[CALL TO ORDER ]
[00:00:03]
SEEING THAT IT'S NOW SIX TWENTY EIGHT.
I'D LIKE TO CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
ANYONE ELSE WANNA GO ON A TOUR OF US? YES,
UH, MELISSA AND AMANDA MEETING IS CALLED TO ORDER.
THE, UH, AGENDA SHOULD BE STRAIGHTFORWARD.
UH, THE FIRST ITEM OF BUSINESS IS, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS.
AND I DON'T THINK ANYBODY HAS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK.
WE HAVE NO SPEAKERS WHO SIGNED UP.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES ]
IS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.I MOVE THAT WE APPROVE THE MINUTES.
DO I HEAR A SECOND? I'LL SECOND MELISSA SECONDS.
ANY DISCUSSION ON THAT HEARING? NO DISCUSSION.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY, AYE.
[2. Presentation of Waste Characterization Study - Mike Oden and Matt Loula ]
BUSINESS IS THE, UH, DISCUSSION ITEMS. AND THOSE, UH, THOSE ARE THE PRESENTATIONS BY THE WASTE CHARACTER OF THE WASTED CHARACTER CHARACTERIZATION STUDY BY MIKE ODIN AND MATT LOLA.AND HERE WE HAVE, UH, WHO, OKAY, SO, I'M SORRY.
UH, THANK YOU WILLIAM FOR RESOURCE RECOVERY.
SO, AS YOU ALL MAY KNOW, UH, FOSTER RESOURCE RECOVERY AT THE COMMISSION CONSULTING, IT WAS ON, IT SOUNDS LIKE IT.
SO, UH, COMMISSION AN OUTSIDE CONSULTING FIRM TO CONDUCT A, UH, WASTE CHARACTERIZATION STUDY, UH, BACK IN 2020.
SO TONIGHT, UH, WE HAVE MATT, UH, LULAC AND MIKE OLDEN, UH, JOINING US VIRTUALLY, AND THEY'RE GONNA WALK US THROUGH THE, A PRESENTATION OF THEIR FINDINGS.
SO, AT THIS POINT, MATT AND MIKE, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
WE'RE, WE'RE HAPPY TO BE HERE TONIGHT AND TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE 2020 WASTE CHARACTERIZATION CAPTURE RATE AND DIVERSION STUDY.
UM, MY NAME IS MIKE ODIN, AND WITH ME IS, UH, MATT LOLA.
AND, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL BE DISCUSSING THIS.
IS THERE SOMEONE TO ADVANCE THE POWERPOINT OR, THERE WE GO.
IN 2011, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY ADOPTED THEIR MASTER PLAN, UH, BASICALLY A ROAD TO ZERO WASTE.
AND THAT PLAN OUTLINES SEVERAL DIVERSION GOALS FOR THE CITY, UH, SPELLED OUT OVER, OVER, OVER TIME AND RECOMMENDED, UH, THAT THOSE GOALS BE REVIEWED EVERY FIVE YEARS, UH, AND, AND TO SEE WHAT THE PROGRESS IS TOWARD THOSE GOALS.
UH, THE FIRST, UH, THE FIRST STUDIES WERE DONE IN 2014 AND 2015.
UH, AND THEN THIS, THIS CURRENT STUDY, 2020 WILL BE THE SECOND FIVE YEAR EFFORT.
UH, AND WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT DIVERSION RATES AND CAPTURE RATES.
UH, DIVERSION RATES BEEN THE HISTORICAL WAY PEOPLE HAVE LOOKED AT THINGS, AND, AND WE'RE GONNA ADD, UH, ADD ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT, UH, THE PROGRESS AND THE METRICS, UH, FOR THIS SYSTEM THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE TOTAL WASTE GENERATION IN, IN THE CITY, UH, WHAT WE FOUND THAT AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY MANAGED ABOUT 11% OF THAT, THAT TOTAL TONNAGE WITH 75% BEING MANAGED BY THE COMMERCIAL, UH, SECTOR.
THERE'S ANOTHER 14% THAT IS WHAT WE'RE TERMING ORPHAN GENERATION.
IT'S, UH, REUSE PRACTICES, RECYCLING, AND REDUCTION EFFORTS THAT, UH, WE'LL TALK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, AS WE GO ON IN, INTO THIS PRESENTATION.
SO, WHAT IS THE, UH, DIVERSION RATE AND WHAT IS THE CAPTURE RATE? AGAIN, THESE ARE, THESE ARE METRICS THAT YOU CAN USE TO, UH, OVER TIME, SEE HOW YOU'RE PROGRESSING IN YOUR, IN YOUR ROAD TO, TO ZERO WASTE OR WHATEVER YOUR, YOUR, UH, GOAL IS.
AND THE DIVERSION RATE IS HISTORICALLY WHAT WE'VE LOOKED AT, AND THAT'S HOW MUCH OF THE WASTE THAT IS GENERATED IS NOT BEING LANDFILLED OR INCINERATED.
NOW, AUSTIN HAS NO INCINERATORS THAT I'M AWARE OF.
SO THAT PIECE OF IT KIND OF GOES AWAY.
BUT THIS IS THE DEFINITION IN THE MASTER PLAN.
[00:05:01]
UH, ANOTHER LITTLE INTERESTING DEFINITION IS THE TONS DIVERTED.IF YOU LOOK, THAT, THAT INCLUDES NOT ONLY YOUR RECYCLABLE COM COMMODITIES, BUT YOUR, YOUR COMPOST, BUT ALSO THINGS THAT ARE REUSED AND THINGS THAT ARE REDUCED.
UM, SO IF YOU DON'T GENERATE IT, AND YOU CAN QUANTIFY THAT, THEN THAT, THAT COUNTS AS DIVERSION IN THIS CALCULATION CAPTURE RATE IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT WAY TO LOOK AT IT.
AND AGAIN, OVER TIME, ONCE YOU, UH, PICK A, PICK A, A RATE, THEN YOU CAN SEE WHAT YOUR IMPROVEMENTS ARE.
BUT THE CAPTURE RATE IS MORE OF A METRIC TO LOOK AT HOW MUCH OF THAT COMMODITY IS ACTUALLY BEING PUT IN THE RIGHT BIN.
IN OTHER WORDS, ARE THE RECYCLABLE MATERIALS ALL GOING INTO THE RECYCLING BIN? ARE THEY GOING INTO TO OTHER, UH, OTHER BINS? SO AN ANALOGY OF THAT IS YOU HAD THREE WATER BOTTLES, THEY'RE EMPTY, YOU'RE READY TO GET RID OF THEM, TWO OF THEM GO IN THE RECYCLE BIN, ONE OF THEM GOES IN THE COMPOST BIN.
SO YOU'VE, YOU'VE CAPTURED SIX TWO THIRDS OF THOSE WATER BOTTLES.
UM, YOU NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION FOR THE CAPTURE RATE TO, TO COME OUT WITH, WITH, UM, WITH SOME EXTRAPOLATIONS ON, ON WHAT YOU, YOU GET FROM YOUR SAMPLE DATA.
BUT, UH, THAT'S A, THAT'S AN INTERESTING WAY TO, TO LOOK AT IT.
UH, ANOTHER WAY THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE, HAVE LOOKED AT THIS IS DISPOSAL RATE.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY, UM, REGARDLESS OF YOUR DIVERSION, BUT IT'S HOW MUCH, UH, HOW MUCH MATERIAL IS ACTUALLY BEING DISPOSED AFTER IT'S BEEN DIVERTED, UH, AND, AND WHATEVER, AND NOT CREATED OR WHATEVER.
UH, HOW MUCH IS ACTUALLY BEING THROWN AWAY.
AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT EACH OF THOSE AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
SO, ANOTHER ORDER TO COME UP WITH THESE RATES, WE NEEDED, UH, QUITE A BIT OF INFORMATION.
WE, FOR THE RESIDENTIAL PIECE, UH, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY HAS GOOD RECORDS OF WHAT THEY'RE PICKING UP IN THEIR TRASH CARTS, WHAT THEY'RE PICKING UP IN THEIR RECYCLE CARTS, AND WHAT THEY'RE PICKING UP IN THE COMPOST CARTS.
UM, A SIDE NOTE OF THOSE, THERE ARE SOME RE SOME CONTAMINATION IN THOSE TWO, UH, IN THE RECYCLING OF THE COMPOST.
SO WE HAVE TO KNOW WHAT THAT IS AND DEDUCT THAT FROM, UH, WHAT'S ACTUALLY BEING, BEING DIVERTED.
UH, JUST BECAUSE IT GOES TO THE MURPH OR GOES TO THE COMPOST FACILITY DOESN'T MEAN IT'S, IT'S DIVERTED YET, BECAUSE IF IT'S CONTAMINATION, UH, THEN IT'S GOTTA BE HANDLED AGAIN.
UH, WE ALSO LOOKED AT THE BULKY COLLECTION, THE SEPARATE BRUSH COLLECTION AND THE DROP OFF MATERIALS, UH, AT THE RESOURCE, UH, RECOVERY CENTER.
SO WE LOOKED AT THE, UH, THE RESIDENTIALS FOR COMMERCIAL.
WE HAVE THE LICENSE HAULER REPORTS.
UH, THIS IS PROBABLY THE LARGEST DATA SOURCE THAT WE HAD, UH, FOR, FOR THIS, THIS PROJECT.
UH, AS YOU KNOW, THE WASTE HAULERS ARE REQUIRED TO BE LICENSED AND TO SUBMIT SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS ON HOW MUCH MATERIAL THEY MANAGE.
UM, AND TYPICALLY YOUR LARGER HAULERS DO KEEP GOOD RECORDS.
UH, WHETHER THAT MAKES IT INTO THE LICENSE HAULER REPORTS, THAT'S, THAT CAN BE DISCUSSED.
BUT THEY DO KEEP GOOD RECORDS 'CAUSE THAT'S PART OF THEIR BUSINESS.
UM, LISTED BELOW ARE THE TOP FOUR HAULERS IN THE, IN THE, IN THE CITY, UH, BEING T TEXAS DISPOSAL, WASTE MANAGEMENT, WASTE CONNECTIONS, AND CENTRAL TEXAS REFUGE.
UM, JUST KIND OF AN ENTERING SIDE NOTE, IF YOU LOOK AT AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY, THEY'RE ACTUALLY THE FOURTH LARGEST HAULER IN, IN THE CITY, UM, BEATING OUT CENTRAL TEXAS REFUGE.
THEN WE LOOKED AT THE UNIVERSAL RECYCLING ORDINANCE.
YOU KNOW, THE IMPLEMENTATION, UH, BEGAN IN 2012.
IT'S NOW FULLY ROLLED OUT, AND IT REQUIRES BUSINESSES TO SUBMIT ANNUAL DIVERSION PLANS.
UH, HOW ARE, HOW ARE THEY, HOW ARE THEY MANAGING TO OFFER AND TO, UH, ACTUALLY DO THE, THE RECYCLING AND THE COMPOSTING AT THEIR, THEIR FACILITIES? OVER 8,000 BUSINESSES PROVIDED, UH, THAT INFORMATION, UH, IN 2020, UH, FOOD PERMITTED BUSINESSES HAVE TO SUBMIT AN ORGANICS PLAN, UH, AGAIN, TO SHOW ACCESSIBILITY AND EDUCATION FOR THOSE EFFORTS.
AND THERE WAS ABOUT 5,000 BUSINESSES PROVIDED, UH, INFORMATION IN THE ORGANICS PLAN.
AND WE GOT SOME INFORMATION IN HERE THAT WE DIDN'T GET.
WE DON'T NORMALLY GET IN FROM, UH, THE LICENSE HAULERS OR THE, OR THE A O R COLLECTED, UM, BECAUSE OF INDIVIDUALS MAY DO SOME, SOME HAULING THEMSELVES, AND THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE NOT COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES OR WHATEVER.
WE ALSO DID A, A BUSINESS SURVEY, UH, OF THE A
[00:10:01]
D P RESPONDENTS.WE SENT OUT, UH, SURVEYS TO 8,500, UH, OF THOSE PEOPLE THAT PROVIDED EMAIL ADDRESSES THAT WE COULD SUBMIT, SUBMIT THE SURVEY TO.
WHAT WE FOUND, UH, FROM 2015 TILL, TILL 2021, IS THAT MOST OF THE RESPONDENTS HAD MADE IMPROVEMENTS IN THEIR PROCESS TO REDUCE WAYS.
UH, SO WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE NOT, WE'RE SEEING IMPROVEMENTS, BUT WE'RE ALSO SEEING ATTITUDE CHANGES AND MORE AWARENESS OF, OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING, UH, AND, AND WHAT THEY CAN DO AND WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO DO.
SO THAT WAS A, THAT WAS A POSITIVE THAT WE COULD TAKE AWAY FROM THE, FROM THE SURVEY.
UH, BUT WE ALSO GOT SOME OF THOSE PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS, LIKE DOUBLE-SIDED PRINTING AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET ELSEWHERE.
AGAIN, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE GUESSTIMATES BY THE, BY THE GENERATOR, BUT, UH, IT, IT'S, IT'S THE BEST WE, WE HAVE, AND IT'S INTERESTING TO USE THAT, UH, EVEN THOUGH IT MAKES, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF DIFFERENCE.
BUT, UM, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP, KEEP LOOKING AT THAT.
UH, NEXT SLIDE IS SOME, SOME OTHER SOURCES THAT WE LOOKED AT.
WE, WE CONTACTED DIRECTLY SOME OF THE FACILITIES THAT MANAGE WASTE WITHIN AUSTIN, BOTH, BOTH FROM A R R COLLECTIVE MATERIALS AND THE COMMERCIAL SIDE.
TALK TO THEM ABOUT THE TRENDS THEY'RE SEEING, WHAT THEY THINK THEY'RE GONNA BE DOING IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
AND IN PARTICULAR, WHETHER THERE WAS ANY IMPACTS, UH, DUE TO COVID TO THEIR BUSINESS MODEL AND TO, TO THEIR DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS.
UM, MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T SEE A BIG, A BIG IMPACT FOR, FOR COVID AS, AS FAR AS THE WASTE, UH, UH, WAY SYSTEMS GO.
UH, THERE'S PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT THAT YOU CAN, YOU CAN GLEAN FROM THE DATA, BUT OVERALL, UM, I THINK IT JUST MERELY SHIFTED FROM RESIDENTIAL TO COMMER OR COMMERCIAL TO RESIDENTIAL.
UH, DURING 2020, UH, WE ALSO TALKED TO SOME OF THE REUSE FACILITIES, GOODWILL, ET CETERA, IN THE, IN THE CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK TO SEE WHAT THEY'RE DOING, COME UP WITH SOME, SOME, SOME QUANTITIES THAT ARE BEING OFFERED, UH, OUTSIDE OF THE TRADITIONAL, TRADITIONAL METHODS.
UH, THEN WE LOOKED AT, AT SIX PEER COMMUNITIES, WE CALL 'EM PEER COMMUNITIES, UH, COMMUNITIES THAT ARE SIMILAR TO AUSTIN AND DO THE TRACKING OF THE RESIDENTIAL OR RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL, AND TRY TO COMPARE THAT AND GET SOME, SOME CONTEXT INTO WHAT WE'RE SEEING FROM, FROM AUSTIN'S NUMBERS.
UM, IT'S A LITTLE BIT CHALLENGING IN THAT THE INDUSTRY DOESN'T NOT HAVE A GOOD STANDARD AS FAR AS, UH, HOW THINGS ARE TRACKED IN, IN THIS, IN THIS BUSINESS.
SO EVERYBODY DOES IT A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY.
AND, AND YOU'LL SEE IN A LITTLE BIT HOW THAT AFFECTS SEATTLE AND, AND WHAT THEIR NUMBERS SHOW UP.
BUT, UH, NEVERTHELESS, UH, MATT PUTS PUTS SOME OF THIS INFORMATION INTO CONTEXT, UH, HERE SHORTLY.
AND, UH, YOU'LL SEE WHAT WE'VE DONE THERE.
LOOKING AT ALL THIS DATA, WE, WE TRIED TO PUT SOME KIND OF A, A RELIABILITY FACTOR ON, ON THESE, ON THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION THAT WE, WE OBTAINED.
AND THAT'S NOT ONLY IS IT RELIABLE, NONE OF IT WAS NOT RELIABLE, BUT, BUT WHERE IS IT? RELIABILITY AND REPEATABLE, BECAUSE THAT'S ONE OF THE GOALS OF THE PROJECT, WAS TO SET THIS UP SO THAT IT, UH, EVERY TIME IT'S LOOKED AT, IT'S LOOKED AT THE SAME WAY.
AND YOU CAN, YOU CAN ACTUALLY COME UP WITH, UH, SOME CHANGES AND SOME, SOME PROGRESS AND SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE, IN THE OVERALL SYSTEM.
SO, UH, JUST KIND OF A, YOU KNOW, AR COLLECTED DATA.
WE THINK THAT'S VERY QUALITY DATA, OBVIOUSLY, WE THINK THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD DATA.
UH, AS FAR AS THE COMMERCIAL AND THE ORPHAN TONNAGES, UH, YOU CAN SEE KIND OF AS, AS A RANKING WITHOUT PUTTING NUMBERS TO IT, WHERE, WHERE WE FEEL LIKE, UH, WHAT'S THE MOST RELIABLE AND WHERE WE GET IN THE BUS BANG FOR OUR BUCK.
UM, SO THAT KIND OF BRINGS US UP TO WHAT WE'VE DONE.
UH, AND I'LL TURN IT OVER TO MATT FROM HERE AND HE CAN DISCUSS, UH, SOME OF THE SPECIFICS ON THE, UH, ON THE NUMBERS THAT HE'S LOOKED AT.
UH, SO IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND, UH, THE QUANTITIES FROM THE DATA SOURCES THAT MIKE JUST WENT OVER AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR AUSTIN'S DIVERSION RATE SAMPLES OF A R R COLLECTED TRASH, RECYCLING AND COMPOST WERE SORTED.
UM, MANY THANKS TO T D S AND ORGANICS, BY GOSH, BECAUSE THAT SORTING EFFORT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THEIR COOPERATION.
SO, UH, EACH LOAD OF TRASH RECYCLING AND COMPOST WAS SORTED INTO MATERIAL CATEGORIES, UH, SUCH AS FOOD WASTE, PLASTIC FILM, RIGID PLASTICS, CARDBOARD.
[00:15:01]
WERE CLASSIFIED AS MATERIALS THAT SHOULD BE PLACED IN THE TRASH, SHOULD BE PLACED IN THE RECYCLING, SHOULD BE PLACED IN THE COMPOST, OR COULD BE RECOVERED THEORETICALLY, BUT NOT UNDER CURRENT PROGRAMS. UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.THESE PIE CHARTS SHOW AN OVERVIEW OF THE DATA THAT WAS OBTAINED FROM THIS SAMPLE SORTING.
SO, FOR INSTANCE, IN THIS LEFT GRAPH SHOWS THE COMPOSITION OF THE MATERIALS THAT WERE FOUND IN THE A R R COLLECTED TRASH.
SO, 44.2% OF THE MATERIAL FOUND IN THE A R R COLLECTED TRASH WERE MATERIAL CATEGORIES THAT SHOULD BE DISPOSED OF IN THE TRASH.
UH, AND WELL, THE OTHER 56% OF MATERIALS FOUND IN THE A R R COLLECTED TRASH ARE MATERIALS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN DIVERTED IF SORTED DIFFERENTLY.
AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THESE GRAPHS, THERE WAS LESS CONTAMINATION IN THE RECYCLING AND COMPOST STREAMS WITH 87% OF THE MATERIAL FOUND IN THE AR COLLECTED RECYCLING BEING MATERIALS THAT SHOULD BE DISPOSED OF IN THE RECYCLING AND WITH LESS THAN 5% CONTAMINATION IN THE COMPOST STREAM.
NOW, WITH THAT, THAT DATA IN HAND, WE WERE ABLE TO CALCULATE THE CAPTURE RATE.
SO TO REFRESH YOUR MEMORY, UH, ON WHAT CAPTURE RATE IS FROM WHAT MIKE WENT OVER, CAPTURE RATE IS A MEASURE OF HOW WHAT PORTION OF MATERIALS ARE SORTED CORRECTLY.
SO OUR EXAMPLE, IF WE GOT THREE WATER BOTTLES, TWO OF THEM MAKE IT INTO THE RECYCLING, ONE OF 'EM GOES INTO THE TRASH OR THE COMPOST.
YOU'VE CAPTURED TWO OUT OF THREE WATER BOTTLES.
A TRASH CAPTURE RATE IS HIGH, 93%, MEANING THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT VERY OFTEN THROWING THEIR TRASH INTO THE COMPOST AND RECYCLING.
BUT THE CAPTURE RATES OF RECYCLING AND COMPOST ARE LOWER AT 57 AND 53% BECAUSE PEOPLE OFTEN THROW THEIR RECYCLABLES AND COMPO COMPOSTABLE MATERIALS INTO THE TRASH.
ONE CONCLUSION WE CAN BRING FROM THESE CAPTURE RATES IS THAT EDUCATION IS STILL A STRONG OPTION FOR IMPROVING THE DIVERSION RATE AS THERE ARE A LOT OF DIVERTABLE MATERIALS THAT ARE NOT BEING DIVERTED BECAUSE THEY'RE SORTED INCORRECTLY.
UH, THIS SLIDE IS EMPHASIZING A GRAPH FROM TWO SLIDES AGO SHOWING 56% OF MATERIALS IN THE A R R COLLECTED TRASH STREAM COULD THEORETICALLY BE DIVERTED IF THEY WERE SORTED CORRECTLY, AND PROGRAMS WERE IN PLACE.
NOW WITH THAT, UH, MATERIAL, WITH THAT SORTING DATA AND THE CONTAMINATION RATES OF THE MATERIAL STREAMS CALCULATED, WE ARE ABLE TO CALCULATE THE A R R COLLECTED DIVERSION RATE FROM THE BASELINE STUDIES.
A R R DIVERSION HAS INCREASED TO 39.8% WHILE THE QUANTITY OF MATERIAL THAT WAS DIVERTED.
SINCE THE BASELINE STUDIES HAS INCREASED, THE DISPOSAL RATE OF A R HOUSEHOLDS HAS DECREASED AS WELL, WHICH HAS DAMPEN THE IMPACT OF THAT INCREASED DIVERSION.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT EVEN IF A ALL A R R COLLECTED MATERIALS HAD BEEN DIVERTED IN 2020, THE AUSTIN CITYWIDE DIVERSION RATE WOULD STILL HAVE ONLY BEEN 44% BECAUSE COMMERCIAL WASTE COMMERCIALLY COLLECTED WASTE ACCOUNTS FOR SUCH A LARGE PORTION OF MATERIAL GENERATED WITHIN AUSTIN TO INCREASE THE CITYWIDE DIVERSION RATE, COMMERCIAL DIVERSION WILL NEED TO INCREASE.
THIS GRAPH SHOWS HISTORICAL COLLECTION QUANTITIES FOR CURBSIDE TRASH RECYCLING AND YARD TRIMMINGS.
THE DISPOSAL TRENDS MIRROR THE TRENDS THAT WE SEE IN THE T THE, UH, STATEWIDE DATA THAT'S COLLECTED BY THE T C Q.
ONE INTERESTING POINT IN LOOKING AT THIS DATA IS THAT YOU GENERALLY SEE THAT DISPOSAL RATES FALL AS THE ECONOMY IS NOT DOING WELL, AND THEN AS THE ECONOMY RECOVERS, YOU CAN SEE THEM TEND TO INCREASE.
NOW THAT WE'VE GONE THROUGH THE RESIDENTIAL SECTOR, WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE SPECIFICS OF COMMERCIALLY COLLECTED WASTE.
AS WE'VE GONE OVER COMMERCIALLY COLLECTED WASTE ACCOUNTS FOR ROUGHLY 75% OF THE WASTE COLLECTED WITHIN AUSTIN.
AND OF THAT 75% THE FULL SERVICE HAULERS, T D S, WASTE MANAGEMENT, WASTE CONNECTIONS, AND CENTRAL TEXAS REFUSE ACCOUNT FOR ROUGHLY EIGHT 80%.
THIS MEANS THAT 60% OF THE WASTE GENERATED IN AUSTIN IS COLLECTED BY THESE FOUR HAULERS.
SO AGAIN, WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT IN ORDER TO MAKE A LARGE DIFFERENCE IN THE CITYWIDE DIVERSION RATES, THE DIVERSION OF MATERIALS COLLECTED BY THESE HAULERS NEEDS TO INCREASE.
COMMERCIALLY COLLECTED TRASH IS SORTED WORSE THAN A R R COLLECTED TRASH.
UH, WHILE A R R COLLECTED TRA TRASH HAS 56% OF MATERIALS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN DIVERTED IF THEY WERE SORTED CORRECTLY.
[00:20:01]
UP TO 66 FOR COMMERCIALLY COLLECTED TRASH.THIS GRAPH SHOWS, UH, THE HISTORICAL TONS LANDFILL PER CAPITA IN TEXAS IS REPORTED BY THE T C E Q, UH, FROM 2003 TO 2020.
AS WE SAID EARLIER, THESE TRENDS SUPPOSEDLY FOLLOW, UH, THE, WHAT WE SEE IN AUSTIN OR MERE, AND YOU CAN SEE, UH, IN FOLLOWING THE FINANCIAL CRASH, DISPOSAL RATES DECREASED AND THEN THEY HAVE STARTED TO REBOUND AS THE ECONOMY COVERED.
THIS INCREASE IN AUSTIN DISPOSAL IS BOTH DUE TO AN INCREASE IN PER CAPITA DISPOSAL, MEANING THAT INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE ARE DISPOSING OF MORE, AND THAT AN INCREASE IN THE POPULATION OF AUSTIN.
THIS GRAPH SHOWS A, A, THE CITYWIDE DISPOSAL RATE FOR AUSTIN, EXCLUDING C AND D MATERIALS.
THIS IS A VALUE THAT'S COMPARABLE TO THE NATIONWIDE VALUES THAT ARE PUBLISHED BY THE US E P A.
AND HERE WE JUST WANNA PUT SOME OF THE KEY POINTS ALTOGETHER IN ONE SLIDE THAT SHOWS THE A R R COLLECTED AND THEN CITYWIDE GENERATION DISPOSAL AND DIVERSION WITHIN AUSTIN.
SO, TO CONTEXTUALIZE THESE RESULTS IN WHAT THEY MEAN FOR AUSTIN, WE ALSO LOOKED INTO THE DIVERSION RATES OF SIX PEER COMMUNITIES.
AUSTIN'S A R R COLLECTED DIVERSION RATE OF NEARLY 40% WAS HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL DIVERSION RATE OF PEER COMMUNITIES.
WHILE AUSTIN'S CITYWIDE DIVERSION RATE WAS LOWER THAN THE AVERAGE OF PEER COMMUNITIES, SEATTLE IS A SIGNIFICANT OUTLIER AMONG THESE COMMUNITIES, MORE THAN 25% HIGHER THAN ANY OF THE OTHER PEER COMMUNITIES.
AND IF SEATTLE IS REMOVED AS AN OUTLIER FROM THIS DATASET, THEN AUSTIN'S CITYWIDE DIVERSION WOULD BE HIGHER THAN, THAN THE AVERAGE OF THE PEER COMMUNITIES.
AND NOW WE'RE ONTO THE FINDINGS.
SO A PRIMARY FINDING OF THIS STUDY IS THAT CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAMS IS STILL A STRONG OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE DIVERSION.
WHILE THE A R R COLLECTED RECYCLING AND COMPOST STREAMS ARE RELATIVELY WELL SORTED, THERE'S STILL A LOT OF COMPO COMPOSTABLE MATERIALS AND RECYCLABLE MATERIALS THAT ARE MAKING IT INTO THE TRASH.
AND NEXT, SINCE THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR, AND SPECIFICALLY THE FOUR FULL SERVICE HAULERS, T D SS, WASTE MANAGEMENT, WASTE CONNECTIONS, AND CENTRAL TEXAS REFUGE ACCOUNT FOR SO MUCH OF THE WASTE COLLECTED WITHIN AUSTIN, INCREASING THE CITYWIDE DIVERSION IS GOING TO REQUIRE THEIR COOPERATION AND THE REQUIRE CO COOPERATION OF THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR GENERALLY.
ADDITIONALLY, IT COULD BE BENEFICIAL TO MODIFY GOALS AT CURRENT GENERATION QUANTITIES, EVEN IF ALL WASTE WAS SORTED PERFECTLY, MEANING WE ARE GETTING 100% CAPTURE RATE, ALL THE TRASH IS IN THE TRASH, ALL THE RECYCLINGS AND THE RECYCLING AND SO ON A R R DIVERSION WOULD ONLY BE AT 65%, WHICH IS STILL WELL BELOW THE MASTER PLAN GOAL OF 90%.
THERE ARE SOME OTHER CITIES THAT ARE FACING SIMILAR ISSUES.
FOR INSTANCE, SAN ANTONIO IS REEVALUATING ITS DIVERSION GOAL OF 60% AFTER DETERMINING THAT, REACHING THAT GOAL WOULD REQUIRE ALMOST PERFECT SORTING FROM EVERY SINGLE INDIVIDUAL.
AND, AND, UH, DALLAS HAS TAKEN A, AN APPROACH OF IT PUTTING IN PLACE DIFFERENT GOALS FOR THE RESIDENTIAL SECTOR THAN FOR COMMERCIAL, SO THAT THOSE GOALS CAN BE TRACKED SEPARATELY, UH, AS WELL AS PUTTING INTO PLACE SOME QUALITATIVE GOALS.
AND THAT, THAT BRINGS US TO THE END OF THIS PRESENTATION.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND BIG THANKS TO WILLIAM FOR HELPING GET A, HELPING GETTING US ALL THE INFORMATION WE NEEDED TO MAKE THIS STUDY POSSIBLE.
MATT AND MIKE, THANK YOU GUYS VERY MUCH.
UH, CAN WE OPEN THIS UP FOR QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS? IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS? GREG? I HAVE A QUESTION.
OH, THIS IS GONNA FEED BACK MM-HMM.
UM, I NOTICED THERE IT SAYS TEXAS WIDE PER CAPITA DISPOSAL, AND THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT DIP ABOUT 2010.
AND I'M JUST CURIOUS IS DID ANYBODY HAVE ANY IDEAS ABOUT WHY THAT DIP HAPPENED? UH, YEAH.
[00:25:01]
A, A GAS AT LEASE BEING THAT WE, THE HISTORICAL DATA IS FROM A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT SOURCES.THERE'S, IT HAVE NOT BEEN CONSISTENT METRICS TRACKING THESE QUANTITIES ACROSS THAT PERIOD.
SO WE ACTUALLY RECEIVED FROM WILLIAM, WE GOT SOME DATA FROM, I BELIEVE IT WAS 2010 THROUGH 2013, AND THEN WE HAD 2014 AND THEN 2015 ON.
AND THOSE METRICS WERE NOT EXACTLY TRACKED THE SAME WAY.
SO I BELIEVE THE DISCREPANCY IS IN HOW THE DATA WAS TRACKED IN THOSE DIFFERENT PERIODS, WHICH IS, UH, GOES BACK TO WHAT MIKE WAS SAYING EARLIER, THAT I THINK GOING FORWARD WE NEED TO EMPHASIZE MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE TRACKING THINGS ON AN APPLES TO APPLES, UH, LEVEL FROM YEAR TO YEAR SO THAT WE CAN HAVE HISTORICAL DATA THAT IS MORE COMPARABLE.
YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THE T T C E Q DATA ON SLIDE 19 AND THAT, THAT TREND DOWN IN 29, 20 10, I BELIEVE, MATT, THAT'S WHAT WE WERE SAYING WAS THE BAD ECONOMY DROVE, DROVE SOME OF THAT, THE 2008.
SORRY, I THOUGHT YOU WERE REFERRING TO THE, THE GRAPH ON SLIDE 16.
SO YEAH, THE, THE, THE DIP ON THE SLIDE 19, SORRY, UH, THAT DOES REFLECT PRETTY EVENLY WITH THE, THE, UH, H HOUSING CRASH.
THANK YOU, CRAIG, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I, I, UH, I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS AND, AND PLEASE, I MEAN, STAFF, YOU MAY WANT TO HELP IN THIS, BUT, UH, IF I RECALL, I THINK THE MASTER PLAN AT ONE TIME ASKED AND CITY ORDINANCE ASKED THAT, UH, WE, AND IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR SUBMIT, UH, RECYCLING UPDATES ON I THINK A QUARTERLY OR ANNUAL, QUARTERLY OR SEMI-ANNUAL BASIS THAT, UH, AGAIN, WOULD'VE, HOPEFULLY PLAYED INTO THE DIVERSION SLASH CAPTURE RATES HAVING IMPROVED.
AND I THINK THAT WAS IN EFFECT.
AND ORIGINALLY, AND PLEASE, STAFF, IS THAT STILL IN EFFECT THE, UH, PRIVATE, UH, COMMERCIAL HAULERS LICENSE? YES.
SUBMITTING THEIR ANNUAL UPDATES, UH, RECYCLING UPDATES, YEAH.
THAT WOULD BE THE ANNUAL DIVERSION PLANS.
SO GINA MCKINLEY, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY, UM, I'M NOT SURE EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO, BUT THE LICENSED HAULER ORDINANCE, WHICH IS I THINK WHAT YOU'RE REFERENCING, DOES REQUIRE SUBMISSION OF DATA FROM HAUL ALL THE LICENSED HAULERS.
AND THAT IS THE DATA THAT THEY REFERENCED IN THE PRESENTATION.
AND WE DIDN'T SET A, UH, GOAL WITH THE PRIVATE COMMERCIAL GUYS CORRECT.
NOT THAT I'M AWARE OF THE, THE ANNUAL DIVERSION PLANS MM-HMM.
SO ALL RESPONSIBLE PARTIES ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE ANNUAL DIVERSION PLANS, UM, WHICH DEMONSTRATES THAT THEY'RE MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS, WHICH IS PROVIDING ACCESS TO RECYCLING.
SO BASICALLY WE JUST ENCOURAGEMENT, GUYS, LET'S DO IT, DO IT RIGHT, AND HOPEFULLY WE WILL INCREASE THE DIVERSION RATE.
I MEAN, IF YOU'RE DONE YES, GO AHEAD.
UM, YEAH, I'M STILL WRAPPING MY HEAD AROUND A COUPLE OF THESE THINGS, BUT FOR INSTANCE, THE CHART ON PAGE 16, I'M SEEING TWO Y AXES HERE.
ONE HAS TO DO WITH THE TONS PER YEAR COLLECTED, AND THE OTHER HAS TO DO WITH THE PERCENTAGE DIVERSION RATE.
IS, ARE DIFFERENT LINES SHOWING DIFFERENT THINGS OR IS THE YEAH, SO THE, THE SOLID LINES THERE SHOW CURBSIDE COLLECTED QUANTITIES FOR THE TRASH RECYCLING AND YOUR TRIMMINGS.
AND THEN, SO THAT, THAT THOSE VALUES ARE REFLECTED ON THE LEFT HAND Y-AXIS.
AND ON THE RIGHT Y-AXIS IS FOR THE DIVERSION RATE, WHICH IS THE DASH D L LINE.
UM, AND DID I HEAR CORRECTLY, AND I'M SORRY I'M NOT FINDING IT IMMEDIATELY HERE, BUT THAT THE NUMBER OF TONS COLLECTED, AND THIS, THAT'S KIND OF WHAT'S REFLECTED HERE IN THESE, UH, SOLID LINES, HAS REALLY, THE TRASH NUMBERS HAVE STAYED PRETTY STEADY DESPITE THE INCREASE IN POPULATION.
IS THAT, AM I SAYING THAT CORRECTLY? UH, THAT WOULD BE WHAT IT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE, BUT I, I THINK WHAT WE'VE SAID LATER
[00:30:01]
ON IS THAT THE DISPOSAL RATE HAS GONE UP, BUT THE DIVERSION RATE'S GONE UP MORE.SO EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE, YOU'RE GENERATING MORE MM-HMM.
AND SO IF I CAN BEGIN TO SUMMARIZE OR RESUMMARIZE YOUR SUMMARIZED FINDINGS HERE, UH, APOLOGIES.
BASICALLY WE WERE, UH, AS A, AS A CITY A BIT OPTIMISTIC HERE AS WE WERE DOING THIS U R O PERHAPS, OR SETTING OUR GOALS IS WHAT I'M HEARING, THAT UNLESS THINGS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT, AND THIS IS ALSO WHAT DALLAS, IT SOUNDS LIKE AND SAN ANTONIO ARE DOING, IS WE REALLY NEED TO PERHAPS REVISE OUR DIVERSION TARGETS IN ORDER TO GET THEM TO A REALISTIC LEVEL.
OTHERWISE, WE'RE JUST GONNA KEEP MISSING OUR TARGETS.
FRUSTRATION, I BELIEVE THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF MUNICIPALITIES THAT ARE SEEING THAT SAME THING.
SO I GUESS WHAT I WOULD LOOK FOR THEN IS SOMEHOW WE NEED TO ASSEMBLE A MORE REALISTIC TARGET HERE THAT MAY HAVE TO DO WITH USING EITHER DIFFERENT METRICS, LIKE, UM, TALKING ABOUT CAPTURE RATE, DISPOSAL RATE RATHER THAN DIVERSION RATE MIGHT BE AN OPTION.
IS, IS THAT CORRECT? AND THAT MIGHT BE MORE ACCURATE YES.
FOR INSTANCE, OR DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ALONG THOSE LINES AS WELL AS WHAT POTENTIAL TARGETS COULD BE PARTICULARLY RELATED TO THE COMMERCIAL VERSUS RESIDENTIAL? UH, I, I DON'T HAVE ANY REAL THOUGHT AS FAR AS THE COMMERCIAL GOALS, BUT I HATE, HATE TO SAY ANY OF 'EM ARE ANY LESS ACCURATE THAN, THAN THE NEXT METHOD.
I MEAN, THERE'S, THERE'S LOTS OF WAYS YOU CAN LOOK AT IT.
AND WE, WE OUTLINE THREE MM-HMM.
IF THAT'S CAPTURE RATE, THAT'S, THAT'S FINE.
IF IT'S DIVERSION, THAT'S FINE.
CAP CAPTURE RATE TO ME IS, YOU KNOW, WOULD BE EXPRESSLY USEFUL IF YOU WERE TRYING TO BUILD A FACILITY THAT COUNTED ON, YOU KNOW, A CERTAIN WATER BOTTLE THAT'S ONLY THIS COLOR.
AND SO YOU WANTED TO KNOW HOW MUCH OF IT, HOW MUCH OF THOSE WATER BOTTLES ARE ACTUALLY OUT THERE, AND HOW MUCH ARE YOU, ARE YOU GETTING MM-HMM.
UH, THAT'S REALLY THE ONLY, ONLY REAL DIFFERENCE.
I, I SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, THE COMMERCIAL'S GONNA BE A TRICK, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY, THEY WANT TO RECYCLE TOO, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE THE SAME, UM, DRIVERS THAT, THAT THE CITY DOES.
AND COMMISSIONER, IF I MAY INTERJECT, UM, GINA MCKINLEY AGAIN, AND NOT TO GIVE AWAY TOO MUCH FOR YOUR NEXT MEETING, WHICH IS NEXT WEDNESDAY.
UM, BUT WE WILL BE PRESENTING THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE.
THAT'S THE UPDATE TO THE 2011 ZERO WASTE PLAN.
AND IN IT YOU'LL SEE A HEAVY EMPHASIS ON DATA.
I KNOW STAFF HAS MET WITH EACH OF YOU TO KIND OF GO OVER THAT.
UM, BUT ONE OF THE BIGGEST AREAS IN ORDER TO, TO MEET THE GOALS IS TO BE ABLE TO MEASURE OUR PROGRESS TOWARD THOSE GOALS.
AND THIS HIGHLIGHTS SOME OF THE CHALLENGES WITH DATA AND ACCESS TO DATA AND, AND WAYS TO MEASURE ZERO WASTE.
WE ARE SEEING A SHIFT IN THE, JUST LIKE WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, UH, DO WE NEED TO MAYBE SUPPLEMENT, NOT DO AWAY WITH OUR 90% DIVERSION GOAL, BUT SUPPLEMENT AND LOOK AT PER CAPITA DISPOSAL, LOOK AT CAPTURE RATE SO THAT WE CAN BE MORE EFFECTIVE AS A COMMUNITY AND REACHING THOSE GOALS.
UM, YOU ALSO MENTIONED THE UNIVERSAL RECYCLING ORDINANCE AND THE U R O, UM, WAS REALLY ESTABLISHED TO SET A MINIMUM STANDARD AND PROVIDE RECYCLING ACCESS AS A MINIMUM FOR THE BUSINESS AND COMM, MULTIFAMILY, AND COMMERCIAL COMMUNITY.
NEXT, ON THE NEXT AGENDA THAT YOU GUYS HAVE, YOU'LL ALSO SEE US COMING FORWARD WITH THE MULTI-FAMILY, AMEND THE AMENDMENT TO THE MULTI-FAMILY REQUIREMENTS, INCREASING ORGANICS DIVERSION, AND THAT'S GOING TO BE A NEW REQUIREMENT SHOULD IT PASS COUNCIL.
UM, AND SO YOU'LL SEE THAT THROUGH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
I HOPE YOU'LL SEE SOME OF THE GREATER EMPHASIS ON DATA COLLECTION AS WELL AS MAKING MODIFICATIONS TO WHAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR.
AND WE'D LIKE TO REMAIN NIMBLE AS A DEPARTMENT, AS A CITY, AS A COMMUNITY.
SO WHEN WE SEE WE'VE IMPLEMENTED SOME THINGS LIKE THE U R O, WE'VE SEEN WHAT BENEFITS WE'VE GAINED FROM THAT, AND WE'VE ALSO SEEN WHAT GAPS WE HAVE AND WHERE WE MIGHT NEED TO MAKE CHANGES, WHETHER THAT BE POLICY, WHETHER THAT BE OUR OPERATIONS AND OUR SER DIRECT SERVICE TO CUSTOMERS.
UM, SO I DON'T WANNA GIVE AWAY TOO MUCH, BUT YOU'LL HEAR A LOT MORE ABOUT THAT NEXT WEEK, UM, WHEN WE PRESENT THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
[00:35:01]
YOU'RE RIGHT TO SAY THE NIMBLENESS IS IMPORTANT AND I, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE SETTING GOALS THAT ARE REASONABLE HERE, RATHER THAN CONTINUE TO CHASE NUMBERS THAT, THAT AREN'T REASONABLE.I THINK THERE WAS A FEW OF US IN HERE WHO WERE PART OF THAT, UH, ACTUAL MASTER PLAN REVIEW PROCESS BACK IN, I THINK IT WAS OH 8, 0 9, AND THEN FINALLY OH 10, AND THE IMPLEMENTATION 11.
I THINK WE, TO YOUR POINT, WE DID GO AFTER AND WE TRIED TO EMULATE SOME OF THE MORE AGGRESSIVE CITIES SUCH AS A SEATTLE, A PORTLAND, FOR EXAMPLE.
AND THE, THE CHALLENGE WE FACED BACK THEN, AND WE ADDRESSED BACK THEN WAS THE FACT THAT THESE PUBLIC POLICY DECISIONS THERE WERE NOT IN PLACE HERE IN TEXAS.
SO IT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT TO, TO, AND, AND FRANKLY NOT FAIR TO START AT A DISADVANTAGE THERE.
YOU HAD TO DO IT OR ELSE THERE WAS CONSEQUENCES.
HERE IT WAS, PLEASE DO IT AND THANK YOU FOR DOING IT.
BIG DIFFERENCE AND, AND OUR MASTER PLAN REVIEW BACK IN THOSE DAYS.
WELL, HERE WE ARE TODAY, AND YOU KNOW, TO YOUR POINT, PERHAPS THIS IS SOMETHING WE NEED TO RECONSIDER AND SEE HOW WE CAN, UH, MORE ACCURATELY ASSESS OUR DIVERSION GOALS AND, UH, AGAIN, JUST, UH, BRING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE INTO THIS EDUCATION.
AS SOMEBODY STATED, IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT COMPONENT TO THIS.
AND, UH, THAT IS STILL ONGOING AND PROBABLY WE WILL CONTINUE FOREVER WITH THIS U R O, BUT, UH, NONETHELESS, THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS.
THANK YOU, UH, MIKE AND MATT FOR THE ATION.
IF YOU DON'T, WE, OH, GO AHEAD.
UM, I'M, I'M STUCK ON SOMETHING ON ONE OF THE VERY EARLY SLIDES.
I THINK IT MIGHT EVEN BE SLIDE THREE, UM, YOUR WASTE GENERATION BY SECTOR.
BY THE WAY, THIS DIDN'T MEAN TO JUST JUMP INTO THE QUESTION WITHOUT ACKNOWLEDGING THE FINE WORK.
UM, SO JUST TO MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS CORRECTLY, THE OTHER 14% THAT IS WASTE GENERATED FROM, SAY, CONTAMINATION OF RECYCLING, SO MATERIAL THAT INITIALLY GOES TO RECYCLING AND THEN ENDS UP IN THE WASTE STREAM, IS THAT RIGHT? UH, NOT EXACTLY, BUT I'LL, I'LL, I'LL START AND MATT, IF I MISS OUT, BUT THIS IS, THIS IS GENERATION THAT WE, WE RECEIVED OR WE, WE WERE ABLE TO GLEAN FROM THOSE DIVERSION PLANS THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS QUESTIONS THAT SAID, ARE YOU DOING CERTAIN THINGS OUTSIDE OF THE TRADITIONAL CURBSIDE COMMERCIAL COLLECTION? AND THERE WAS QUITE A BIT OF RESPONDENTS THAT SAID, YEAH, HEY, WE TAKE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAUL OFF THIS MUCH STUFF OURSELVES, OR WE HAVE ALL OF THIS TYPE OF MATERIAL AND WE TAKE CARE OF IT.
OR WE, WE DON'T USE THIS MANY, YOU KNOW, WE, LAST YEAR WE USED 10,000 PIECES OF PAPER, AND THIS YEAR WE ONLY USED FIVE BECAUSE WE DOUBLE-SIDED.
THAT, THAT'S PROBABLY, THAT NUMBER IS PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT LOOSER THAN THE OTHER ONES.
BUT THERE IS THAT INFORMATION THERE.
UH, AND SINCE REUSE AND REDUCTION IS PART OF YOUR DIVERSION CALCULATION, UH, THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE WE GOT A, A BIG PIECE OF THAT.
UH, MATT, ANYTHING ELSE ON THAT? UH, I, I THINK YOU PRETTY MUCH GOT IT, BUT YEAH, THAT CONSISTS OF THE REDUCTION QUANTITIES THAT WE WERE ABLE TO CALCULATE BASED ON SURVEY RESULTS, BUT THEN THE BIG QUANTITY IS THE AMOUNT, AMOUNT OF RECYCLING THAT, THAT WAS SOUTH HALL OR DISPOSED OF IN A NON-TRADITIONAL WAY, UH, THAT WAS REPORTED THROUGH THOSE A D P AS, THAT WAS THE BIG TICKET ITEM THAT IS, THAT MAKES THAT NUMBER 14%.
THE 14% IS A COMBINATION OF SELF DISPOSAL THAT ENDS UP IN LANDFILL OR SOMETHING SOMEWHERE AND REDUC, UH, REUSE OR REDUCTION.
SO, SO WHEN, THIS IS THE DENOMINATOR, THIS WHOLE PIE CHART IS THE DENOMINATOR OF THE DIVERSION RATE.
PART OF IT IS NOT TECHNICALLY WASTE THAT ENDS UP IN THE LANDFILL.
PART OF IT IS TECHNICALLY THAT REDUCTION IS ALSO PART OF THIS PIE CHART.
MIGHT, IT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE HELPFUL TO GO TO SLIDE FOUR.
I THINK WE HAVE THE CA THE EQUATION.
SO, UH, JUST TO EMPHASIZE YEAH, YEAH.
WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS, IS CORRECT.
SO THAT TO THE, THE, THE DENOMINATOR IS NOT JUST THE DISPOSAL, IT'S THE DISPOSAL AND THE DIVERSION.
BUT THEN WITHIN THAT 14%, IT'S A LITTLE MIX OF THE DIVERSION AND WHATEVER THAT ORPHAN UH, DISPOSAL.
ALL, ALL THREE OF THOSE SLICES WOULD HAVE DIVERSION IN IT, AND IT WOULD HAVE DISPOSAL IN IT, SO, GOT IT.
[00:40:01]
UM, LET ME GIVE YOU THE SLIDE NUMBER ON THE CAPTURE RATE INFORMATION.SO, SO YOU MAKE A POINT OF SAYING, UM, SLIDE 13, THAT THE CAPTURE RATE, THE OVERALL CAPTURE RATE, 68.3%, THE CAPTURE RATE'S CONSISTENT WITH THIS RANGE.
UH, BUT DID YOU SEE LOOKING GEOGRAPHICALLY OR COUNCIL DISTRICT TO COUNCIL DISTRICT, SO THE OVERALL IS CONSISTENT, BUT DID YOU SEE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TRASH, THE RECYCLING, THE ORGANICS GEOGRAPHICALLY IN TERMS OF MAYBE CER SOME, SOME AREAS HAD, UM, BETTER LESS CONTAMINATION OF THE RECYCLING, BUT MORE IN THE TRASH, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING LIKE THAT? WELL, WITH, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF, OF ONE DISTRICT, WE, WELL, WE, ONE DISTRICT WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE ENOUGH DATA TO, TO REALLY CALCULATE A, JUST A, A CAPTURE RATE ON IT.
WE DID IT, BUT WE, WE HIGHLIGHTED IT IN THE REPORT THAT THAT'S, THAT WAS AN ANOMALY BECAUSE WE JUST DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH DATA POINTS IN THERE.
THE OTHER ONES WERE PRETTY CLOSE, AND I DON'T REMEMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT THEY WERE WITHIN FIVE, SIX, 7% OF EACH OTHER.
MATT, DO YOU RECALL, SORRY, IT WAS MUTED.
I, I'M CURIOUS BECAUSE I KNOW OUR COMPOSTING UTILIZATION'S VERY DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICALLY.
AND SO I'M CURIOUS IF THAT MAPPED OUT TO ANY INTERESTING PATTERN THAT YOU, YOU SAW, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE MAYBE, UM, IT DID NOT PLAY OUT IN THE WAY THAT I WOULD HAVE GUESSED.
I, AGAIN, WE BREAKING IT UP BY COUNCIL DISTRICTS WAS KIND OF SOMETHING WE, WE TRIED TO DO AT THE END.
WE WOULD'VE HAD TO HAVE HAD A LOT MORE SAMPLES TO HAVE DONE THAT, UH, STATISTICALLY CORRECTLY.
UM, AND WE JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE TIME OR THE BUDGET TO, TO DO THAT MANY.
SO WE TRIED TO LOOK AT IT AND WHAT WE CAME UP WITH, WELL, THE RANGE WAS 60 TO 73%.
IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN I THOUGHT, BUT THERE WAS ONE THAT WAS, WAS THAT THE ONE THAT WAS REALLY LOW, MATT? NO, UH, DISTRICT NINE HAD A REALLY HIGH, UH, CAPTURE RATE.
SO, UM, YEAH, IS 60 TO 73 A GOOD RANGE? I, I DON'T KNOW.
UM, IT PROBABLY IS, IS TIGHTER THAN THAT, BUT WE JUST DIDN'T HAVE THE DATA TO, TO BE ABLE TO FULLY FLESH THAT OUT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU.
YEAH, JUST IT SEEMS LIKE IT'D BE INTERESTING TO UNDERSTAND PERHAPS THAT 14%, IF IT'S AS DIVERSE AS YOU SAY, IN OTHER WORDS, REDUCE AND REUSE.
LET'S DO MORE OF THAT AND SELF HAUL AND, UH, INCINERATE, UH, NOT SO EXCITING.
SO IF WE, IT SEEMS LIKE IT'D BE USEFUL TO TRACK THOSE SEPARATELY SINCE ONE'S BENEFICIAL AND ONE'S PROBABLY NOT SO BENEFICIAL.
DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT? AND IF SO, IS THERE SOMETHING WE COULD DO ABOUT IT? TRACKING IT? YEAH, I THINK, I THINK IT IS, IT'D BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT YOUR, WHAT YOUR MASTER PLAN'S GONNA COME UP.
THEY, I MEAN, GINA MENTIONED EARLIER THAT IT'S, IT'S HEAVY ON THE DATA RIGHT.
COLLECTION THAT, THAT WOULD PLAY RIGHT INTO THIS.
AND THEN I HAD REMEMBERED ONE OTHER QUESTION, WHICH HAD TO DO EXACTLY WITH WHAT JERRY WAS SAYING ABOUT THE, UM, ABOUT THE, UM, OTHER CITIES THAT WE LOOKED AT AND JUST WANT TO IS, IS WHAT HE SAID, CONSISTENT WITH WHAT YOU DISCOVERED, IF YOU DID ANY RESEARCH INTO WHY SEATTLE AND ANN ARBOR ARE, AND, UH, I DON'T THINK I SAW PORTLAND ON THE LIST, BUT YOU KNOW, WHY THOSE ARE SHINING EXAMPLES PERCENTAGE-WISE IN SOME CASES, UM, IS IT DUE TO INCENTIVES TO THE POPULATION OR, OR DO YOU, DID YOU NOT GATHER THAT DATA? MATT? YOU CAN, YOU CAN JUMP ON THAT, BUT I, I, I DON'T THINK THE, IT'S HARD.
IT WASN'T SOMETHING THAT WE REALLY LOOKED AT, BUT MATT, GO AHEAD.
YEAH, IT'S, IT'S HARD TO PINPOINT EXACTLY WHAT, I THINK IT'S FAIR TO ASSUME THAT SOME PART OF THAT IS THAT, IS THAT THEY HAVE, UH, ORDINANCES LAWS WITH TEETH SAYING THAT IF, IF YOU'RE DOING THIS IMPROPERLY, YOU'RE GOING TO RECEIVE A FINE.
AND SOME OF IT COULD JUST BE CULTURAL AND THEY, THEY DO THESE TYPE OF WASTE SORTS AND CHARACTERIZATIONS ON AN ANNUAL BASIS.
THE, THE TEAM THAT WE USE TO, TO DO THE SORTING, I MEAN, THEY, THEY STAYED JUST ABOUT BUSY FULL-TIME, UM, IN THE WASHINGTON AREA.
[00:45:01]
SO COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? AND, AND PART OF IT IS NOT, NOT COUNTING THINGS THE SAME, UM, A LITTLE, AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT OF IT IS SUCH AS, UH, HAVING A, A LANDSCAPE ORDINANCE, YOU KNOW, IT CAN'T GO IN THE TRASH.IT'S, IT'S GOTTA BE, IT'S GOTTA BE DIVERTED.
AND THAT'S, THAT COULD BE A LARGE PIECE OF IT RIGHT THERE, UM, ITSELF.
BUT YEAH, I THINK WITH MATT IT'S, I I HAVE TO AGREE WITH MATT.
IT'S A LOT OF IT'S, UH, CULTURAL.
AMANDA, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR A COMMENT? OKAY.
ALRIGHT GENTLEMEN, THANK YOU VERY, VERY MUCH FOR THE WONDERFUL PRESENTATION COMMISSIONERS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? MATT? MIKE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
I APPRECIATE THIS AND THANK YOU FOR THE PATIENCE AND, UH, I GUESS TAKING WHAT OVER, UH, TWO, THREE MONTHS TO GET THIS, UH, FOR US TO BE HERE, FOR YOU TO GIVE US THIS.
[3. Review of Director’s Report (CCU update, C&D update, Solicitations Update, Performance Reports, and Statistical Reports, ARR Award) – Richard McHale ]
ON.UH, THE NEXT ITEM IS THE ACTUAL DIRECTOR'S REPORTS.
EVERY TIME, THIS IS LIKE THE THIRD TIME IN A ROW.
I JUST
UH, WE HAVE THE DIRECTOR'S REPORT FOR YOU.
UM, WE HAVE SOME INFORMATION, UH, THAT WE HAD WRITTEN UP ABOUT OUR COMMERCIAL CODE, UH, OUR COMMERCIAL COMPLIANCE UNIT, AN UPDATE ON THAT.
AND ONE THING I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT, UH, FIRST PAGE, THERE WAS A, AN AWARD OUR DEPARTMENT WON THAT WE'RE VERY PROUD OF.
I MEAN, THIS WAS A AWARD THAT WAS, UM, KIND OF LED BY THE CITIZENS.
UM, THIS WAS A CI CITIZEN INITIATED AWARD.
AND, UH, THIS HAD TO DO WITH OUR, UH, RESPONSE TO THE WINTER STORM MARA CLEANUP.
SO WE WERE VERY PROUD OF THAT.
AND, UH, WE JUST WANTED TO BE SURE TO SHARE THAT WITH, UH, YOU ALL AS WELL.
UM, AND JUST, YOU KNOW, BEYOND THAT, OF COURSE, WE HAVE OUR TYPICAL SOLICITATIONS, UH, THAT WE HAVE THAT ARE EITHER IN PROGRESS OR BEING LOOKED AT AND OUR, UH, DATA.
UM, BUT WITH THAT, UNLESS YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I, GREG, GO AHEAD.
UH, BEFORE I WAS ON THIS COMMISSION, I WAS ON THE ANIMAL ADVISORY COMMISSION AND I GOT A REPORT FROM, UM, WILDLIFE, UH, WHAT IS AUSTIN WILDLIFE RESCUE, THAT THERE WERE PIPES ON WHERE THAT THAT EXPEL METHANE ON, AND THEY WEREN'T VERY CLEAR ABOUT WHERE, WHERE, YOU KNOW, THE METHANE IS BURNED OFF OCCASIONALLY MM-HMM.
AND WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IS A HAWK WOULD BE SITTING ON TOP OF THE PIPE AND THE PIPE WOULD BURN IT OFF.
THE HAWK WOULD GET HALF ITS FEATHERS BURNED OFF, AND THEY'D HAVE TO KEEP THE HAWK FOR SIX MONTHS OR MORE UNTIL IT GREW NEW FEATHERS IF IT SURVIVED.
SO JUST OUTTA CURIOSITY, THIS IS A, MAYBE A SILLY THING, BUT MAYBE NOT.
DO WE HAVE IN, IN, IN CITY OWNED, UM, UH, DUMPS, DO WE HAVE THAT KIND OF SYSTEM THAT BURNS OFF THE METHANE? UH, WELL, AT OUR CITY ON LANDFILL, YES.
WE HAVE A, UH, WE HAVE A METHANE SYSTEM THERE, AND WE DO HAVE A FLARE THERE THAT BURNS OFF EXCESS METHANE.
DO YOU EVER, I, I THOUGHT OF THIS WAY BACK WHEN, BUT I DIDN'T KNOW WHO TO TALK TO.
IT SEEMS LIKE IF YOU'RE GONNA BURN IT OFF, YOU COULD HAVE A SOUND BEFORE THE, BEFORE THE FIRE LIT.
WELL, THAT FIRE BURNS CONTINUOUSLY, SO, UH OH.
SO IT'S, OH, IT, WELL THEN IT'S NOT A PROBLEM IF IT BURNS CONTINUOUSLY.
YEAH, I MEAN, THE ONLY TIME WAS WE, IF IT, IT, IT'S POWERED ACTUALLY UNITED BY PROPANE TO GET IT STARTED.
SO IF THE, THE SYSTEM WILL GO DOWN TEMPORARILY, THEN WE GET IT RESTARTED WITH PROPANE UNTIL THAT METHANE CONCENTRATION IS ENOUGH TO CONTINUE BURNING.
AND SO THEN, THEN THE OTHER QUESTION IS, OF COURSE, UH, HOW DO WE GET TO THE POINT WHERE WE DON'T HAVE TO BURN IT AT ALL? WELL, THAT'S THE GOOD THING ABOUT OUR LANDFILL IS, UH, YOU KNOW, METHANE PRODUCTION PEAKS AROUND 15 YEARS AFTER A LANDFILL TAKES ITS LAST TRESS OIL WASTE.
SO THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF OUR GAS IS STEADILY DECREASING TO A POINT WHERE IT'LL COME A POINT WHERE, UH, WE PROBABLY WON'T BE ABLE TO
[00:50:01]
BURN IT BECAUSE OF THE MIXTURE OF METHANE AND OXYGEN SO LOW.UH, YEAH, WE'RE AT ABOUT, YEAH, 23 YEARS.
UH, AT 15 YEARS WAS OUR PEAK WHEN, YOU KNOW, YOUR MAX GAS IS GENERATING AND, AND THAT WAS FROM THE LAST TRASH THAT WAS PUT IN THERE.
THAT'S WHY WE'VE HAD LOOKED INTO PROGRAMS IN THE PAST TO, UH, BE ABLE TO UTILIZE THAT GAS FOR BENEFICIAL USE, BUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAS WAS JUST NOT THERE.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS, GUYS? QUESTIONS? I HAVE A COMMENT OR A QUESTION ABOUT A SEPARATE PART OF THE REPORT.
UM, LOOKING AT THE SOLICITATIONS, UM, I THINK IT'S THE UNDER DEVELOPMENT SECTION ON THE NEXT PAGE, I SAW THAT THE ZERO WASTE EDUCATION, UM, ZERO WASTE YOUTH EDUCATION PROGRAM IS COMING AROUND AGAIN.
IS THAT IN DEVELOPMENT OR IS THAT GONNA BE POSTING SOON? UH, SO THAT PARTICULAR SOLICITATION, UH, I JUST RECEIVED FOR, TO REVIEW.
SO I THINK THAT IS ONE THAT, UH, SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE, UH, PUT ON THE STREETS FAIRLY SOON UNLESS STAFF HAS ANY CONTRARY, UH, POINTS, BUT THAT LOOKS LIKE THAT SHOULD BE OUT ON THE STREETS VERY SOON.
SO THE, THE LAST TIME IT WENT AROUND, I KNOW WE HAD SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT ENSURING THAT THERE WAS GOOD ACCESS TO THE, THE VARIOUS, UM, ZERO WASTE EDUCATION PROGRAMS ACROSS SCHOOL DISTRICTS, DEMOGRAPHICS, INCOME LEVELS, ET CETERA.
UM, AND, AND I THINK SOME OF THAT IS IN THERE.
I DON'T KNOW THAT ENOUGH IS IN THERE.
AND I'M, I'M VERY, I I THINK IT'S WONDERFUL THAT KIBO AND BEAUTIFUL TRACKS THIS, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'RE TRACKING ENOUGH.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, I NOTICED THAT THERE'S A REQUIREMENT FOR SPANISH LANGUAGE TO BE PART OF THE, I THINK THAT'S UNDER THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR MEETING THE, UH, SOLICITATION SCOPE OF WORK, UM, TO BE TRANSLATED IN SPANISH WHEN REQUESTED.
BUT I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING ABOUT OTHER LANGUAGES.
UM, I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ACCESSIBILITY, UM, FOR, UH, DEAF INDIVIDUALS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO FLAG THAT AS WORTH LOOKING AT WITH AN EYE TOWARDS WHICH STUDENTS ARE GONNA BENEFIT MOST FROM THIS.
UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S ENOUGH LANGUAGE IN THERE TO ENCOURAGE THE RESPONDENTS TO REALLY BE, UM, PUSHING THE ENVELOPE ON WHAT THEY NEED TO DO TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF OUR STUDENTS ARE BENEFITING FROM THE ZERO WASTE EDUCATION PROGRAM.
THEY'RE SUCH WONDERFUL PROGRAMS. UM, AND, AND MY CONCERN GETS TO BE THAT CERTAIN SCHOOLS USE THEM OVER AND OVER AND USE THEM REPEATEDLY AND WELL, AND NOT ALL SCHOOLS DO, OR NOT ALL STUDENTS DO, OR NOT ALL PROGRAMS DO.
SO, UM, JUST WANTED TO POINT THAT OUT AND, AND INVITE YOU ALL TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT AGAIN, WITH THAT IN MIND TO SEE IF THERE ARE SPOTS WHERE WITH JUST A FEW LITTLE LANGUAGE TWEAKS, YOU CAN INCREASE THE, UH, INCREASE THE RESPONSE LEVEL, INCREASE WHAT, WHAT THE CONTRACTORS WILL COMMIT TO DOING TO ENSURING THAT THERE'S EQUITABLE ACCESS TO THIS KIND OF RESOURCE FOR ALL OF OUR STUDENTS.
SO YEAH, THANK YOU FOR THOSE COMMENTS.
I, I THINK THOSE ARE ALL GOOD POINTS AND WE, UH, WE'RE NOT DONE WITH IT.
I THINK WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE ANOTHER ROUND OF PROBABLY THIS WEEK AND HAVE SOME FINAL COMMENTS.
AND, UH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR MCKINLEY HAD AUDI JUST MENTIONED TO ME THAT THAT WAS ONE OF HER COMMENTS, SO I THINK YOU AND HER ARE ON THE SAME PAGE.
SO I THINK WE SHOULD BE GOOD AND, UH, I THINK, WE'LL WE CAN, UH, WE CAN MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS IN THAT.
ANOTHER QUESTION, AND I THINK THIS IS PROBABLY THE RIGHT TIME TO ASK YOU, THIS CAME UP A FEW NIGHTS AGO WITH SOMEONE I WAS TALKING TO.
THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT INCLUDES A LOT OF MONEY FOR CITIES AND GOVERNMENTS AND EVERYTHING TO, UH, UH, TO REDUCE THEIR USE OF, UH, DIRTY CARBON FUELS IS THE CITY, THESE NEW ELECTRIC TRUCKS THAT WE'RE GONNA GET ARE, IS THE CITY LOOKING INTO GETTING MONEY FROM THE I R A TO BUY NEW ELECTRIC GARBAGE TRUCKS? UH, SHORT ANSWER IS YES.
UH, THOSE TRUCKS ARE VERY EXPENSIVE AND UH, WE REALLY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO IT WITHOUT THAT ADDITIONAL FUNDING.
I THINK RIGHT NOW THE LAST QUOTE WE GOT FOR AN ELECTRIC TRUCK WAS $750,000.
AND THAT'S, UH, WE DID JUST INSTALL SOME LEVEL TWO CHARGING STATIONS ON OUR PROPERTY, BUT THOSE WOULD BE FOR THE LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES.
SO WE WOULD STILL HAVE TO DO THE INSULATION OF THE DC CHARGERS,
[00:55:01]
WHICH AGAIN, IS VERY EXPENSIVE TO IMPLEMENT, BUT THEY ARE ON A PLAN.WE DO, UH, PLAN ON BUILDING A NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER AND HAVE ALL THAT INFRASTRUCTURE ALREADY INCLUDED IN THAT WHEN WE DO BUILD IT.
BUT, UH, YEAH, WE ARE, UH, WE ARE MOVING THAT WAY.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, THE CITY HAS THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, SO THAT IS, UH, ONE OF OUR GOALS IS TO MEET THE OBJECTIVES THAT ARE SET FOR SET FORTH IN THAT.
AS I'M LOOKING AT THE, UM, THE OPERATIONS NUMBERS HERE, WE'RE SEEING ESTIMATED PERCENT COLLECTED.
WE ARE NOT DOING QUITE AS WELL THIS YEAR AS LAST FISCAL YEAR PERCENTAGE WISE UNTIL YOU LOOK AT THE OVERALL YEAR TO DATE NUMBERS, WHICH LOOK KIND OF OFF THE CHARTS HIGH.
AND PERHAPS THAT'S BEEN EXPLAINED PREVIOUSLY, AND I'M JUST FORGETTING, BUT MAYBE YOU CAN HELP REMIND ME HOW WE GOT TO WHAT LOOKS LIKE WE WERE GETTING CLOSE TO A HUNDRED PERCENT SOMEHOW IN ORDER TO REACH 68 AVERAGE WHEN WE HAD TWO MONTHS IN A ROW.
THE LAST TWO MONTHS WERE LESS THAN 40.
SO ARE YOU, LOOK I MY GLASSES, ARE YOU LOOKING AT THE 68.0% 0.07% THERE? YES, THAT'S RIGHT.
AND, AND THE TWO PREVIOUS NUMBERS, MAY AND JUNE.
YEAH, AND I THINK THAT NUMBER IS A RESULT OF ALL THE MATERIAL THAT WE COLLECTED DURING THE WINTER STORM MARA, UM, THAT REALLY SKEWED THE RESULTS.
THAT'S WHY YOU SEE A VERY HIGH DIVERSION RATE.
SO I MEAN, IF YOU TAKE OUT THAT NUMBER, WHICH WE KIND OF DID TO SEE WHERE WE REALLY WOULD BE, WE'RE STILL ABOUT THE 40%.
SO, UH, IT'S KIND OF ARTIFICIALLY HIGH, BUT FOR THAT REASON, 'CAUSE ALL THAT MATERIAL WILL BE RECYCLED.
I, I FIGURED IT MIGHT BE THAT.
ALRIGHT, THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR THE ONE MORE, ONE MORE COMMENT? MY APOLOGIES.
UM, THANK YOU RICHARD FOR, FOR HIGHLIGHTING THE BEST OF AUSTIN AWARD THERE.
I WANTED TO, UM, EMPHASIZE THAT THIS WAS A CRITICS PICK AWARD.
SO THIS WASN'T JUST LIKE, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THIS BEST OF AUSTIN, IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF CAMPAIGNING BY THE FOLKS WHO ARE NOMINATED AND THEY GET PEOPLE, THIS IS THE BOARD OF THE CHRONICLE, LIKE LOOKING AT WHO STANDS OUT.
SO, UM, I LOVE THE POPULARITY CONTEST ONES TOO.
THOSE ARE REALLY EXCITING AND FUN.
BUT I DO THINK THAT THIS IS A, UM, IT'S, IT'S A REAL LIKE CREDIT TO THE WORK THAT WAS DONE DURING THE STORM BY A R R THAT IT WAS RECOGNIZED, YOU KNOW, BY THE, UH, BOARD OR REPORTERS, EDITORS, WHATEVER OF THE PAPER TO, TO PULL YOU OUT THAT WAY.
SO I'M GLAD YOU INCLUDED IT IN THE REPORT AND CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE.
I WASN'T SURE EXACTLY WHAT I, I WAS TOLD IT WAS THE CITIZENS THAT VOTED, BUT PERHAPS IT WAS THE CRITICS.
I I WASN'T AWARE OF THE DIFFERENCE.
THANK YOU THOUGH, I THINK, YEAH, I THINK YOU ALL GOT THE CRITICS, UH, CHOICE SORT OF CATEGORY, SO VERY, VERY COOL.
THANK YOU AMANDA, AND THANK YOU STAFF.
RICHARD, THANKS FOR THE UPDATE.
ANY OF QUESTIONS? HEARING NO OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, RICHARD.
UH, COMMISSIONERS, LET ME, UH, I GUESS TAKING A LOOK AT THE ACTUAL, UH, AGENDA HERE.
[4. Approve Recommendation to City Council regarding ARR FY24 Proposed Budget Presentation – Victoria Rieger ]
THE NEXT ITEM OF BUSINESS IS THE, UH, IS THE, I'M SORRY, THE PRESENTATION, THE BUDGET PRESENTATION BY VICTORIA RIEGER.AND, UH, LET'S SEE, ITEMS FOUR AND SIX, I, I'M SORRY, FIVE AND SIX.
SINCE WE ARE STILL SEEKING, UH, ACTUAL MEMBERS FOR THE COMMISSION TO FILL SOME OF THE, UH, OPEN SLOTS, I'D LIKE TO DEFER THOSE TWO ITEMS, FIVE AND SIX UNTIL, UH, PERHAPS THE SEPTEMBER GATHERING WHEN WE CAN, UH, AT THAT POINT I THINK WE HAVE TWO OTHER, KATHY SHOULD BE BACK AT THAT POINT, AND AT THAT POINT WE CAN GET, UH, SOME BUSINESS DONE.
ANYWAY, THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS.
CAN EVERYONE HEAR ME OKAY? YEP.
ALL RIGHT, WELL, GOOD EVENING AGAIN, COMMISSIONERS.
MY NAME IS VICTORIA RIEGER AND I'M THE FINANCE DIVISION MANAGER FOR AUSTIN
[01:00:01]
RESOURCE RECOVERY.AND I'M HERE TO PRESENT THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024.
SO THIS PRESENTATION THIS EVENING WILL BEGIN WITH AN OVERVIEW OF THE CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE, FOLLOWED BY OUR CURBSIDE COLLECTION SERVICES, UH, INCLUDING OUR COST OF SERVICE, CUSTOMER COUNT AND CART DISTRIBUTION.
FINALLY, WE'LL REVIEW THE DEPARTMENT'S PROPOSED BUDGET, INCLUDING OUR PROPOSED RATE CHANGES, UH, FOR FISCAL YEAR 2024, OUR PROPOSED FUND SUMMARY AND TOP 10 EXPENSE CATEGORIES AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
OKAY, THE CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE IS ESTABLISHED BY ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE LITTER AND NUISANCE ABATEMENT, STREET CLEANING, HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL, AND THE IMPLE IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE UNIVERSAL RECYCLING ORDINANCE OR U R O.
THE CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE IS BUILT TO ALL RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS IN THE A R R SERVICE AREA, AND THIS INCLUDES APARTMENT COMPLEXES AND OTHER MULTI-FAMILY UNITS.
AS OF JUNE, 2023, A R R A R R CUSTOMERS WHO PLAY PAY THE CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE ARE COMPRISED OF OVER 441,000 RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS AND OVER 24,000 COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
THE DEPARTMENT IS PROPOSING AN INCREASE TO THE RESIDENTIAL CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE OF 15 CENTS PER MONTH TO A TOTAL OF $5 AND IS PROPOSING A DECREASE TO THE COMMERCIAL FEE OF $2 PER MONTH FOR A TOTAL OF 1465 PER MONTH.
BOTH CHA BOTH CHANGES ALIGN THE FEE TO THE COST TO PROVIDE SERVICES FOR EACH CUSTOMER BASE.
ARRS CURBSIDE TRASH COLLECTION SERVICES ARE FUNDED BY TRASH CART FEES.
CART FEES ARE BILLED TO CUSTOMERS WHO RECEIVE WEEKLY TRASH COLLECTION FROM A R R RESIDENTIAL TRASH COLLECTION CUSTOMERS ACCOUNT FOR 99% OR APPROXIMATELY 213,000.
THIS IS AS OF JUNE, 2023 OF OUR CURBSIDE COLLECTION CUSTOMERS, WHILE 1% OR 3036, UH, OUR COMMERCIAL WITH THE FISCAL YEAR 24 BUDGET, A R R HAS RELABELED THE CART SIZES FROM THE PREVIOUS PER GALLON SIZE SIZES, NOMENCLATURE TO SMALL, MEDIUM, LARGE, AND EXTRA LARGE.
UH, AND THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE PERCENT DISTRIBUTION OF RESIDENTIAL CARTS BUILD BY SIZE.
THE BLUE CHART PROVIDES A HISTORY OF THE PERCENT DISTRIBUTION AMONG OUR CART SIZES IN JANUARY OF THE YEARS DISPLAYED THE CART SIZE.
DISTRIBUTION CHANGES ARE VERY SMALL AS YOU CAN SEE ON A YEAR OVER YEAR BASIS, BUT GENERALLY WE'VE SEEN LITTLE MOVEMENT TO SMALLER SIZED CARTS THAN WE SAW IN PRIOR YEARS LISTED ON THOSE ON THE CHART.
WE START, WE ARE STARTING TO SEE AN INCREASE IN THE USAGE OF EXTRA LARGE CARTS AS OPPOSED TO, SHOULD I CONTINUE? OKAY, JUST SCOOT BACK.
SO, UM, SO WE'RE STARTING TO SEE AN INCREASE IN THE USAGE OF THE EXTRA LARGE CART AS OPPOSED TO THE, TO A DECREASE, WHICH WE, UH, WOULD EXPECT TO SEE AS THE PRICE OF THAT CART INCREASES MORE THAN THE SMALLER CARTS.
THE DEPARTMENT IS PROPOSING A 1 CENT PER GALLON INCREASE TO THE SMALL, MEDIUM AND LARGE CART SIZES AND A 4 CENT PER GALLON INCREASE TO THE EXTRA LARGE CART TO ALIGN TO OUR COST OF SERVICE.
UH, THIS IS THE BASE CUSTOMER FEE.
THIS FEES CHARGED TO ALL A R R CURBSIDE CUSTOMERS, INCLUDING RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
AND AS THE CHART INDICATES THE NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL OR, OR CURBSIDE
[01:05:01]
COLLECTION RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS COMPRISES 99%, UH, AND OF OUR CUSTOMER BASE AND 1% OF OUR COMMERCIAL, OUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMER, OUR PROPOSED BUDGET INCREASES THE BASE RATE BY A DOLLAR.CAN YOU ALL STILL HEAR ME? YEAH.
INCREASES THE BASE RATE BY A DOLLAR.
THIS INCREASE WILL HELP US ADDRESS THE DEFICIT CAUSED BY WINTER STORM MARA EXPENSES, AS WELL AS ONGOING COST DRIVERS, WAGE INCREASES, MARKET STUDIES, AND CONTRACTUAL INCREASES.
THESE CHARTS DISPLAY OUR BASE FEE CUSTOMER COUNTS, WHICH REPRESENT CURBSIDE COLLECTION CUSTOMERS.
THE BLUE CHART SHOWS THE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER COUNT INCREASING BY AN AVERAGE OF 1.5% PER YEAR SINCE 2019.
THE MULTI-COLORED CHART AT THE BOTTOM SHOWS A PROJECTED GROWTH IN OUR RESIDENTIAL BASE, CUSTOMER COUNT, AND A SMALL DECLINE IN, UH, THE COMMERCIAL BASE CUSTOMERS.
THE RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER GROWTH ASSUMPTIONS ARE BASED ON PROJECTIONS PROVIDED BY THE CITY'S DEMOGRAPHER, DEMOGRAPHER'S OFFICE SLIDE.
ALL RIGHT, THIS SLIDE PRESENTS THE COST OF SERVICE RESULTS FOR THE BASE CUSTOMER FEE AND THE TRASH COLLECTION FEE, UH, SUPPORTING SERVICES ARE LISTED IN THE CHART.
THE TOTAL ANNUAL COST OF SERVICE FOR BASE SERVICE BASE SERVICES, TOTAL 58.1 MILLION.
SO THAT'S IN THE, IN THE BLUE BAR MID PAGE THERE, WHICH TRANSLATES TO A MONTHLY COST OF 2193.
AFTER OFFSETTING REVENUE, WE EXPECT TO RECEIVE FOR THINGS SUCH AS RECYCLING REVENUE, SERVICE INITIATION FEES, AND INTEREST INCOME.
THE NET MONTHLY COST TO PROVIDE SERVICES SUPPORTED BY THE BASE FEES APPROXIMATELY 2057 FOR TRASH COLLECTION SERVICES, WHICH IS IN, IN YELLOW.
THE TOTAL COST OF SERVICE IS 33.1 MILLION, TRANSLATING INTO A MONTHLY COST OF 1244 AND AFTER OFF APPLYING OFFSETTING REVENUE PRIMARILY FROM EXTRA GARBAGE FEES.
THE NET COST OF PROVIDING CURBSIDE TRASH COLLECTION SERVICES IS 1224.
THE DEPARTMENT'S PROPOSED MAJOR RATE CHANGES FOR FISCAL YEAR 24 INCLUDE AN INCREASE TO ALL OF OUR MAJOR FEES.
THE INCREASE, UH, TO THIS, UH, CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE IS 15 CENTS.
UH, THE INCREASE TO THE BASE FEE, A DOLLAR, AND THE, UM, JUST A NOTABLE INCREASE TO THE LARGE TRASH CART, UH, OF 65 CENTS.
THE INCREASE IN THE BASE FEE IS RELATED TO OVERALL DEPARTMENTAL GROWTH AND COST DRIVERS REQUIRED TO CONTINUE BASE SERVICES.
WHILE THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE RESIDENTIAL RATE CHANGE, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE CHANGE ALSO APPLIES TO OUR COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS.
THIS FUND SUMMARY SNAPSHOT FOR OUR PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 24 SHOWS AVAILABLE FUNDS, IF YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, SHOWS AVAILABLE FUNDS, WHICH IS OUR REVENUE OF 124.7 MILLION, UH, AND PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS OF 126 MILLION.
AS HAS BEEN THE CASE FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
THE DEPARTMENT'S ENDING FUND BALANCE COVERS ANY DEFICIT.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THE INCREASE IN OUR FEES THIS YEAR WILL IMPROVE OUR FINANCIAL POSITION AND ENABLE US TO MOVE TOWARDS A BALANCED BUDGET SLIDE.
OUR PROPOSED REVENUE FISCAL FOR FISCAL YEAR 24 IS 124.7 MILLION.
85.2 MILLION OF THAT COMES FROM OUR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS AND INCLUDES BASE REVENUE AND TRASH CAR REVENUE.
3 MILLION COMES FROM COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS PAYING BASE AND CART FEES, AND THAT'S JUST OVER 2% OF OUR REVENUE STREAM.
31.9 COMES FROM CLEAN COMMUNITY FEES PAID BY BOTH RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL CUSTOMERS, AND THAT REPRESENTS 26% OF ARRS REVENUE, REVENUE STREAM.
THE REMAINING 4% OR 4.6 MILLION OF A'S REVENUE COMES FROM RECYCLING SALES AND OTHER FEES.
[01:10:01]
OKAY, NEXT SLIDE.SO THIS SLIDE PRESENTS OUR, UH, TOP 10 EXPENSE CATEGORIES WITHIN OUR FISCAL YEAR 24 BUDGET.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT 43% OF OUR BUDGET, UH, ALMOST HALF IS SPENT ON PERSONNEL.
UH, THIS LINE ITEM SUPPORTS THE CURRENT 521 F T E, UH, INCLUDING WAGES, OVERTIME, INSURANCE, AND TAXES.
THE NEXT LARGEST CATEGORY INCLUDES VEHICLE MAINTENANCE, WHICH AMOUNTS TO 13.8 MILLION.
CAPITAL SPENDING ON VEHICLE REPLACEMENTS AND EQUIPMENT ROUNDS OUT THE TOP THREE AT 11.7 MILLION OR 9% OF BUDGETED SPENDING.
CITYWIDE ALLOCATION FOR SUPPORT SERVICES.
OUR RECYCLING PROCESSING CON CONTRACTS AND OUR FUEL BUDGET ARE EACH ABOUT 4% OF OUR OVERALL BUDGET.
THE LANDFILL DISPOSAL CONTRACT, WHICH INCLUDES TIPPING FEES FOR TRASH COLLECTION, AND OUR PAYMENT FOR DEBT FINANCED CAPITAL ITEMS EACH COME IN AT ABOUT 3% OF BUDGETED SPENDING.
THE ALLOCATION TO SUPPORT THE CITY'S NETWORK AND SUPPORT OF THE UTILITY BILLING SYSTEM IS ABOUT 2% OF OUR BUDGETED SPENDING.
AND, UM, FINALLY, WE'RE BUDGETING 1.8 MILLION FOR REPLACEMENT CART PURCHASES AS PART OF OUR NORMAL OPERATIONS.
AND THAT ROUNDS OUT THE TOP 10 LARGEST EXPENSE CATEGORIES.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, DEPARTMENTAL CONTRACTUALS, OTHER DEPARTMENTAL CONTRACTUALS AND COMMODITIES ACCOUNTS FOR THAT REMAINING 15%.
ALL RIGHT, UM, OUR FINAL SLIDE TALKS ABOUT OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
OUR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN IS, UH, REPRESENTED BY THREE CATEGORIES OF SPENDING THAT YOU CAN SEE THERE.
VEHICLES AND EQUIPMENT, UH, AS BUDGETED AT 10.7 MILLION.
THERE ARE OUR PURCHASES, UH, HEAVY DUTY AND LIGHT DUTY VEHICLES AND SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT TO SUPPORT CONTINUED OPERATIONS AND MEETING SERVICE DEMANDS, UH, BUILDING AND, AND IMPROVEMENTS.
OUR, UH, K G SS C KENNETH GARDNER SERVICE CENTER AND RE UH, RECYCLE AND REUSE DROP-OFF CENTER WILL BE RETROFITTED WITH NEW SECURITY EQUIPMENT.
AND THAT PROJECT ACTUALLY HAS, UH, TAKEN PLACE.
UH, BUT THERE REMAINS, UH, SOME FINAL, UH, UH, WORK TO BE DONE.
UH, AND THEN LANDFILLS, UM, UH, 870,000 ARE FM EIGHT 12 LANDFILLS NOW OFFICIALLY CLOSED.
UM, BUT WORK CONTINUES TO ENSURE THAT THE LANDFILL WILL NOT SUSTAIN MAJOR FAILURES DUE TO EXTRAORDINARY WEATHER CONDITIONS.
AND WITH THAT, THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
I'D BE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS FROM YOU.
UM, I DO WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE, UH, RENT PAGE IS, UM, SITTING OVER HERE.
HE AND CAROL REYNOLDS, UH, COMPRISE OUR BUDGET TEAM.
THEY'VE WORKED EXTRAORDINARILY HARD, UH, WITH A PRETTY CHALLENGING BUDGET YEAR.
UM, SO I DEFINITELY WANNA THANK THEM FOR ALL THEIR WORK.
ANY QUESTIONS, GREG? SO, UH, WITH THE CART SIZES, UH, WITH JUST, I WAS TRYING TO KEEP TRACK OF THAT IN, IN THE, IN THE BUDGET PROPOSAL HERE, THE SMALL CART.
UM, THIS WAS JUST A TRASH SMALL CART.
COULD YOU GO THROUGH THE SMALL, MEDIUM AND LARGE WHAT THEY WOULD BE IN THE NEW BUDGET? YES.
SO THE SMALL CART, UH, IS INCREASING BY 25 20 5 CENTS PER GALLON.
NO, I'M SORRY, ONE, 1 CENT PER GALLON.
AND IT, IT'S INCREASING 25 CENTS.
SO CURRENT RATE IS 3 85 AND IT'S GOING UP TO FOUR 10 PER MONTH.
UH, THE MEDIUM CART, UH, WHICH IS 32 GALLON, UH, THAT'S CURRENTLY AT FIVE 10, AND THAT'S GOING UP BY 35 CENTS TO 5 45.
THE LARGE CART, AGAIN, GOING UP BY A PENNY, UH, PER GALLON, UH, IS GOING FROM 10 25 TO 10 90.
AND OUR LARGEST CART, UH, IS THE 96 GALLON.
AND THAT ONE IS, UH, GOING UP BY 4 CENTS PER GALLON FROM 30 70 TO 34 55.
[01:15:01]
WELL, THANK YOU.'CAUSE WHEN I TALK TO MY NEIGHBORS, YOU KNOW, I HAVE THE SMALLEST CART AND THAT THE BEST THING I CAN THINK OF TO GET PEOPLE TO USE THE OTHER CARTS BETTER IS SHOW 'EM THAT YOU SAVE MONEY JUST FLAT OUT, RIGHT.
SO I, I SUPPORT ANY KIND, ANY KIND OF PRICING THAT, THAT HELPS WITH THAT.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UH, I, YOU KNOW, I'VE GOT, FIRST OFF, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, VICTORIA.
AGAIN, THIS IS A WONDERFUL, I GUESS IN, IN THE ACTUAL PROJECTIONS HERE, I GUESS IN 2028, WE'RE LOOKING AT AN ADDITIONAL GROWTH OF, UH, YEAH, WHAT IS IT? UH, OH MY GOD, HOW MANY, IS IT ALMOST 20,000 RESIDENTS? IS THAT RIGHT? OF WHICH WE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR, CORRECT.
THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE ANY OF THE, UH, MULTI-FAMILY COMPONENT, CORRECT.
YEAH, I WAS, I WAS AT A, UM, BUILDERS MEETING AND, UH, WHEN I SEE THESE NUMBERS VERSUS WHAT THEY ARE PROJECTING AND RUNNING OUTTA LAND THAT WE CONTROL AS, AS THE CITY OF AUSTIN, MOST OF THE DEVELOPMENT NOW IS GOING OUT TOWARDS, I MEAN, THE BUTTA, THE, THE BASTROP, KYLES, YOU NAME IT, THAT STILL HAS ROOM FOR GROWTH.
I'M CURIOUS HOW WE GOT THOSE PROJECTIONS.
AND ON THAT JUST, UH, ARE YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT THE RESIDENTIAL YEAH.
AND THOSE, AGAIN, THOSE, THOSE PROJECTIONS COME FROM THE CITY DEMOGRAPHER'S OFFICE.
UH, THEY PRESENT TO COUNCIL DATA, UM, ACROSS THE REGION, AND THAT'S WHERE WE OBTAIN THOSE NUMBERS AND, AND THE ACTUAL BUDGET ITSELF.
WHEN, WHEN WE BEGIN THE PROCESS, I MEAN, UH, WE BEGIN THIS PROCESS, WE STARTED X CORRECT.
WE BASE EVERYTHING ON PREVIEW ALL HERE.
I GUESS MY QUESTION IS, WHEN I LOOK AT SOME OF THESE NUMBERS AND, AND, AND THEY'RE WELL DONE.
I'M LOOKING AT, UH, THE PRESENTATION, THE FIRST PRESENTATION WE MAKE THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE ON A HOPE A DREAM.
IS THAT KIND OF WHERE I'M, IS THAT ACCURATE OR YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE FORECAST? YEAH, THE FORECAST, YES.
THAT, THAT IS AGAIN, PRESENTED, UH, EARLY IN THE YEAR, FEBRUARY, MARCH TIMEFRAME.
AND YOU'RE RIGHT, IT, UH, IT IS VERY EARLY IN THE, IN THE FISCAL YEAR.
UM, UH, AND CERTAIN ASSUMPTIONS ARE MADE AT THAT POINT.
UM, BUT GENERALLY THE FORECAST AND THE PROPOSED BUDGET SHOULDN'T VARY TOO TERRIBLY MUCH.
I MEAN, THERE, THERE ARE MM-HMM
UM, BUT YEAH, IT SHOULDN'T VARY TOO TERRIBLY MUCH.
SO WE TRY AND, AND, UH, DO OUR BEST TO FORECAST CORRECT ACCURATE NUMBERS.
BRENT, DO YOU WANNA SAY ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THAT? GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS, BRENT PAGE FINANCIAL MANAGER BUDGET? YEAH, I WOULD ADD THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS BUDGET CYCLE WE HAD, UM, A RATHER UNIQUE SITUATION WITH A NEW, UH, CITY MANAGER COMING IN AND, AND KIND OF CHANGING UP THE GAME IN THE MIDDLE OF, OF FORECAST.
UM, WE DO START WITH A POINT IN TIME, UM, AND WE TRY TO INCLUDE, UH, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING THAT THE DEPARTMENT HAS, WHETHER IT'S ON THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, UM, ANY OF OUR PARTS MOVING FORWARD.
HOWEVER, UM, AS VICTORIA MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, WE GET CHANGES TO CITYWIDE ALLOCATIONS.
WE GET, UM, WE GET INITIAL AMOUNTS RELATED TO, FOR INSTANCE, UM, COMPENSATION, UH, ACROSS THE BOARD, WAGE INCREASES FOR CITY STAFF THAT CAN FLUCTUATE THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
UM, PARTICULARLY THIS YEAR, THEY DID, UM, MORE THAN USUAL.
AND SO SOME OF THESE ITEMS, UM, CONTRIBUTE TO SOME OF THE MORE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES THAT YOU'LL SEE FROM FORECAST TO, UH, OUR BUDGET SUBMISSION.
UM, AS VICTORIA MENTIONED, WE, WE TRY TO HAVE THE BUDGET SUBMISSION BE VERY CLOSE TO WHAT WE HAD FORECAST, UM, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THINGS HAPPEN THAT WE JUST HAVE NO CONTROL OVER.
AND I'M LOOKING AT A COUPLE OF THE ITEMS HERE.
I I LOOK AT THE, UH, ACTUAL SALARIES, WAGES THAT, THAT COMES OUT OF THE, UH, ACTUAL COST OF SERVICE FEES THAT WE ASSESS.
WHEREAS THE, UH, CLEAN COMMUNITY, CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE GOES INTO
[01:20:01]
SUPPORT MECHANISMS SUCH AS, UH, I MEAN ENFORCEMENTS SUCH AS, UH, EDUCATION.AND I LOOK AT THOSE COMPONENTS AND I, AND I, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I'M THINKING BACK TO SOME OF THE CHALLENGES WE FACED.
IS THERE A REMOTE POSSIBILITY TO PERHAPS INCREASE SLIGHTLY THE, UH, CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE TO OFFSET SOME OF THE, UH, CHALLENGES WE'RE FACING WITH, UM, EDUCATION ENFORCEMENT? UH, JUST SOME OF THE, THE PROGRAMS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO IMPLEMENT WITH SOME OF THE, UH, SOLICITATIONS THAT WE HAVE HERE THAT ARE PENDING WITH THIS, UH, SLIGHT INCREASE.
WHEN I SAY SLIGHT INCREASE, I WAS LOOKING AT, UH, AN ADDITIONAL 10 CENTS WOULD GO A LONG WAY IN SUPPORTING THAT.
WOULD THAT BE IMPACTFUL ON THE OVERALL BUDGET? I, I DON'T KNOW THAT, I MEAN, I'M NOT PRIVY TO CITY MANAGEMENT, SO, SO I, I WOULD ADD THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN IT COMES TO THE SERVICES THAT ARE COVERED UNDER THE CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE, UM, WE ARE VERY SPECIFIC IN WHAT WE CAN, UM, ALLOCATE TOWARDS THE CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE.
UM, UH, BASED ON, I THINK IT WAS SLIDE UH, THREE, GAVE A DESCRIPTION OF EVERYTHING THAT COULD BE COVERED UNDER THE CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE, THAT DOES INCLUDE SOME STAFF WAGES THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, HELP THOSE PROGRAMS THAT FALL UNDER THAT, UH, FEE.
UM, AND THAT FEE IN PARTICULAR IS VERY CLOSELY LOOKED AT TO, UM, BY A R R BY CITY LEGAL, BY EVERYBODY TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE FOLLOWING, UM, THE CITY ORDINANCE PROP APPROPRIATELY, AND THAT WE DON'T, UH, RUN AFOUL OF THAT.
UM, THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE, UM, ASKED ABOUT THE FEE, AND SO THAT'S ONE REASON WHY WE CONTINUE TO WORK HAND IN HAND WITH CITY LEGAL TO ENSURE THAT EVERYTHING THAT WE INCLUDE, UH, AS FAR AS SERVICES BEING COVERED UNDER THAT FEE, UM, ARE LEGAL AND, AND ABLE TO BE COVERED.
UM, AS YOU'LL, YOU'LL NOTICE THIS YEAR THERE WAS A SMALL INCREASE TO THE CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE OF 15 CENTS ON THE RESIDENTIAL, UM, AND A FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT DECREASE ON THE COMMERCIAL, UH, THE COMMERCIAL SIDE.
UM, WE, WE HAD SOME PLANS TO UTILIZE SOME OF THOSE FUNDS, UM, AND WE WERE ASKED TO KIND OF WITHHOLD THOSE PLANS FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
AND SO, UM, TO ENSURE THAT WE AREN'T RUNNING A FOUL OF CHARGING MORE THAN THE COST TO PROVIDE SERVICE, WE HAD TO REDUCE OUR COMMERCIAL CLEAN COMMUNITY FEE, UM, IN F Y 24 Y GO AHEAD THEN.
SO THAT, THAT DOESN'T, I'VE STARTING TO SEE PATTERNS OVER THE YEARS HERE FINALLY.
SO
UM, AND YOU KNOW, TO THE POINT ABOUT THE CART FEES, AGAIN, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, WE TEND TO TRY TO MAKE THOSE FEES BE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COST TO PROVIDE SERVICE AGAIN, UM, TO BE FAIR, ET CETERA.
NOW, YOU KNOW, FAR BE FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND POLITICS, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE WE, WE WANT PEOPLE TO FEEL LIKE WE'RE BEING FAIR AND EQUITABLE ABOUT HOW WE'RE CHARGING, RATHER THAN BE, AS MY FIRST INCLINATION WAS TRY TO BE PUNITIVE IN ORDER TO DRIVE CERTAIN TYPES OF BEHAVIOR OR GIVE NUDGES IN CERTAIN DIRECTIONS.
UM, LIKEWISE, THAT'S WHY WE DON'T CURRENTLY DO ENFORCEMENT, UH, OR, UH, TICKETING OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
UM, SO I'M WONDERING, YOU KNOW, DO WE HAVE CHARACTERISTICS TO BEGIN TO MOVE BEHAVIOR IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION? IS, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE, WE DO HAVE ENFORCEMENT FOLKS, RIGHT? AND WE DO HAVE SOME BUDGET FOR THAT, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THAT.
IF WE WERE TO INCREASE OUR ENFORCEMENT AND THEREFORE DRIVE POTENTIALLY, UH, BETTER RATES IN TERMS OF BETTER DIVERSION RATES THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO RECYCLE MORE AND THEREFORE DRIVE OUR RECYCLING REVENUE, WE WOULD ACTUALLY BE BENEFITING THE, THE COMMUNITY AND PERHAPS SHIFTING THE BURDEN OF EXPENSE RATHER THAN FROM THE COMMUN CLEAN, UH, COMMUNITY FEE INTO THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY POTENTIALLY VIOLATING THE POLICIES OF, OF THE, OR THE INTENTION OF THESE, UM, THESE ORDINANCES AND
I'M NOT SURE IF THERE'S A POINT THERE NECESSARILY, BUT JUST WONDERING, INTERESTED IN COMMENTS AND MAYBE I'M JUMPING THE GUN AS TO SOME OF THE SOLUTIONS THAT ARE ON THE TABLE FOR, FOR THE FUTURE.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY, AND, AND AGAIN, SPOIL SPOILER FOR NEXT MEETING AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
AND IN THAT WE DO ADDRESS SOME OF THE ISSUES YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
AS YOU MENTIONED, WE HAVE A VOLUNTARY SYSTEM RIGHT NOW FOR OUR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS.
IT MIGHT BE THAT WE MOVE, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF, OF CARROTS OVER THE YEARS, AND IT MIGHT BE THAT WE NEED TO MOVE TO MANDATORY RECYCLING, UM, AS AN EXAMPLE.
AND SO YOU'LL HEAR SOME OF THAT.
THOSE ARE THINGS THAT ARE LAID OUT IN THE COMPREHENSIVE
[01:25:01]
PLAN BECAUSE I THINK, UH, WE, WE WANT TO BRING THE COMMUNITY ALONG WITH US AND MOVING TOWARDS ZERO WASTE.UM, BUT LIKE, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PROVIDING EVERY OPPORTUNITY WE CAN.
WE CAN, LOOKING AT EQUITY IN TERMS OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND SERVICES, UM, BUT KNOWING THAT EVENTUALLY WE PROBABLY WILL HAVE TO SHIFT TO SOME OF THOSE, UH, MORE STICKS, UM, AND FIGURE OUT WHAT'S THE RIGHT BALANCE OF THAT.
SO I DON'T WANNA GET US TOO FAR AWAY FROM THE BUDGET TALK, BUT, BUT THOSE ARE THINGS THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IN THE FUTURE.
I HONOR, AND IF I, UH, RICHARD MCKELLEN DIRECTOR, IF I COULD ADD TO THAT TOO, THE, SO THE, THE, THE RATE FOR THE 96 GALLON CART IS A MORE PUNITIVE RATE.
SO, AND THAT IS MEANT TO DRIVE FOLKS INTO THE SMALLER CARTS BECAUSE A LOT OF THE MATERIAL IN THAT CART IS RECYCLABLE.
SO WE FOUND IT VERY BENEFICIAL IN THE PAST, BUT IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE SEE, RAISE THAT RATE.
AND I THINK WE'VE HAD A LOT OF FOLKS, UH, MOVE INTO THE AREA THAT CAME FROM OTHER AREAS WHERE NINE SIX GALLON CARTS WERE PREDOMINANT, AND, UH, THEY PROBABLY HAVE A FEW MORE RESOURCES THAN OTHERS.
SO TO THEM, UH, IT'S NOT THAT BIG A DEAL, THAT SMALL RATE INCREASE.
SO, UH, AS WE DO THIS ONE, WE'LL SEE WHAT THE IMPACT IS AND SEE IF WE NEED TO ADJUST THAT IN THE FUTURE.
RICHARD, CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO THE COMMISSION HERE THE ACTUAL, UH, AS WE KINDA CHATTED ABOUT EARLIER, THE, UH, RESERVE FUND RULES THAT WE FALL UNDER? SURE.
SO, UH, A R R HAS FINANCIAL POLICIES HAVE TWO FINANCIAL POLICIES.
ONE IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE FUNDING FOR OUR LANDFILL AND THE CLOSURE ON IT.
OUR OTHER POLICIES THAT WE MAINTAIN A ONE 12TH RESERVE OF OUR, OF OUR OPERATING BUDGET FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.
SO, UH, WE'VE HAD A ONE, UH, 12TH RESERVE.
UM, HISTORICALLY, UH, THE WINTER STORM MARA, UH, REQUIRED US TO DIG INTO THAT RESERVE TO HELP PAY FOR THE SERVICES SO THAT, UH, THAT RESERVE WAS USED UP BY THAT.
UH, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, UH, THE CITY, UH, OVERALL, UH, KNOWING THAT, UH, WE WERE ON TAP TO BE REIMBURSED FROM FEMA, OF COURSE, AT LEAST 75% OF OUR EXPENSES, WHICH WOULD BE ABOUT 15 MILLION, A LITTLE OVER $15 MILLION, UH, TRANSFERRED MONEY FROM THE GENERAL FUND INTO ARRS RESERVE FUND.
SO WE'RE STILL $5 MILLION SHORT SINCE ITS ONLY COVERED 75 MILLION.
UH, THE GENERAL FUND ALSO HAS A RESERVE, THE GENERAL FUND RECENTLY, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED YET, OR, BUT I KNOW THE PLAN IS FOR THEM TO HAVE A TWO MONTH RESERVE, WHICH IS AN INCREASE OF TYPICALLY A ONE MONTH RESERVE.
SO I THINK THAT'S A GENERAL, UH, UH, BEST PRACTICE, UM, FOR CITIES, FOR GENERAL FUNDS.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THEY ARE MOVING TO AT THIS POINT.
SO OTHER DEPARTMENTS ALSO HAVE, UH, DIFFERENT FUNDS.
ALL SYNERGY, I BELIEVE IS A TWO MONTH, UH, RESERVE FUND AS WELL.
UM, SO, UH, IN THIS SITUATION, UH, WE WERE ABLE TO TAP INTO GENERAL FUND MONEY.
SO THEY, WE WERE, WE HAVE BEEN REIMBURSED, WHICH, UH, TO THE POINT THAT WE WOULD'VE EVER BEEN THROUGH FEMA.
AND ONCE FEMA, UH, CUTS THEIR CHECKS, THAT MONEY WILL GO TO THE GENERAL FUND.
YEAH, THE REASON I ASKED IS BASICALLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ACTUAL BUDGET TODAY, IT'S IN THE RED.
AND SOME OF YOU ASKED ME WHY EARLIER, AND, UH, THE EXPLANATION IS SUCH THAT WE WILL BUILD THIS RESERVE UP.
I THINK THE, THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER IS, UH, COMMITTED TO AT LEAST BUILDING THAT UP AT A MONTH.
COULDN'T GET HIM TO GO TOO, BUT, UH, HE WAS COMMITTED TO AT LEAST BUILDING THIS BACK UP TO ONE MONTH RESERVE.
RICHARD, VICTORIA, BRENT, THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE, UH, PRESENTATION.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE PRESENTATION HERE? WE NO OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU GUYS.
THERE IS A, UH, THERE'S A RE OH, SORRY.
THERE'S A RESOLUTION THAT, UH, FOLLOWED THE, THE, IT'S ON THE AGENDA, OR I'M SORRY, THAT'S PART OF THE, UH, PRESENTATION.
AND IT'S A, IT'S A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING STAFF IN THEIR, THEIR ENDEAVORS TO, TO REACH, TO REACH, UH, MASTER PLAN GOALS, TO FIND FUNDING FOR, FOR SALARIES TO, TO KEEP, BASICALLY JUST KEEP OPERATING EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY AS THEY HAVE IN THE PAST.
AND I'D LOOK AT THIS, UH, THIS, UH, RESOLUTION AS SOMETHING THAT, UH, IT'S, IT'S A REPEAT OF SOMETHING WE, WE REVIEWED BACK IN, UH, WAS THAT MARCH? IS THAT IT? BACK IN MARCH WITH SOME MINOR RENT OF, UH,
[01:30:01]
REVISIONS TO IT.BUT HAVING SAID THAT, IT'S SOMETHING THAT I WOULD HOPE THAT WE WOULD CONSIDER THIS EVENING WITH AN ACTION ITEM, AND THEN TAKE THIS AS COMMISSION MEMBERS TO YOUR RESPECTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND LET THEM, LET THEM TAKE A LOOK AT THIS.
I MEAN, THIS IS A, I MEAN, WE ARE AN ENTERPRISE FUND, ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENT, I SHOULD SAY.
AND IT'S IMPORTANT THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE OPERATING EXPENSES AND EMERGENCY EXPENSES IN PLACE IN THE FUTURE.
AND I THINK THAT, UH, STAFF HAS DONE A HECK OF A JOB WITH THREE HISTORIC EVENTS PANDEMIC, TWO FREEZES.
THESE ARE, AND THESE DON'T COME, COME ALONG, COME AROUND ALL THE TIME.
WILL WE HAVE ANOTHER WEATHER EVENT? OH, ABSOLUTELY, WE WILL, WHEN, WHO KNOWS? BUT IT WILL HAPPEN.
AND AS LONG AS WE'RE PREPARED FOR IT, I THINK THIS IS, UH, WHAT WE ALL NEED TO BE WORKING TOWARDS.
SO, HAVING SAID THAT, THERE IS A RESOLUTION OUT THERE AND, YOU KNOW, I'LL ENTERTAIN, UH, EITHER A DEFERRAL OF IT OR A, OR A ACTION MOTION, UH, I MOVE TO ACCEPT THIS RESOLUTION.
DO I HEAR, WELL, DID YOU WANT TO MAKE THE CHANGES WE DISCUSSED EARLIER? YOU, I, I SECOND.
UM, JERRY, ARE YOU LOOKING FOR CO-SPONSORS AS WELL? UH, ABSOLUTELY.
I MEAN, THE MORE OF US, THE MORE OF US THAT CAN TAKE A DOCUMENT INTO OUR RESPECTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND SHOW THAT THIS WAS A SUPPORTIVE ITEM THAT WE ASK BE CONSIDERED IN RETURN FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, GIVEN THE SUPPORT THE, UH, DEPARTMENT NEEDS TO, TO CONDUCT DAILY BUSINESS.
SO, YOU KNOW, HAVING SAID THAT, ABSOLUTELY.
I MEAN, I, I WOULD LOVE TO PUT AMANDA MACINO NEXT TO IT.
IT, IT IS ENTIRELY UP TO YOU, BUT I'M ABSOLUTELY WILLING.
UM, SO I, I WOULD SECOND AND ABSOLUTELY WILLING TO, UH, CO-SPONSOR.
I THINK MELISSA HAD, UH, A CHANGE OR TWO ON THERE.
UM, WE RECEIVED SOME FEEDBACK EARLIER AND, AND THE A 1, 2, 3, 4, THE FIFTH, WHEREAS WHERE IT SAYS IN NEED OF A TRANSFER STATION RECYCLING HOUSEHOLD, HAZARDOUS WASTE AND DISPOSAL OPTION, UH, WE TALKED ABOUT CHANGING THAT TO A TRANSFER STATION FOR RECYCLING, HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE AND MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE INSTEAD OF DISPOSAL OPTION, HAVING IT SAY MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE.
AND THEN ON THE SEVENTH, WHEREAS JUST CHANGING, UH, AND PROVIDE MUCH NEEDED DISPOSAL TO MUCH NEEDED SOLID WASTE RECYCLING AND HAZARDOUS WASTE.
THERE ARE SOME MINOR CHANGES TO THE, UH, PROPOSAL, AMANDA.
HOPEFULLY THOSE ARE ACCEPTABLE.
UH, I, I WOULD ALSO CO-SPONSOR THIS TOO, IF YOU WANNA PUT ANOTHER NAME ON THERE.
AND, AND I WOULD MOVE THAT WE, UH, ACCEPT THIS, UH, I MOVE THAT WE ACCEPT THIS WITH THE CHANGES MADE.
ALRIGHT, ANY OTHER CHANGES? ANY OTHER COMMENTS? I, MY ONLY QUESTION WOULD BE, SO WE TALK ABOUT A THREE MONTH RESERVE COST OF OPERATION RESERVE, UM, AS I WERE TO TALK TO MY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE, WOULD, UM, YEAH, HOW IS THERE A PRECEDENT FOR A THREE MONTH VERSUS TWO MONTH, AND WHAT'S THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THAT SPECIFIC NUMBER? GOOD POINT.
I MEAN, IT'S, WHEN YOU THINK OF PRIVATE SECTOR BUSINESS, YOU OPERATE ON AT LEAST A 90 DAY RESERVE.
THIS IS NOT THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
WE ARE A, A MUNICIPALLY OWNED OR OPERATED THE FACILITY.
SO, HAVING SAID THAT, I THINK THE, AS RICHARD EXPLAINED, THE, UH, RESERVE REQUIREMENT IS ONE MONTH BY CITY ORDINANCE.
SO THIS COULD ALSO BE ADJUSTED TO ONE, AT LEAST A CONSISTENT ONE MONTH.
[01:35:05]
YEAH, BUT I'M, I'M GOOD TO CO-SPONSOR.UM, YEAH, I GUESS I WOULD ENTERTAIN ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION ABOUT THE, THE NUMBER OF MONTHS, UH, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IS CONSISTENT AND REASONABLE GIVEN, UH, WHAT WE'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH IN THE PAST AND WHAT WE EXPECT FOR THE FUTURE.
YOU KNOW, HISTORICALLY SPEAKING, INTERIM DIRECTOR MHA CAN, CAN EXPLAIN BACK IN THE, UH, BACK IN THE DAYS, WE PROBABLY HAD, UH, WHAT WAS IT, RICHARD, OF OVER A THREE MONTH RESERVE, WHICH WE HAD TO WHITTLE DOWN BECAUSE IT WAS NOT IN, IT WAS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH OUR CITY GOAL.
HAVING SAID THAT, WE WENT A LITTLE TOO FAR.
I MEAN, NOT ANYBODY'S FAULT, IT WAS JUST THE STORMS, THE UN UN UNFORESEEN EVENTS THAT OCCURRED.
SO I HAVE NO PROBLEM AT ALL BEING CONSISTENT WITH THE CURRENT POLICY, WHICH IS 30 DAYS RESERVE.
SO IS THAT, UH, COMMISSIONERS? WE HAVE A MOTION, WE HAVE A AMENDED, UH, SOME AMENDMENTS BY MELISSA AND BY I GUESS JAN AND INCLUDING THOSE, UH, THOSE CHANGES.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR RAISE YOUR HAND.
THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS FOR, UH, THE SUPPORT, SUPPORT OF STAFF AND, UH, I MEAN LITERALLY THE COMMUNITY HERE.
AND I, AGAIN, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO DO A COUPLE OF THINGS.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, THE, THIS GOES NOWHERE UNLESS YOU PRESENT THIS TO YOUR RESPECTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR THEIR SUPPORT ALSO.
AND I ASK YOU TO PLEASE, UH, PLEASE DO THAT.
AND ALSO, I THINK, RICHARD, YOU WANTED TO, YOU AND I HAD A DISCUSSION ABOUT THE NECESSITY, THE NECESSITY TO FILL THESE VACANCIES HERE, AND THEN HOW LITERALLY THERE'S 40% OF THE COMMUNITY THAT IS NOT REPRESENTED AT THIS MEETING OR THE LAST FEW MEETINGS BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE HERE.
I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO PLEASE CONTACT THE, UH, CITY CLERK'S OFFICE TO ASK WHERE THIS IS.
I KNOW WE HAVE AMANDA, I MEAN, I'M SORRY, AMANDA.
WE HAVE KATHY ON THE WAY BACK, WHICH, UH, AGAIN, HAS TAKEN JUST A, A, AN IMMENSE TIME SLOT TO, TO GET HER BACK HERE.
BUT NONETHELESS, I ENCOURAGE YOU GUYS TO GET OUT THERE AND, UH, TO MAKE, MAKE THIS, UH, A FULL COMMISSION AGAIN.
I MEAN, THERE'S NOBODY IN THIS WORLD WHO WANTS TO SHOW UP HERE AND NOT HAVE A QUORUM TO CONDUCT BUSINESS.
STEPH DOESN'T WANT TO BE HERE.
THEY CAN BE SOMEPLACE ELSE DOING SOMETHING ELSE WITH FAMILY, YOU GUYS, ALL OF US.
WE NEED A QUORUM, CONSISTENTLY.
WE NEED TO FIND, UH, THE BODIES WHO WANT TO BE HERE ON A CONSISTENT BASIS.
AND PLEASE REACH OUT TO, UH, THE, UH, CITY CLERK'S OFFICE TO ENCOURAGE 'EM TO FILL, TO HELP THEIR OPEN SEATS GET FILLED.
ANYWAY, MY 2 CENTS GUYS, I THINK WE'RE AT THE END OF THE MEETING HERE.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. WE DO HAVE A MEETING NEXT WEDNESDAY, AND I BELIEVE THIS MEETING NEXT WEDNESDAY IS DOWN AT CITY HALL.SO, UH, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I THINK, UH, WE HAVE YOUR PRESENTATION.
SO GINA'S PRESENTATION ON THERE.
I GUESS THE BUDGET AGAIN, WOULD BE BACK UP.
I MEAN, THERE'S GONNA BE SOME ADDITIONAL COMMENTS OR NOT.
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE'RE GETTING EVERYTHING TO PRESENT.
I MEAN, WE PRESENTED, THE BUDGET HAS ALREADY BEEN PRESENTED TO COUNCIL.
SO FOR AS FAR AS WE'RE CONCERNED, WE'RE, WE'RE DONE UNLESS WE GET DIRECTION FROM C M O TO MAKE SOME CHANGES.
SO RIGHT NOW, WE'LL, WE'LL MULTIFAMILY IT.
HOW TIME FLIES, HUH? OH MY GOD.
ANYWAY, COMMISSIONERS, UH, STARTING WITH THOSE TWO ITEMS, UH, I'LL, I'LL, UH, ENTERTAIN A MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT.
I SECOND, I'LL SECOND MELISSA.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE, JUDGE.