SECOND COMMISSIONER GET TWO.
SO SECONDS, ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION ON THIS HEARING? NONE.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, WAVE YOUR HANDS UNANIMOUS.
I DIDN'T SEE YOUR HAND WAVE AND SO UNANIMOUS.
THE, UH, THE NEXT ITEM OF BUSINESS IS THE, UH, ITEM
[2B. Discussion and Action: Revisit Homelessness Challenges—Director’s Office]
TWO B, WHICH IS THE REVISITING OF THE HOMELESS CHALLENGES THAT WE'RE FACING.I CAN, I THINK THIS IS YOUR ITEM THAT YOU WERE GOING TO SPEAK TO YOU, AND YES.
KEN SNIPES, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY DIRECTOR, JUST A QUICK UPDATE ON WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON WITH HOMELESSNESS.
WE WERE ASKED TO COME BACK AND KIND OF SHARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE SEEING OR EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW.
UH, AND, UH, AS WE WERE PULLING THIS TOGETHER, UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE, OF COURSE, UH, PROP B PASSED, UH, DURING THAT TIME.
AND, UH, ACTUALLY WENT INTO EFFECT AS A, UH, YESTERDAY, UH, AND OF COURSE, PROP B, UH, PROHIBITS CAMPING IN THE CITY, UH, AND AROUND THE UT AREA.
UH, IT ALSO PROHIBITS, UH, SITTING IN A LINE, UH, IN PUBLIC.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE, UH, THE CITY IS WORKING TO DO IS IDENTIFY, UH, PLACES WHERE THAT MAY BE, UH, POSSIBLE.
UH, AND SO THERE THERE'S, UH, THAT WORK IS, IS REALLY BEGINNING IN EARNEST.
THEIR TEAM'S BEEN PULLED TOGETHER, UH, TO KINDA, TO KIND OF FOCUS ON, ON THAT NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO, UH, WHAT HAS, UH, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY BEEN DOING AND WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO? UH, SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE
[00:35:01]
DO IS WE CONVENE A WEEKLY CITY-WIDE MEETING.UH, AND THEN THAT MEETING, UH, BASICALLY EVERY DEPARTMENT HAS A REPRESENTATIVE.
UH, THERE, WE DISCUSS, UH, ACTIVITIES THAT ARE GOING ON.
WE PROVIDE UPDATES ACROSS THE, ACROSS THE SPECTRUM OF ALL THE ACTIVITIES THAT, UH, VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS ARE PERFORMING.
UM, WE ALSO CAN BE IN A SECOND MEETING, UM, A LITTLE LESS FREQUENTLY.
WE DON'T DO THAT ONE WEEKLY, UH, RIGHT NOW I THINK WE'RE IN AN EVERY OTHER WEEK CADENCE.
AND IN THAT MEETING, WE CALL IT OUR PLANNING MEETING.
THERE ARE FEWER DEPARTMENTS THERE, UH, THAT REPRESENT, UH, THE MAKEUP OF THAT GROUP.
UH, IT INCLUDES FOR EXAMPLE, THE MAJOR PROJECT, UH, UH, UH, DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE PERFORMING WORK, UH, AR AR UH, PUBLIC WORKS, PARD, UH, LAW, ET CETERA.
AND, UH, WE DISCUSSED IN THOSE MEETINGS, THINGS THAT ARE EITHER, UH, PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW, OR THINGS THAT WE'RE SEEING.
AND WE ALSO DISCUSS, UH, UPDATES THERE AS WELL.
UM, PROBLEMS THAT WE'RE ADDRESSING RIGHT NOW MIGHT INCLUDE, UH, FIRES.
UH, THERE'S BEEN QUITE A BIT OF CONCERN ABOUT, UH, FIRES AND ENCAMPMENTS.
UH, WE'RE SEEING THOSE MORE AND MORE CONCERN HAS BEEN RAISED ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, AS PEOPLE START TO MOVE AROUND, DOES THAT INCREASE THE FIRE RISK OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY, UH, IN OUR WOODED AREAS.
AND SO, UH, WE'RE WORKING ON SOME OF THOSE ISSUES AND TRYING TO DO WHAT WE CAN TO BE RESPONSIVE IN THOSE, UH, IN THOSE SPACES.
UM, ANOTHER THING THAT, UH, THAT WE, UH, HAVE BEEN WORKING ON IS, OR WHERE WE WERE WORKING ON AS THE BALI CART, UH, EXCUSE ME, THE, UH, BIKE, KEEP SAFE PROGRAM.
UH, WE TRANSITIONED THAT PROGRAM OVER.
YOU MAY REMEMBER TO, UH, THE, UH, DOWNTOWN AUSTIN COMMUNITY COURT, UH, AS OF YESTERDAY, WE JUST LEARNED THAT THAT PROGRAM NOW HAS 170 PEOPLE USING IT.
SO IT HAS BEEN VERY BENEFICIAL.
UH, THEY HAVE THE CAPACITY NOW TO SUPPORT 300 PEOPLE IN THAT SPACE.
SO IT'S BEEN A REALLY BENEFICIAL PROGRAM, UH, AND IT WAS BETTER SUITED TO SIT WITH, UH, AN ORGANIZATION LIKE THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN COMMUNITY COURT.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, THAT, UM, THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON, UH, IS THE, UM, VIOLET KEY, EXCUSE ME, THE, UH, BIKE CART PROGRAM.
UH, OF COURSE THAT WAS A PROGRAM THAT YOU REMEMBER.
WE TOOK OVER FROM A WATERSHED PROTECTION WHEN WE TOOK THAT PROGRAM OVER, THERE WERE APPROXIMATELY FOUR SITES IN USE AND, UH, WE'VE SINCE EXPANDED THAT TO 48 SITES, THE SITES ROUGHLY MIRROR, THE LOCATIONS THAT, UH, PUBLIC WORKS SERVICES THROUGH THEIR CLEANING CONTRACTS.
UH, OUR FOLKS ARE OUT SERVICING THOSE, UH, DAILY.
UH, WE, THERE ARE SOME SITES THAT WE SERVE AS, AS, AS FREQUENTLY AS THREE TIMES PER DAY.
AND THAT'S JUST BASED ON THE SHEER NUMBER OF PEOPLE AT THE SITE.
AND THAT WOULD BE THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP UP WITH THE MATERIAL THAT IS GENERATED IN THOSE, IN THOSE AREAS.
UM, ANOTHER THING THAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'VE, UH, RECENTLY CREATED A, UH, A CLEANING TEAM, A ENCAMPMENT CLEANING TEAM.
IT IS NOWHERE NEAR ON THE ORDER OF, UH, THE SIZE OF THE, UH, THE PROGRAM THAT PUBLIC WORKS MANAGERS IN, IN TERMS OF JUST THE SHEER NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT THEY BRING TO BEAR, UH, FOR THOSE CLEANUP ACTIVITIES.
UM, IDEALLY THEY WILL GO IN AND CLEAN UP AROUND THOSE VIOLET BAG LOCATIONS, UH, IN AND AROUND THOSE AREAS.
AND WE WILL ALSO HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO DO SOME LIGHT CLEANING IN OF THE AREAS THAT PUBLIC WORKS DOES NOT SERVICE THROUGH YOUR CONTRACT.
SO, UM, AS WE KNOW THAT NOW, UH, CAMPING IS BANNED IN THE CITY.
UH, WE'RE GETTING A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT, UH, MITIGATION STRATEGIES AS PEOPLE START TO MOVE AROUND.
SO W OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, UH, WHAT WE PLAN TO DO OVER THE NEXT 90 DAYS IS WE'LL HAVE A WEEKLY ASSESSMENT OF ALL OF THE WORK THAT'S HAPPENING ON THE HOMELESS FRONT TO DETERMINE WHERE PEOPLE ARE MOVING, UH, AND HOW WE MEET, UH, YOU KNOW, THE NEEDS, UH, WHEREVER THEY HAPPEN TO BE.
SO IF PEOPLE TRANSITION FROM ONE UNDER PASSED TO ANOTHER WE'RE, UH, WE'RE LOOKING TO BE AGILE AND FLEXIBLE THE SERVICES THAT WE PROVIDE IN THOSE LOCATIONS.
AND, UH, WE'RE STILL WAITING TO SEE IF THAT MEANS THAT PEOPLE WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE INTO THE, UH, INTO THE WOODED AREAS OR THE BRUSHY AREA.
AND NEXT SLIDE THAT CONCLUDES THIS PRESENTATION.
ANY QUESTIONS SOUNDS LIKE A CHALLENGE.
IT'S NOT GOING TO GET ANY EASIER TO SAY THE LEAST.
IN FACT, IT'S GOING TO COMPLICATE ITSELF IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
AND I, UH, AGAIN, I DON'T, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN.
I MEAN, HAVING, UH, HAVING HUNG OUT DOWN THERE JUST WITH SOME OF THE GROUPS AND UNDERSTANDING
[00:40:01]
THE, UH, THE CHALLENGES THAT ARE FACED.I MEAN, I CAN'T IMAGINE THE SIX PERSON TEAM IT'S GOING TO BE DIFFICULT TO BE ABLE TO GAIN THE TRUST OF THESE, UH, UH, THESE, UH, HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS TO ALLOW THEM TO GO IN THERE AND TO, INTO, TO CLEAN UP AND UNITED CARE DISCUSSES.
AND IT'S A, IT'S A DIFFICULT, DIFFICULT PROCESS.
AND I, UH, I DON'T, UH, I DON'T ENVY THEM AT ALL.
I, I THANK YOU GUYS FOR TAKING THE STUFF.
AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, IS THIS GOING TO REQUIRE SOME ADDITIONAL FUNDING, SOME ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT, SOME ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.
AND AT THIS POINT, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, IT'S, UH, IT'S ARR IT'S CARD.
AND, UH, MY GOODNESS, WHO AM I MISSING HERE, UH, OF THE WORKS OF WATERSHED.
I MEAN, WE, WE ALL KIND OF PLAY WITH THE SAME TYPE OF BUDGET HERE.
IS THERE GOING TO BE ADDITIONAL FUNDING THAT MAY COME DOWN FROM, FROM CITY HALL TO HELP SUPPORT THIS? WELL, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE STILL, UH, PLAYING THAT BY EAR.
WE'RE TRYING TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF, OF WHAT THE CLEANUP WORK IS GONNA LOOK LIKE.
UM, WHAT I ANTICIPATE, WELL, WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT IT IS MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE TO CLEAN UP IN WOODED AREAS THAN IT IS UNDER THE, UH, THE OVERPASSES.
UM, AND SO, UH, WE HAVE EQUIPMENT COMING FOR OUR TEAM.
WE'RE NOT FULLY PLUSSED UP ON THE EQUIPMENT YET.
AND, UH, SO IT WAS REALLY HARD FOR US TO DETERMINE EXACTLY WHAT THE WORKLOAD WAS GOING TO BE BECAUSE, UH, YOU KNOW, PROMPTLY, WE'LL PROBABLY CHANGE SOME THINGS IN TERMS OF, UH, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE MOVING AROUND AND WHERE WE MAY SEE DEBRIS.
UM, BUT THE PLAN RIGHT NOW, AS I SAID, IS TO DO A WE'LL ASSESS WEEKLY, UH, TO, TO SEE WHERE WE NEED TO PIVOT AND TO TRY TO BE AS AGILE AS POSSIBLE, SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE SITUATIONS WHERE WE HAVE LARGE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE THAT ARE LOCATION WITHOUT ADEQUATE SUPPORT.
CAN I, AGAIN, JUST A SILLY QUESTION HERE, THERE WAS A HOMELESS NEW, A HOMELESS PUBLICATION.
I THINK IT'S CALLED THE CHALLENGER.
AND IT SEEMS TO BE THE PUBLICATION THAT OBVIOUSLY IS GIVEN TO THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY.
IT'S WRITTEN FOR THEM, PROVIDES INFORMATION ON SERVICES OPPORTUNITIES.
AND I'M WONDERING IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT PERHAPS, UH, YOU KNOW, ARR PUBLIC WORKS, UH, CARD WE SHOULD ALL PARTICIPATE IN OR WITH TO HELP PROVIDE THOUGHTS, IDEAS, SUPPORT THAT MIGHT HELP WITH THESE CLEANUPS.
AS YOU STATED, WHEN THEY GO INTO THE WOODS, THAT'S GOING TO BE A DIFFICULT CHALLENGE TO GO AND, AND, AND HELP HOUSEKEEP.
IT'S GOING TO BE VERY DIFFICULT, NOT TO MENTION REALLY SEMI DANGEROUS.
I MEAN, WE, UH, UNTIL WE START FUNDING MENTAL HEALTH, I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY DIFFICULT PROPOSITION TO SEND ANYONE INTO THE WOODS TO HELP WITH THESE CLEANUP EVENTS.
BUT NONETHELESS, THAT'S, THAT'S MY 2 CENTS GUYS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR THOUGHTS? YEAH, FIRST I JUST, OH, SORRY.
I MEAN, DID YOU WANT TO GO, OH, GO AHEAD.
UM, YEAH, FIRST JUST THANK YOU.
AND I APPRECIATE IT, BUT Y'ALL HAVE BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO DO UP UNTIL NOW.
I'M VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT PROPERTY PASSED AND, YOU KNOW, THE ADDITIONAL CHALLENGE THAT IT'S GONNA CAUSE FOR, YOU KNOW, FOR EVERYBODY EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AND EVERYBODY TRYING TO LEND ASSISTANCE, UM, THAT IS REALLY DISAPPOINTING.
UM, I KNOW THAT THERE IS SOME CONTEMPLATION OF DESIGNATING CAMPION AREAS, AND I REALIZE THAT'S KIND OF A POLICY DECISION THAT WILL BE MADE BY COUNCIL, BUT DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT TO, YOU KNOW, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S LIKELY ARE STILL UNDER CONSIDERATION? IT ISN'T A CONSIDERATION, NO INSIGHT YET, JUST BECAUSE IT'S SO NEW.
UM, BUT I WOULD IMAGINE OVER THE NEXT, UH, FEW WEEKS OR SO MORE INFORMATION WILL COME OUT ON THAT IN TERMS OF WHAT THE PLANS ARE.
UM, SO, UH, AGAIN, NO, NO, UH, MAJOR BREAKING NEWS ON THAT FRONT JUST YET.
UM, IN CLOSING, I JUST WANT TO SAY, I WANT TO THANK STAFF, UH, WHO HAVE STEPPED UP AND WORKED IN THIS SPACE.
UM, THEY THEY'VE BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, AMAZING IN TERMS OF, UH, PIVOTING AND FLEXING TO DO WHATEVER THE NEED IS AND, YOU KNOW, AND STILL MANAGING TO GET THERE THEIR REGULAR WORK, THEIR DAY TO DAY CORE WORK.
SO THIS HAS BEEN SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, IT, WASN'T ON OUR
[00:45:01]
WORK PLAN, UH, NOT VERY LONG AGO, YEAR BEFORE LAST OR SO.AND, UH, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ASSUME THIS WORK AND IT'S JUST THROUGH THE SHEER TALENT OF THE FOLKS IN THE DEPARTMENT THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT.
I MEAN, THIS IS A VERY DIFFICULT CHALLENGE THAT WE'RE ALL FACING AS A COMMUNITY.
COMMISSIONERS, ANY, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR THOUGHTS? I HAD ONE QUICK QUESTION.
UM, YOU MENTIONED THE FIRES AND I WAS WONDERING IF YOU HAD INFORMATION ABOUT, UH, LIKE MATERIALS INVOLVED IN THOSE FIRES OR IS THIS TYPICALLY PROPANE STOVES GETTING OUT OF CONTROL? IS IT JUST WOOD FIRES, OTHER DEBRIS BEING BURNED, JUST I'M THINKING ABOUT THIS FROM A HAZARDOUS WASTE PERSPECTIVE AND THE IMPACT ON, YOU KNOW, THE WORKERS WHO ARE GOING TO BE INTERFACING WITH THE CLEANUPS.
YOU KNOW, AS PART OF THOSE MEETINGS, I MENTIONED EARLIER AT A FIRE DEPARTMENT PARTICIPATES IN THOSE AND, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, NOT SPEAKING FOR THEM, BUT I THINK THEY WOULD SAY ALL OF THE ABOVE.
SO THE FIRES, UH, THEY'RE ALLOWED TO HAVE WARMING FIRES AND COOKING FIRES.
UM, I DO KNOW THAT THEY PLAN TO GET OUT MORE TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT BASIC FIRE SAFETY, UM, HOW FAR YOUR FIRE SHOULD BE FROM YOUR TENT OR FLAMMABLES OR, YOU KNOW, OTHER, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, THINGS THAT THEY USE TO COOK, UH, SHOULD BE FROM THOSE PLACES.
SO, UM, WE, WE HEAR ABOUT ALL OF THOSE THINGS, WHETHER THEY'RE STARTED THROUGH, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME SORT OF PROPANE, UH, SITUATION OR CANDLES INTENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT ON A REGULAR BASIS.
SO I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY ONE THING THAT THEY WOULD ZERO IN ON.
UM, BUT IT'S SOME, YOU KNOW, IT RUNS THE GAMUT.
[2C. Discussion and Action: C&D Meeting Report Review-Ian Steyaert]
TWO C IS THE C AND D REPORT REVIEW.AND THIS IS YOUR, YOUR UPDATE TIME, BUDDY.
IF I COULD INTERJECT, UM, JUST ONE SECOND, WE DO HAVE SOMEONE THAT WANTS TO SPEAK ON THAT.
I ON BEHALF CHAIR, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO GO AFTERWARDS.
WE USUALLY ALLOW THE PRESENTATION AND THEN LET THEM CHIME IN, OR, I MEAN, UH, MR. JACOBY WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK PRIOR, THEN WE CAN DO THAT ALL SET UP.
OKAY, THEN COMMENTS JEFFREY, PLEASE.
WELL, JERRY, IT'S SO GOOD TO HEAR YOU AND, UM, COMMISSIONERS, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME.
I WILL KEEP THIS SUPER, SUPER BRIEF BECAUSE I TRUST THAT THIS COMMITTEE IS GOING TO DO A, THE SUBCOMMITTEE IS GOING TO DO GREAT WORK.
UM, I DID WANT TO HIGHLIGHT ONE, UH, WELL, TWO THINGS THAT WERE KIND OF SURPRISING TO ME.
UM, THING, NUMBER ONE IS THE RCI CERTIFICATION ALLOWS FOR BURNING, UM, FOR FUEL RECYCLED, THE QUOTE UNQUOTE RECYCLABLE MATERIALS AND CONSIDERS THAT DIVERSION.
AND ALSO IT ALLOWS FOR ALTERNATIVE DAILY COVER AT LANDFILLS FOR THE C AND D WASTE, AND IT CALLS THAT RECYCLING.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO BRING THAT TO THE COMMISSION'S ATTENTION.
UM, I, AGAIN, DON'T WANT TO BELABOR THE POINT CAUSE YON AND AMANDA AND CATHY HEARD A LOT ABOUT THIS LAST, UH, DURING THE LAST MEETING.
UM, BUT THAT IT RUNS IN DIRECT CONFLICT WITH THE ZERO WASTE PLAN, WHICH, UH, EXPLICITLY STATES THAT BURNING THAT INCINERATING FOR FUEL IS NOT CONSIDERED DIVERSION.
UM, YET THE C AND D PORTION OF THE SANDY RECYCLING ORDINANCE ALLOWS THAT CERTIFICATION, UM, TO STAND IN FOR, UM, ANY OTHER, UM, OVERSIGHT THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN MIGHT, UH, MIGHT PROVIDE, UM, WHEN CONSIDERING THE DIVERSION RATE OF A CERTIFIED RECYCLER.
UH, AND THEN FINALLY, UM, THE COMMISSION WILL ALSO REMEMBER, AND I DON'T, I DON'T RECALL THE EXACT DATE, BUT SOMETIME IN, I BELIEVE NOVEMBER, 2019, YOU ALL PASSED A RESOLUTION, UM, EXPLICITLY OPPOSING THE EXPANSION OF THE LANDFILL NEAR BERG STRUM, AND A LOT OF THE C AND D WASTE IS GOING THERE.
AND WE'RE VERY CONFIDENT, UM, THAT WHAT'S HAPPENING IS THAT IT'S NOT BEING HANDLED IN A WAY THAT WE, AS A CITY WOULD CONSIDER ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND.
UH, AND SO I JUST WANTED TO BRING
[00:50:01]
THAT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE COMMISSION.LIKE I SAID, UH, WE'LL DO THE WORK IN THE SUBCOMMITTEE.
UM, BUT, BUT THOSE SORT OF THINGS THAT IN PREPARATION FOR THAT MEETING WERE ACTUALLY REALLY SURPRISING AND I'LL END WITH THIS.
UM, I THINK IT WOULD BE BEST IF WE FOCUS ON DOING IT RIGHT, RATHER THAN JUST GETTING THE PERCENTAGE UP.
UM, IF WE'RE ONLY DIVERTING 50%, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY BEING HANDLED IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND WAY.
UM, I THINK WE'RE BETTER WITH THAT THAN 75% BEING HANDLED IN SUCH A WAY THAT WE'RE, UM, HARMING COMMUNITIES WHERE THE WOOD IS BURNED IN A BIOMASS INCINERATOR, AND OF COURSE POLLUTING THE CLIMATE AS WELL IN THE PROCESS.
UM, AND SO JUST WANTING TO KIND OF HELP GUIDE THAT, UM, THAT DISCUSSION HOPEFULLY, UH, TOWARDS, TOWARDS THE MOST, UH, THE HIGHEST AND BEST USE, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WE'VE, WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS STOOD FOR.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS A, AS A CITY AND WHAT THIS, UH, GREAT COMMISSION HAS ALWAYS STOOD FOR IN CONDUCTING ITS BUSINESS.
SO I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT AND I'LL WATCH Y'ALL ON TV, UNLESS YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
ANY QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS, MISSIONAL, WHITE KNOW, JUST, UM, THANKS FOR BRINGING THOSE ISSUES TO OUR ATTENTION.
JUST CURIOUS ON THE BERNIE, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THE WASTE BEING BURNED CURRENTLY, OR IF THAT'S NOT AVAILABLE, I MEAN, I, I HAVE DIRECT, UH, CONFIRMATION FROM ONE OF THE COMPANIES THAT'S DOING IT.
UM, SO YEAH, I MEAN, THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE SELLING IT OFF TO BIOMASS INCINERATORS, UH, AND THEY'RE DOING SO UNDER, YOU KNOW, WHAT I WOULD CALL A PERFECTLY REASONABLE, UM, ASSERTION THAT THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE THEY CAN SEND IT.
AND I'M NOT GOING TO TELL ANYONE HOW TO DO THEIR BUSINESS.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE VERY CLEAR THAT SENDING OFF, PARTICULARLY SENDING OFF THE WOOD WASTE TO BE BURNED IN A BIOMASS, INCINERATOR IS NOT RECYCLING AND IT'S NOT DIVERSION, AND SHOULDN'T BE CONSIDERED AMONGST THE, THE, THE DIVERSION RATES THAT WE CONSIDER ACCEPTABLE AS A CITY.
UM, SO YES, I, I HAVE CONFIRMATION DIRECTLY.
DO YOU KNOW WHERE THAT FACILITY IS? I DO.
I DON'T WANT TO CALL ANYONE OUT, BUT, UM, THEY'RE AN AMAZINGLY COOL FACILITY AND I WAS REALLY DISAPPOINTED WHEN I HEARD THEIR TESTIMONY AT THE SANDY SUBCOMMITTEE.
UM, IT'S, UH, RECON WITH THE ROBOTS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR JEFF? ALL RIGHT, JEFFREY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE TIME.
HOPE TO SEE YOU AT SOME JUNCTURE IN THE, NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE EVERYONE.
UH, LET'S GO TO THE NEXT LIGHT.
SO, UH, WE HAD THE ATTENDEES WERE THE, UH, COMMISSIONERS KATUSA AND MESSINA AND MYSELF CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.
ARE YOU HEARD THAT THERE WERE TWO SPEAKERS FROM A LOCAL RECYCLING BUSINESS WHO IS CERTIFIED, UH, TALKING ABOUT SOME OF THEIR KEY POINTS, INCLUDING THE FACT THAT THEY THINK THAT EVERYONE, UH, THEY'RE THE ONLY ONES WHO ARE CERTIFIED AND THEY THINK EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE, UH, THEY TALKED ABOUT THE WOOD AS FUEL, UM, TALKED ABOUT THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT, AND THERE WAS ALSO REPRESENTATIVE FROM, UH, INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION AND THE NONPROFIT YOU HEARD FROM MR. JACOBY, JUST RECENTLY PRESENTING SOME ALTERNATE VIEWS ABOUT WHETHER THIS, UH, BURNING IS A GOOD IDEA, PRAGMATIC, UM, NECESSARY, ET CETERA.
SO THERE'S CLEARLY GOING TO BE DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT.
AND THERE WERE QUESTIONS FROM, UH, PARTICULARLY COMMISSIONER MATUSOW ABOUT JUST GETTING MORE INFORMATION FROM STAFF ABOUT THE VIABILITY AND NECESSITY FOR DOING THAT AND HOW IT ACTUALLY FITS INTO OUR OVERALL PLAN.
UM, AS YOU ALREADY STARTED HERE, WE APPROVED THE MINUTES FROM THE LAST MEETING IN 2017.
IT SEEMS LIKE NOT THAT MUCH HAS MOVED IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS IN SOME WAYS.
SO THAT WAS INTERESTING TO SEE THE SAME TOPICS DISCUSSED BACK THEN AS NOW.
SO WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO MAKING SOME HEADWAY THERE SOON
[00:55:01]
AND GOT A STAFFING FROM, UM, MS. CASTILLO ABOUT THE BYLAWS TO HELP LAY SOME GROUNDWORK FOR OUR COMMISSION, AND THEN TALKED ABOUT, UM, MS. NELSON TALKED ABOUT THE ORDINANCE IN GENERAL.SO WE'RE GOING TO GO THROUGH IF IT'S ALL RIGHT, I'M GOING TO FLY THROUGH SOME OF THESE SLIDES JUST TO LAY SOME OF THE GROUNDWORK THAT I WASN'T AWARE OF.
AND, UH, HOPEFULLY IT'S AT A FLYING TO THE REST OF THE GROUP HERE, BUT WE'LL DO IT FAIRLY QUICKLY.
THIS, THIS AVAILABLE ON THE SITE.
UM, THERE'S AN AUDIO RECORDING AS WELL AS ALL THE MATERIALS, OF COURSE, ON THE, UM, Z WAX SITE.
SO LET'S GO AHEAD AND DO THE NEXT LINE.
SO JUST SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
I'M NOT GOING TO READ THESE SLIDES.
INTERESTING TO SEE THAT IT'S 20% OF THE TOTAL WASTE STREAM IS C AND D.
HOWEVER, AS YOU LOOK AT SOME OF THESE THINGS, WE CAN BE INTERACTIVE HERE.
UH, WHAT DO METALS CONCRETE, ASPHALT, BRICK AND PORCELAIN HAVE IN COMMON? YES, THEY'RE HEAVY.
SO, UM, IF BEING DONE RIGHT, AND WE DON'T GET A LOT OF TRASH, THIS IS ACTUALLY A VERY SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF THE WEIGHT OF THE TOTAL WASTE STREAM, A MUCH GREATER THAN THE 20% THAT'S THAT'S SHOWN HERE IN TERMS OF VOLUME.
SO THAT WAS INTERESTING TO ME.
A LOT OF THIS STUFF NEEDS TO BE HAND SORTED.
THERE WAS DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS.
IT, UM, IT'S TOUGH TO DO SOME OF THE MECHANICAL SORTING B, UM, AND THERE IS, ALTHOUGH THERE'S A DESIRE MAYBE TO DO SOAR SEPARATION.
IN OTHER WORDS, AT THE SITES THAT CAN BE REALLY TRICKY, PARTICULARLY SINCE CONSUMERS WHO ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE USING THESE WASTE RECEPTACLES SOMETIMES GO IN AND DECIDE THAT IT'S A NICE INEXPENSIVE WAY TO DUMP THEIR, THEIR STUFF.
AND IT GETS MIXED IN, UM, AS WELL AS CHALLENGES AT THE WORK SITES THEMSELVES.
UM, THIS IS THE REQUIREMENTS FOR WHICH PROJECTS SHOULD BE FOLLOWING THIS ORDINANCE HAS TO DO WITH THE SIZE, UM, THE TYPE OF PROJECT AND THE NECESSITY, HOW MUCH TO DIVERT OR DISPOSE OF BASED ON THE SIZE OF THE, OR YEAH, BASED ON THOSE, UM, 50% NEEDS TO BE DIVERTED OR GREATER OR DISPOSING LESS THAN 2.5 POUNDS PER SQUARE FOOT.
AND THERE ARE SOME WAIVERS AVAILABLE.
THE, AS WAS PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED, THE RCI IS THE CURRENT CERTIFICATION, AS WELL AS THE CITY REGISTERED EVALUATOR.
HOWEVER, THAT POSITION IS, I BELIEVE NOT FILLED AT THIS TIME.
SO THERE, THERE MAY BE SOME OPPORTUNITIES THERE NEXT AND NEXT.
THIS ISN'T REQUIRED TO BE REGISTERED TO US.
SO SOME OF THE KEY FINDINGS FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STUDY, UM, THERE, IT DOESN'T REALLY CHANGE AFFORDABILITY, SO THAT'S GOOD NEWS.
UM, HOWEVER, UH, WE'LL LOOK A LITTLE BIT HERE ON THE DATA IN JUST A SECOND HERE BECAUSE OF THE LOW REPORTING RATES.
SO ESSENTIALLY INSUFFICIENT DATA, LOW REPORTING RATES.
UM, SINCE IT'S, SELF-REPORTING IN MANY CASES HERE, WE ARE SEEING SOME NUMBERS, WHETHER WE CONSIDER THOSE NUMBERS TO BE GOOD OR NOT, AT THIS POINT IS A LITTLE, UM, UNCERTAIN.
AND THERE'S A SUPPOSITION THAT THE PEOPLE WHO DECIDE TO SELF-REPORT ARE PROBABLY ON THE HIGHER END OF THE QUALITY AND, UM, DIVERSION RATES.
SO WE MAY ACTUALLY BE EVEN FOOLING OURSELVES IF WE BELIEVE THESE NUMBERS TO BE, UM, EMBLEMATIC OF THE OVERALL STATE OF, UH, C AND D HERE IN AUSTIN.
UH, THAT SAID, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT POTENTIALLY NOT ALLOWING WOOD TO BE BURNED, UM, WHICH IF THAT WERE THE CASE, THEY ALREADY APPARENTLY STRUGGLE TO COMPETE DUE TO LIMITED PROCESSING.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT IF WE'RE TO MAKE CHANGES THAT MAKE IT ACTUALLY MORE DIFFICULT AS WELL.
SO ALL THINGS WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO START TO CONSIDER AND GET MORE INFORMATION ON NEXT.
THESE ARE THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS SUBMISSION RATE OF HOVERING IN THE LOW TEENS, THE DIRT DIVERSION RATES LOOK PRETTY GOOD HERE.
[01:00:02]
AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE WERE SEVERAL WAIVERS REQUESTED AND A GOOD NUMBER OF THOSE WERE WERE APPROVED, BUT IT'S NOT LOW SUBMISSION RATE THAT MAKES SOME OF THESE NUMBERS A BIT SUSPECT NEXT.SO LOW SUBMISSION RATES, WE TALKED ABOUT LACK OF ENFORCEMENT OPTIONS.
THERE ARE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT, UH, WITHIN ARR WITH STAFF IS WORKING ON COMING UP WITH ADDITIONAL METHODS OF ENFORCEMENT AND, UH, POTENTIALLY I BELIEVE THERE'S A HIGHER POTENTIALLY ON THE WAY MAYBE STAFF CAN, UH, RESPOND WITH THAT OR, UH, GIVE US AN UPDATE ON THAT.
UM, AND THE, THE MARKETS IT'S TOUGH TO, UM, TO ACCEPT THESE TYPE OF MATERIALS, A LOT OF CONTAMINATION AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY NEXT.
SO BASED ON THAT, UM, AND BY THE WAY, I DO WANT TO GIVE STAFF CREDIT AND ALL THOSE SLIDES THAT WERE CITY OF AUSTIN COLORS, UH, YOU KNOW, THE BLUE AND, AND GOLD AND YELLOW THERE WERE, UM, WERE ALL CREATED BY STAFF, HUD, JENNIFER IN PARTICULAR.
UM, SO THESE ARE ALL FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I THINK I'VE MENTIONED ALL OF THEM ESSENTIALLY.
UM, AND THEY ARE AS WOULD BE EXPECTED BASED ON THE ISSUES WE SAW.
AND SO THERE'S PLENTY GOING ON.
WE'RE TRYING TO GET A MEETING SET UP FOR JUNE, UM, START TO ACCELERATE, KIND OF HAVE THE MEETINGS A LITTLE BIT MORE FREQUENTLY THAN IS NECESSITATED BY THE ORDINANCE.
UM, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DO VIDEO OF THOSE MEETINGS THAT WE'LL HAVE TO JUST BE AUDIO RECORDINGS, BUT WE'LL MAKE THOSE AVAILABLE OF COURSE, AS USUAL.
SO ANY OTHER, ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ALL THAT? JUST A QUICK COMMENT JAAN THANK YOU, KATHY AND AMANDA, FOR, UH, FOR TAKING THE TIME TO DO THIS STAFF, YOU DID A GREAT JOB IN SUPPORTING THE, UH, THE SUBCOMMITTEE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT, THAT ISSUES.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR YOM OR JAFFE OR AMANDA, IS THIS, UH, MIGHT I ASK THEM, IS THIS USEFUL TO PROVIDE THIS LEVEL OF INFORMATION? I GUESS AT THIS POINT, IT'S JUST KIND OF SETTING THINGS UP AND THEN WE'LL JUST DO REGULAR REPORTS ON THOSE ACTION ITEMS THAT WE LISTED THERE.
IF THERE WERE OTHER TOPICS THAT YOU'D LIKE US TO TAKE UP, PLEASE SAY, SO I APPRECIATE IT.
I THINK IT WAS WELL DONE, ACTUALLY.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU, AMANDA AND CATHY AGAIN FOR TAKING THE TIME AND GREAT PRESENTATION GUYS.
THE NEXT ITEM OF BUSINESS, LITERALLY MOVING ON TO THE
[3A. Staff Briefings]
DIRECTOR'S REPORT, STAFF BRIEFINGS AGAIN.I BELIEVE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE AMY COME UP AND GIVE A BRIEFING ON WINTER STORM URI.
UH, ACTUALLY, UH, MY NAME IS MIKE
MIKE
UH, THIS IS JUST A LITTLE BRIEF UPDATE OF A WINTER STORM, UH, COLLECTION EFFORTS.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, UH, WE GREW UP A LITTLE BIT ON THE THOUGHT, WELL, THAT'S IT.
YEAH, SO
UH, SO BUILDING A FREEZE WITH, UH, WE EXPAND THE LIVES PRESENTATION MATERIAL COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS.
SO
[01:05:03]
SO AS YOU CAN SEE THE COMPARISONS FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR SUBMISSION FOR BREATH AND ARGUMENTS NEXT LOT.SO THEY'LL NOT WANT TO FEEL THAT NEEDED TO BE COLLECTED FROM THE CURB, LAID OUR OPERATIONS AS FAR AS STARTING TO BRING COLLECTION AND COMPOSTABLE.
WE ALSO RECEIVED THE SYSTEM FROM PARK WATERSHED.
UM, KARMA WORKS TO HELP REMOVE THE DEBRIS LIKE SLOT.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE HERE FROM THE SEAT MAP, THE MAJORITY OF THE CALLS WERE NORTHWEST AWESOME.
AND WEST OF 35 NEXT LOT, ALSO IN COLLECTING THE DEBRIS WE CONTRACT WITH DRC OR THE GRID REMOVAL AND TETRA TECH, OR THE WAY MOBILE MONITORING.
AND WE COMPLETED THE BLUE RENEWABLE IN EARLY MAY WITH OVER 1700 TILES OF THE GREEN REMOVED NEXT LAP.
AND ANY QUESTIONS, MIKE, I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT, UH, THE DEBRIS MAP.
WAS THAT JUST WHERE PEOPLE WERE FALLING IN ASKING FOR HELP OR, UM, IT JUST SEEMS, I KNOW THAT THEY'RE MORE HEAVILY TREATED ON THAT SIDE OF TOWN, BUT I'M JUST CURIOUS IF YOU HAD ANY INSIGHT AS TO THAT DISTRIBUTION.
UH, MARCUS, COULD YOU, UH, ANSWER THAT ONE WHO MAY BE NEW? YUP.
AMY'S LIKE AUTHOR RESOURCE RECOVERY.
COULD YOU REPEAT YOUR QUESTION PLEASE, SIR? YEAH, SORRY.
NO, I WAS JUST CURIOUS ABOUT THE DISTRIBUTION OF WHERE THE CALLS WERE FOR THE DEBRIS REMOVAL, JUST BECAUSE IT WAS SO HEAVILY WEIGHTED TOWARDS THE WEST SIDE.
UM, IF THERE WAS JUST ANY MORE INFORMATION ABOUT IT, IF THAT WAS JUST MORE PEOPLE CALL IN OR, UH, KIND OF WHAT THE REASON WAS FOR THAT, IT WAS BECAUSE THE DEBRIS WAS ACTUALLY CONCENTRATED IN THE NORTHWEST QUADRANT OF AUSTIN.
UH, I'D SAY ABOUT 20% OF OUR CALL VOLUME WAS FROM ONE PARTICULAR BRUSH ROUTE AND, UH, THEY HAD CLOSE TO A THOUSAND CALLS.
IT WAS SEVERELY IMPACTED IN DISTRICT 10 AND DISTRICT SIX IN TERMS OF DEBRIS REMOVAL.
SO, UH, WE, UH, THE CONTRACTORS AND THE ARR TEAM, PARD TEAMS, PUBLIC WORKS TEAMS, UH, SPENT MOST OF THEIR TIME.
AND THAT ONE PARTICULAR AREA OF AUSTIN.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, KATHY? YES.
MR. LEWIS, I MAY HAVE THIS INCORRECT, BUT THAT FIRST SLIDE, DID YOU SAY THAT MORE, THERE WAS 2200% MORE TRACKS OR WAS THAT RIGHT? 200%.
MA'AM ALL HER OVER LAST YEAR IN 2020.
WHAT, WHY DID, WHY WAS THERE THAT MUCH MORE TRASH GIVEN THE WEATHER A LOT OF PEOPLE OVER THERE.
AND THEY DIDN'T PUT THAT IN THE COMPOSTING.
WELL, THAT'S REALLY SAD THOUGH THAT, YEAH.
I JUST WONDERED HOW MUCH FOOD WENT INTO THE TRASH.
OH, MAYBE WE CAN WORK ON THE MESSENGER AT SOME POINT.
UM, ALSO I WANTED TO SAY THAT I'VE NOTICED IN MY PART OF, UM, THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO HOLD ONTO THEIR TREES AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE PRETTY MUCH DEAD.
AND SO I THINK WE'RE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BIG, I DON'T KNOW WHEN I WONDER WHEN PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DO THIS, BUT MAYBE IT'S, THEY'RE GOING TO WAIT ANOTHER MONTH OR TWO.
I THINK THE, I THINK WE KIND OF KNOW WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON, BUT EVERYBODY WANTS THEIR TREES TO COME BACK.
ARE YOU ALL LOOKING TO THAT OR YOU'LL GET MORE HELP AGAIN FOR THAT AT A CERTAIN POINT IN TIME, YOU NEED TO, UH, TO THE POINT WHERE WE ARE IN BELLEVUE FOR HELP.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THIS HELP.
[01:10:06]
RIGHT.AND NEXT STEP COMMISSIONERS, WE HAVE NATALIE BETS WHERE THE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE PRESENTATION ON CIRCULAR INITIATIVES.
NATALIE, ARE YOU HEARING AN ECHO? NO.
UM, I'M NATALIE BETS ON THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY PROGRAM MANAGER AND HERE TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME UPDATES ON SEVERAL DIFFERENT PLASTICS INITIATIVES THAT WE'RE WORKING ON, UM, AND SHARE SOME PROGRESS UPDATES.
SO YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO I'LL TALK THROUGH SOME INTERNATIONAL NATIONAL AND STATE LEVEL EFFORTS THAT WE ARE WORKING ON, UM, TO KIND OF BRING TOGETHER STAKEHOLDERS ACROSS THE PLASTICS VALUE CHAIN.
BUT BEFORE I DO THAT, I WANT TO JUST KIND OF LEVEL SET ON WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
SO AS YOU ALL LIKELY KNOW, UM, WE HAVE CURBSIDE RECYCLING FOR ALL RIGID PLASTICS.
WE ALSO HAVE, UM, DROP-OFF RECYCLING FOR PLASTIC FILM FOAM AT OUR RECYCLING AND REUSE DROP-OFFS OUR LITTER, ABATEMENT AND STREETS SWEEPING CRUZ, KEITH, UM, TONS OF DEBRIS OFF OUR STREETS AND OUR SIDEWALKS, UM, THAT ALSO PREVENTS PLASTIC FROM GETTING INTO OUR WATERWAYS THROUGH OUR UNIVERSAL RECYCLING ORDINANCE.
WE HAVE, UM, WE ARE PROVIDING, UM, RECYCLING ACCESS FOR PLASTIC WASTE, UM, AT BUSINESSES, UM, FOR EMPLOYEES AND TENANTS.
WE ALSO HAVE THE AUSTIN REUSE DIRECTORY, WHICH PROVIDES RESIDENTS WITH INFORMATION ON WHERE THEY CAN DONATE REUSABLE PLASTIC ITEMS, UM, AND ALSO ALL KINDS OF OTHER REUSABLE ITEMS. EVERY YEAR WE HOST SOMETHING CALLED THE REVERSE PITCH COMPETITION, WHICH HAS LAUNCHED SEVERAL BUSINESSES THAT MAKE, UM, NEW MATERIALS, NEW PRODUCTS OUT OF, UM, BY-PRODUCT MATERIALS THAT ARE COMING FROM OTHER BUSINESSES IN AUSTIN.
AND RECENTLY SEVERAL OF THOSE BUSINESSES THAT HAVE LAUNCHED HAVE FOCUSED ON POST INDUSTRIAL PLASTIC WASTE AND MAKING THOSE INTO NEW PRODUCTS LIKE, UM, PLANTERS AND, UM, OTHER, UM, SMALL ITEMS THAT CAN BE PURCHASED HERE IN AUSTIN THAT ARE LOCALLY MADE.
THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT IS ALSO STARTING A STUDY ON QUANTIFYING THE VOLUME AND THE SOURCES OF TRASH IN OUR CREEKS.
AND, UM, AS I'LL DESCRIBE IN MORE DETAIL, WE'VE ALSO SIGNED ON TO, TO, UM, COMMITMENTS, THE NEW PLASTICS ECONOMY, GLOBAL COMMITMENT AND THE U S PLASTICS.
SO YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
THE NEW PLAN SIX ECONOMY, GLOBAL COMMITMENT IS AN EFFORT FROM THE ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION AND THE UN ENVIRONMENT PROGRAM.
AND IT'S REALLY AN EFFORT TO UNITE STAKEHOLDERS ACROSS THE GLOBE ON A VISION FOR A CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR PLASTICS.
AND THIS IS IF YOU CAN GO TO THE YARD IN MEXICO, UM, IF THE, THE NEW PLASTICS ECONOMY GLOBAL COMMITMENT IS MOTIVATED IN LARGE PART BY THE PROBLEM OF PLASTICS IN THE OCEAN, OF COURSE, AUSTIN IS NOT A COASTAL COMMUNITY, BUT WE KNOW THAT, UM, THE PLASTIC THAT ENDS UP IN THE OCEAN STARTS FROM LAND.
SO A RECENT STUDY IN SCIENCE FOUND THAT UP TO 34 MILLION METRIC, TONS OF PLASTIC WASTE ENTER OUR AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS EVERY YEAR.
UM, AND THE SIGNIFICANT MAJORITY OF THAT COMES FROM LAND-BASED SOURCES.
SO WE HERE IN AUSTIN HAVE A BIG RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT AS WELL AS DOES, UM, ALL LAND-BASED COMMUNITIES.
UM, NEXT SLIDE, THE ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION HAS ALSO PREDICTED THAT BY 2050, IF WE STAY ON OUR CURRENT TRAJECTORY, THERE COULD BE MORE PLASTIC THAN FISH IN THE OCEAN.
AND THAT PLASTICS SHARE OF GLOBAL OIL CONSUMPTION AND THE CARBON BUDGET WOULD GROW SIGNIFICANTLY.
SO THAT'S, UM, KIND OF THE MOTIVATION FOR THIS COMMITMENT.
AND, UM, OF COURSE IT REALLY ALIGNS WITH OUR ZERO WASTE GOALS.
AND SO IN 2018 WITH MS. COMMITMENT WAS LAUNCHED, UM, THE CITY OF AUSTIN JOINED ON AS A SIGNATORY AND YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, BUT WE ACTUALLY JUST, RE-UPPED OUR COMMITMENT TO THIS, UM, INITIATIVE.
AND WE REASSIGNED A NEW SIGNATORY PACK THAT ADDS EVEN MORE AMBITIOUS ACTIONS.
UM, SO NOT JUST, UM, SAYING THAT WE AGREE WITH THIS VISION AND WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS IT, BUT WE'RE SETTING AND TRACK AND WE'LL BE TRACKING, UM, QUANTITATIVE MEASURABLE GOALS FOR OUR PLASTIC WASTE WORK UNDER SIX DIFFERENT AREAS AND OF OUTLINED THEM HERE.
SO YOU ALSO HAVE A SUMMARY OF THIS IN YOUR NOTES, IN THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT, BUT, UM, THE FIRST ITEM IS THAT ONCE THE US PLASTICS PACT, WHICH I'LL DESCRIBE IN MORE DETAIL IN A MOMENT RELEASES THEIR LIST OF PROBLEMATIC AND UNNECESSARY PLASTICS, WE WILL BE DEVELOPING CITY POLICY TO LIMIT RESTRICT OR PROHIBIT CITY PURCHASES OF THOSE MATERIALS IN A FIRST ENROLLING OUT AN EDUCATION INITIATIVE TO MAKE SURE OUR WORKFORCE IS AWARE OF THAT POLICY.
WE'LL ALSO BE ENCOURAGING BUSINESSES TO ADOPT REUSE MODELS, AND WE'RE STILL EXPLORING DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE MIGHT DO THAT, LIKE THROUGH PILOTS OR CONSULTING SUPPORT OR INCENTIVE PROGRAMS
[01:15:02]
BY 2025.WE ALSO ARE COMMITTING TO LAUNCH A CIRCULAR ECONOMY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE LIKELY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL UNIVERSITIES TO SUPPORT INNOVATION ACROSS THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY, BUT INCLUDING IN CIRCULAR PACKAGING.
AND THEN AS YOU MIGHT KNOW, WE ARE WORKING ON A CITYWIDE WASTE AVERSION A STUDY THIS YEAR, AND THAT WILL ALSO TELL US A CAPTURE RATE FOR PLASTICS.
SO HOW MUCH OF THE RECYCLABLE AND COMPOSTABLE PLASTIC IS ACTUALLY BEING RECYCLED AND COMPOSTED AND PUT INTO THOSE STREAMS? SO WE'LL KNOW BY NEXT YEAR, WHAT OUR CURRENT CAPTURE RATE IS TO GIVE US A BASELINE.
AND THEN FROM THAT BASELINE, WE'LL BE ABLE TO SET WHAT OUR TARGET TO HIT BY 2025 SHOULD BE.
AND ON THE NEXT SLIDE, TWO MORE AREAS.
SO WE WILL ALSO BE LOOKING AT WHAT THE CITY PURCHASES AND LOOKING AT WHAT WE BUY THAT HAS VIRGIN PLASTIC MATERIAL IN IT, AND SETTING A TARGET FOR REPLACING THOSE MATERIALS WITH AT LEAST 30% POST-CONSUMER RECYCLED CONTENT.
AND IN ORDER TO SUPPORT US IN THIS EFFORT AND ALSO TO AN ADDITIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY STEP, WE'LL BE JOINING THE GOVERNMENT RECYCLING DEMAND CHAMPIONS PROGRAM.
THIS IS A PROGRAM FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF PLASTIC RECYCLERS AND THE NORTHEAST RECYCLING COUNCIL, UM, TO SUPPORT GOVERNMENTS THAT ARE LOOKING TO PURCHASE RECYCLED POST-CONSUMER SPECIFICALLY RECYCLED CONTENT PLASTIC, UM, FOR ANY PLASTIC ITEMS THAT THEY BUY.
AND THEN WE'LL ALSO BE DOING SOME EDUCATION INITIATIVES FOR BOTH CHILDREN, AS WELL AS FOR ADULTS AND OUR GENERAL RESIDENT, UM, PUBLIC.
SO ONE THING WE'RE DOING IS ADDING A PLASTICS POLLUTION MODULE INTO OUR GENERATION ZERO PROGRAM THAT WE OPERATE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH T BOSTON.
AND THEN ALSO WE WILL BE DOING, UM, A SPECIFIC EFFORT FOCUSED ON PLASTIC FILM RECYCLING BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT'S, UM, A MATERIAL THAT ENDS UP IN THE TRASH AND ENDS UP AS LITTER ALL TOO OFTEN.
AND WE DO HAVE A RECYCLING OPTION FOR THAT, UM, AT THE DROP-OFF CENTER.
AND SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THAT.
AND FOR BOTH THOSE WE'LL BE MEASURING THE IMPACT OF THOSE EDUCATION INITIATIVES AND HOW, UM, EFFECTIVE THEY ARE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THAT'S THE GLOBAL COMMITMENT AND THOSE STEPS THAT WE'RE TAKING.
AND SO THERE'S A LOT TO COME THERE IN TERMS OF, UM, NEW DATA THAT WE'LL BE COLLECTING A NEW WAYS.
WE'LL BE TRACKING OUR WORK ON, UM, ON THIS ISSUE AND REPORTING THAT UP TO THE GLOBAL, UM, COMMITMENT.
WE ARE ALSO JOINED AS THE U S PLASTICS PACT, UM, NATIONAL EFFORT.
SO THERE'S SEVERAL DIFFERENT PACKS ACROSS THE GLOBE THAT ARE, UM, TAKING THE GLOBAL COMMITMENT AND KIND OF BRINGING IT DOWN TO THE COUNTRY LEVEL.
SO, UM, THE UK HAS A PATCH, CANADA, CHILE, SOUTH AFRICA, ALL HAVE, UM, PLASTICS PACKED AT THE COUNTRY LEVEL.
AND THE U S STARTED ONE IN 2020, AND, UM, AIR ARE JOINED AS A FOUNDING ACTIVATOR.
AND, UM, THE PLASTICS PACT HAS SET FOR AMBITIOUS TARGETS TO REACH BY AGAIN AT 2025 KEY YEAR.
UM, YOU HAVE A LIST OF THOSE IN YOUR DIRECTOR'S REPORT, BUT THE FIRST ONE IS AROUND ELIMINATION OF PROBLEMATIC OR UNNECESSARY PLASTICS.
THE SECOND IS, UM, ENSURING THAT ALL PLASTIC PACKAGING IS A HUNDRED PERCENT REUSABLE, RECYCLABLE OR COMPOSTABLE.
THE THIRD IS ABOUT, UM, EFFECTIVELY RECYCLING OR COMPOSTING, AT LEAST 50% OF PLASTIC PACKAGING.
AND THEN FINALLY ON RECYCLED CONTENT OR RESPONSIBLY SOURCED BIO-BASED CONTENT.
UM, THE GOAL IS TO ENSURE THAT THAT REACHES 30% OF PLASTIC PACKAGING BY THAT 2025 TIMELINE.
SO I'M ERA JOINED THIS AND SIGNED ONTO THOSE TARGETS AND TO SUPPORT WORKING FOR THOSE TARGETS COLLABORATIVELY.
UM, AS A FOUNDING ACTIVATOR, WE ALSO ARE, UM, AN INAUGURAL ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS.
SO WE REPRESENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT ON THE ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR THIS INITIATIVE.
AND WE'RE ALSO IN A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT WORKING GROUPS, UM, WORKING TO MAKE IT ALL HAPPEN.
AND THE MAIN THING THAT IS KIND OF HAPPENING UNDER THIS PLASTIC PACK WORK RIGHT NOW IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A ROADMAP.
SO, UM, WE HAVE THESE AMBITIOUS TARGETS, HOW ARE WE ACTUALLY GOING TO GET THERE? UM, THE ROADMAP WILL OUTLINE THINGS LIKE KEY ACTIVITIES, ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES, TIMELINES, AND, UM, THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE LATER THIS YEAR.
AND OF COURSE WE'LL SHARE IT WITH THE COMMISSION AT THAT TIME, AS SOON AS IT'S AVAILABLE TO US.
SO IN ADDITION TO THESE BIG PICTURE GLOBAL AND NATIONAL EFFORTS, WE ALSO RECOGNIZED, UM, A NEED FOR A STATEWIDE CONVENING.
SO BRINGING IT DOWN TO THE STATEWIDE LEVEL AND PARTNERED WITH THE STATE OF TEXAS ALLIANCE FOR RECYCLING TO HOST THE TEXAS PLASTICS SUMMIT JUST LAST WEEK, THIS WAS A TWO HOUR VIRTUAL WORKSHOP, AND WE BROUGHT TOGETHER OVER 40 STAKEHOLDERS.
IT INCLUDED RETAILERS, MURPH'S RECLAIMERS MANUFACTURERS, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, UM, AND THE FOCUS OF THE EVENT WAS TO IDENTIFY LONG
[01:20:01]
AND SHORT TERM COLLABORATIVE ACTIONS THAT THAT GROUP OF STAKEHOLDERS COULD TAKE TO REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE IN.AND, UM, IN THE BEGINNING OF THE EVENT, WE HAD SPEAKERS WHO SHARED THESE KIND OF STATUS QUO AND CURRENT TRENDS ON PLASTIC WASTE, UM, AS WELL AS BUSINESSES SHARING WHAT THEY HAD DONE IN THEIR OWN OPERATIONS TO REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE.
AND THEN WE BROKE INTO SMALLER BREAKOUT GROUPS TO DISCUSS, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S THE, WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? UH, WE HAD, UH, SEVERAL DIFFERENT THEMES FOR THE BREAKOUTS, LIKE PLASTICS IN THE WATERWAYS REUSE MODELS.
UM, AND THE GROUPS WERE KIND OF ASKED TO IDENTIFY WHAT DOES SUCCESS MEAN IN THIS AREA? AND THEN HOW COULD THEY INDIVIDUALLY CONTRIBUTE TO IT AND WHERE MIGHT THEY NEED SUPPORT AND HELP, AND LIKE WHAT THE COLLABORATIVE SHORT TERM ACTION COULD BE.
UM, SO IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE, UM, THERE WAS A LOT OF GREAT IDEAS THAT COME OUT OF THE SUMMIT AND, UH, REALLY JUST FANTASTIC GROUP OF STAKEHOLDERS COMING TOGETHER, REALLY WILLING TO PITCH IN.
UM, THERE WAS MORE THAN IS HERE ON, I CAN FIT ON A SLIDE, BUT KIND OF, UH, SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF IDEAS THAT CAME OUT OF THE GROUP, UM, OF THINGS THAT WE COULD DO COLLABORATIVELY OVER THE NEXT YEAR OR SO, UM, TO MOVE TOWARDS SUCCESS BY 2025, ONE WAS ON A YOUTH FOCUSED EDUCATION CAMPAIGN ON PLASTIC WASTE.
THERE WAS ALSO THE IDEA OF FREEZING AN ACTION GROUP, UM, FOR BUSINESSES WHO WANT TO ELIMINATE PROBLEMATIC PACKAGES SO THAT THEY COULD SHARE SUCCESSES, LESSONS LEARNED THAT KIND OF THING WITH ONE ANOTHER, UM, A LOT OF INTEREST IN JUST COLLECTING AND ACCESSIBLY SHARING INFORMATION.
SO CASE STUDIES, DATA, STANDARDIZED MESSAGING, FINDING WAYS TO BRING ALL THAT TOGETHER AND SHARE IT IN A WAY THAT'S EASY FOR PEOPLE TO FIND AND USE.
AND THEN ALSO LASTLY, INTEREST IN, UM, SHARING, UM, EFFORT ON PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS ON LOTS OF TOPICS, CONTAMINATION, CONSUMPTION, HABITS, LITERALLY STATEMENTS, UM, THAT KIND OF THING.
SO WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THIS INFORMATION ON THE NEXT SIDE, UM, IS WE HAVE TAKEN THESE IDEAS, UM, KIND OF SUMMARIZE WHAT THE GROUPS CAME UP WITH.
AND WE ARE CURRENTLY SERVING THE PEOPLE WHO PARTICIPATED SAYS IDENTIFY WHAT'S RISING TO THE TOP AS MOST IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON.
UM, AND THEN WE WILL BE WORKING WITH STAR TO COME UP WITH OUR IMPLEMENTATION PLAN OR HOW WE WILL WORK ON THOSE PRIORITY ITEMS. UM, WHEN IN OUR SURVEY WE ALSO ASK STAKEHOLDERS HOW THEY WANT TO PARTICIPATE.
SO, UM, IT WILL BE AGAIN, NOT JUST, UM, THE CITY AND STAR WORKING ON THIS, BUT LOTS OF PEOPLE WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO BE INVOLVED.
AND THEN STAR IS ALSO GOING TO HOST A FOLLOW-UP EVENT IN NOVEMBER, UM, SO THAT WE HAVE KIND OF THAT MARKER AND TIME SIX MONTHS OUT TO SEE WHERE WE'VE BEEN, WHERE DO WE NEED TO GO NEXT? AND THAT IS ALL I HAVE FOR YOU.
AND SO IF I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, IF YOU HAVE ANY, THANK YOU.
MA'AM THANK YOU, COMMISSIONERS.
SORRY, I INTERRUPT YOU REAL QUICK.
WE HAVE SEVEN MINUTES GUYS BEFORE SEVEN 30.
WELL, IT'S ONE OF THE FIRST TIMES I'VE BEEN SO OVERWHELMED WITH GOOD NEWS AND SO MANY GOOD PROGRAMS GOING ON.
UM, I'M JUST WONDERING IT WAS SO MUCH TO TAKE IN AND THERE'S SO MANY QUESTIONS AND SO MUCH ACTUALLY LOVE TO LEARN FROM ALL THIS.
UH, AND MAYBE I'D BE A BETTER COMMISSIONER FOR IT.
UH, I'M WONDERING IF AT SOME POINT NOT TO TAKE YOU AWAY FROM A LOT OF YOUR WORK, BUT TO ALMOST HAVE A WORKSHOP FOR US OR THE ONES THE COMMISSIONERS WANTED TO JUST TO REALLY DIVE INTO MORE OF THESE ISSUES AND SOME OF THE RECOMMENDED RECOMMENDATIONS YOU GET FROM ALL THIS, UH, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT ROSE TO THE TOP, BUT I COULD JUST SEE, AS YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THESE DIFFERENT TOPICS, HOW THAT WOULD FEED INTO US WORKING ON THE ERO OR THE C AND D AND JUST ALL KINDS OF THINGS.
WELL, I'M GOING TO THROW THAT OUT.
MAYBE I'LL THROW THAT OUT AGAIN ON AN AGENDA ITEM, BUT MORE OF A WORKING GROUP, MAYBE JUST A FEDERAL, WHAT WOULD THAT BE? KIND OF LIKE WHAT WE DID BEFORE, UM, WORKING GROUP SUB COMMITTEE.
I THINK CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, BEING AWARE OF FORUM ISSUES, BUT I THINK THERE WOULD POSSIBLY BE ROLE FOR PUSHERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN THE, UM, IN THE IMPLEMENTATION GROUPS THAT COME OUT OF THIS, UM, SURVEY THAT WE DO WITH STAR.
I'M ALSO HAPPY TO CONNECT WITH YOU OFFLINE AND DIVE IN DEEPER ON THIS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? AND NOW WE ALL LEAVE THIS OUT THERE.
PARTYING THOUGHT, I MEAN, WITH THE, OUR PUBLIC POLICY POLICY DIVISION, STATE VISION, HOW DOES THAT AFFECT WHAT WE'RE TRYING
[01:25:01]
TO ACCOMPLISH HERE? I MEAN, JUST THAT'S ONE OF THOSE COME BACK, COME BACK TO AS AFTER, YOU KNOW, CONSIDERING THE CHALLENGES THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE FACING WITHIN WITH SOME OF THE LEGISLATION THAT'S PENDING TODAY AT THE CAPITOL.BUT, UH, AND I THINK THERE'S, THERE WAS A LOT OF ACTION ITEMS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED THAT CAN HAPPEN INDEPENDENT OF POLICY.
A LOT OF IT WAS ABOUT SHARING INFORMATION.
A LOT OF IT THAT'S ALREADY OUT THERE, UM, BUT IT'S JUST HARD FOR PEOPLE TO, TO ACCESS IT AND TO HAVE A SPACE TO TALK ABOUT ISSUES WITH PEERS.
UM, SO I THINK THAT'S WHERE WE CAN LIKELY BE MOST EFFECTIVE IN THE SHORT TERM.
I HAD, I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO SECOND KATHY'S, UM, REQUEST FOR, I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE A WORKING GROUP TO, UM, YOU KNOW, INTERACT WITH, WITH Y'ALL ON A MORE MEANINGFUL LEVEL THAN WE CAN HERE IN OUR BRIEF TIME.
UM, SO I DON'T THINK WE'RE POSTED TO BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TONIGHT, BUT, UM, WOULD LOVE TO GET THAT ON OUR AGENDA FOR NEXT MONTH.
UM, I CARE A LOT ABOUT THIS ISSUE, SO I, I WOULD DEFINITELY LIKE TO BE A PART OF THAT.
UM, A SPECIFIC QUESTION, YOU MENTIONED, UH, A GOAL THAT WAS AROUND, UM, PERCENTAGE OF BIO-BASED PLASTICS AND JUST WANTED CLARIFICATION.
ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT BIO-BASED PLASTICS, BUT THAT ARE NOT COMPOSTABLE.
SO I THINK THAT THAT IS A GOAL AROUND WHAT, WHAT CONTENT IS PRODUCED FOR NEW PLASTIC PACKAGING.
BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WOULD LET ME BACK UP.
IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY'RE NOT COMPOSTABLE BECAUSE THAT'S STILL EXISTS IN TANDEM WITH THE GOAL OF A HUNDRED PERCENT RECYCLABLE REUSABLE OR COMPOSTABLE.
SO ANY RESPONSIBLE, RESPONSIBLY SOURCED FILE-BASED PACKAGING THAT COMES OUT WOULD ALSO HAVE TO BE EITHER RECYCLABLE, COMPOSTABLE, OR REUSABLE TO MEET THE PACS GOALS, RIGHT? YEAH.
I GUESS I'M JUST FLAGGING THAT AS MAYBE SOMETHING THAT, UM, I WOULD SUGGEST WE, I WOULD LIKE TO DIG INTO A LITTLE BIT, UM, YOU KNOW, NOT SURE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF THE BIO BASED, BUT NON-COMPOUNDED COMPOSTABLE, YOU DID ADD RESPONSIBLY SOURCED.
SO WHAT THE DEFINITION IS ANY WAY I DON'T, WE DON'T HAVE A BUNCH OF TIME HERE, BUT JUST FLAGGING THAT AS A, A TOPIC THAT I'M INTERESTED IN BEGINNING TO MORE.
THANK YOU, NATALIE, FOR THE PRESENTATION, VERY INFORMATIVE.
AND I DO, I WOULD LOVE TO BE A PART OF THIS SUBCOMMITTEE IF THERE WAS A SUB COMMITTEE AND WE'RE WORKING GROUP, BUT NONETHELESS, THANK YOU, NATALIE AND WONDERFUL PRESENTATION GERMAN.
ONE, ONE QUICK NOTE TO ADD, AND I KNOW WE'RE BUMPING AGAINST OUR TIME WINDOW HERE, BUT, UM, A LOT OF THE WORK NATALIE MENTIONED IS HAPPENING AT THE STATE, THE NATIONAL AND THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL.
AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE A LOT OF THE WORK THAT WE NEED TO HAPPEN SO THAT WE CAN MOVE THE BAR HERE HAS TO OCCUR IN SOME OF THOSE OTHER LEVELS.
AND SO A LOT OF OUR FOCUS WILL BE IN THAT TYPE OF SPACE GOING FORWARD.
AND YOU'LL HEAR MORE ABOUT THAT AND SEE MORE OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING IN THOSE SPACES, UH, IN THE NEAR FUTURE AND BEYOND.
I MEAN, THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX, ACTUALLY BORROWING IT'S PROVEN TECHNOLOGY AND PROVEN OPPORTUNITIES.
AND WITH THAT, I THINK WE WILL HAVE TO TABLE THE LAST TWO TOPICS FOR, UH, OUR NEXT MEETING BECAUSE, UH, WE ARE EFFECTIVELY OUT OF TIME, SO INCORRECTLY.
UH, COMMISSIONER WHITE COMMISSIONER, LIKE I KNOW, I KNOW WE'RE NOT GOING TO GET INTO PRESENTATION OR DISCUSSION, BUT IF I COULD JUST ASK ONE QUICK QUESTION ON THE MULTIFAMILY COMPOSTING, AND IT'S JUST THAT, CAN WE STILL, I, I SEE THAT MORE HAVE DROPPED OFF THE LIST.
AND SO THE QUESTION IS, CAN WE STILL TRY TO RECRUIT OR IS IT CLOSED DOWN NOW? I HAVE BEEN TRYING, BUT I WILL KEEP TRYING IF IT'S NOT TOO LATE.
SO LET ME, ARE YOU THERE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION AND AS JASON, MCCOMBS, PLUS THE RESOURCE RECOVERY, I CAN ANSWER THAT.
YES, WE ARE STILL ACTIVELY RECRUITING.
UM, WHEN WE'RE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF IT, WE'VE GOT THROUGH AUGUST TO GET MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED.
I THINK YOU'VE SEEN PEOPLE COMING ON AND OFF THAT LIST.
UM, UM, YES, WE'LL TAKE YOUR CORRECTLY COMMISSIONERS, YOU KNOW, FUTURE AGENDA
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
ITEMS. GUYS, WE CAN HOPEFULLY TRADE THOSE BACK AND FORTH VIA EMAIL NUMBER ONE.NUMBER TWO, I'D LOVE TO SEE REAL QUICK THE, UH, BOARDS OF COMMISSION WEBSITE, UH,
[01:30:01]
USE A ISSUE COME BACK FOR AN A AS AN AGENDA ITEM.UH, SOMEBODY MENTIONED THE SMB, OUR QUESTION.
I MEAN, CAN WE, UH, UTILIZE SOME TIME ON, ON DISCUSSING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FUTURE? I SHOULD SHOULD SAY OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UH, MINORITY BUSINESS, UH, ENTERPRISES.
HAVE WE GET THEM INVOLVED IN, IN, UH, ARR BUSINESS ANYWAY, KATHY THOUGHTS? OH YEAH.
WE'LL JUST, UM, I'LL JUST COMMUNICATE WITH YOU ABOUT ITEMS THAT I THINK WILL BE GOOD.
AGAIN, PLEASE COMMISSIONERS, JUST SEND AN EMAIL AND SAID, LET'S GET THIS NEXT AGENDA UP AND RUNNING QUICKLY, GUYS.
THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH WONDERFUL MEETING.
AND UH, I GUESS I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR GERMANS.
SO ANYWAY, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF WAVE.