Recycling and Resource Conservation Advisory Board Meeting

Minutes

December 8, 2004

Meeting called to order at 4:35 PM

Present: Jeff Severin, Dickie Heckler, Laura Rout, Heather Muth, Cindy Strecker, Steve Hughes, Chris Cobb, Lew Phillips

Absent: Kevin Dobb, Shannon Criss

Staff: Mollie Mangerich

Guest: Bob Yoos

November Minutes approved with one correction—add Steve Hughes to the "present" list.

Jeff Severin, new member, introduced himself. Jeff oversees the recycling programs at KU, and works on environmental stewardship issues. Welcome, Jeff! Re-appointed RRCAB members are acknowledged by M. Mangerich.

Discussion of Curbside Recycling Report:

Laura passes out the draft memo discussed by Board members via email and explains the context of her concerns: the RRCAB was not included or consulted in the process which resulted in policy statements recently issued regarding the viability and desirability of curbside recycling in Lawrence.

Laura explained that at the last meeting, the idea of sending a memo to staff was agreed to by Board members.  It was felt that such a memo could alert the City Commission and staff to our concerns.  She noted that Chris Cobb and Cindy Strecker had made suggested changes to the memo, which have been incorporated into the final drafts distributed.

Bob Yoos attended the RRCAB meeting at Mollie’s invitation.  Bob came to discuss the recent recycling report, which was submitted to the City Commission.  In reference to concerns raised at the last meeting about the process which preceded that report, Bob explained that to the best of his knowledge, he had never submitted a staff report to an advisory board, for review, prior to it being sent to the requesting party. In this case, that was Mike Wildgen.  Bob shared an email with the group, from Mike Wildgen, which requested that the report be written and forwarded to the City Manager.  In Bob’s opinion, the RRCAB’s role is to respond to the report if there are questions or concerns, not to review or vet the report in draft form.

STAFF NOTE: The following notes are not actual transcriptions, but are paraphrased by the Recording Secretary.

Lew Phillips: notes that if advisory boards throughout city government were to review staff reports prior to their being submitted to the commission, it would greatly impair the efficiency of the government.  Lew Phillips feels that the Franklin Associates data (from 1996) which was the foundation of the report remains an excellent source of information.

Cindy Strecker: The Lawrence Journal World did an article on the report before the Board has seen it. Perhaps there is a way for us to be aware of these reports before they are released to the general public.

Bob Yoos: Mike Wildgen told Bob Yoos to get him the report very quickly. Mike Rundle was the initial requestor—he directed Mike Wildgen to get a report to him.

Laura Routh:  My primary concern is not with the content so much as the process.  I have had several neighbors ask me about the LJW article and the report, and express to me that they felt it presented recycling in a very bad light.  The public perception is that the City of Lawrence has no interest in recycling—that’s the way the article read. I  am also concerned that the Franklin Associates data is outdated (it was published in 1996) and those data do not address the specifics of the current demographics, logistical realities and priorities of the city of Lawrence.  While the report’s criticisms of curbside recycling may be valid, only incomplete information is given.  The analysis given considers collection costs, yet it does not really consider larger environmental or community benefits.  And costs differ greatly between communities, depending on the local geography, geology, economy, demographics, institutional arrangements and other factors.  Franklin’s report does not reflect, necessarily, the current state of affairs in our community.

Bob Yoos: The Franklin data is not outdated; they did projections far into the future; these were used as the basis of the analysis in the report.  Old corrugated containers generation has definitely gone up.  One concern is that if the City implemented curbside, it might force the closure of the WALMART recycling center.

Heather Muth:  Agrees that the public perception is negative, and the report did not help that.

Mollie Mangerich:  WRR staff is tasked to educate the public about recycling.

Heather Muth:  That may be, but the perception remains: recycling isn’t worth it.

Dickie Heckler:  I appreciate Lew Phillip’s concerns that we don’t want to offend staff, but perhaps in the future, we could be in the loop and get a glimpse of these reports before they go out to the public.

Steve Hughes:  Perhaps Mike Rundle should have addressed his request to Staff and The RRCAB.

Mollie Mangerich: There is a chain of command that needs to be followed to be sure that everyone is in the loop.  The process does not allow for Board Review of staff reports prior to their submission.  It works best if communications go through the chain of command and comments from the RRCAB go to commissioners via the city manager.

Laura Routh:  Perhaps the way to approach this is to address recycling next year, and as part of our pending goals setting discussion.  We have a mandate to keep an eye on, and promote, recycling.  To ignore this issue in the coming year would be a failure on our part to represent the concerns of citizens; that is part of our mission.  I am willing to rescind the draft memo if it is the will of the Board.

SUGGESTED REQUEST: In the future, can we ask that Mike Wildgen et. al. informs the RRCAB in advance of releasing such a report to the press or the public?

Energy Conservation Memo:

Mollie Mangerich presented draft timeline to accompany the memo; the Board agrees it look good.

Lew Phillips:  It might be helpful to have a school district rep come and present info about their energy conservation measures.  ohn Geist is the energy manager for the USD.  Also, perhaps we can learn about KU’s efforts.

Cindy Strecker addresses the issue as she is the energy manager for KU.   She explained their contractual relationship with CMS Viron, which is an 18 million-dollar contract for services, which guarantees KU a savings in energy costs overtime as a result of auditing and conservation measures performed by the consultant.  Cindy believes that more needs to be done in the design phase to address long-term energy costs.  The existing requirement for energy impact statements could be used more effectively.  Some newer buildings on campus are more energy-intensive than existing buildings.

Motion made by Laura Routh to have Mollie send the memo and timeline on the city commissioners.  Motion seconded by Dickie Heckler.

Nominations for officers

Dickie nominates Cindy Strecker to be the new chair.  Cindy accepts.  Unanimous approval.

Laura nominates Steve Hughes as vice chair.  Steve accepts.  Unanimous approval.

Heather re-nominated Laura Routh as recording secretary.  Laura accepts.  Unanimous approval.

The Board presents Lew Phillips with a THANK YOU card for his many years of service and dedication to the RRCAB and wishes him well, as his final term as a board member has expired.

Mollie shares WRR staff activities for the month.

RRCAB members agree that discussion of goals for 2005 will be discussed via email in anticipation of a vote at the January meeting.

Meeting adjourned 6:25 PM.