CR 94-115 Auth Bids Refuse Conainers
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June 17, 1994 Council Report: 94-115
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AUTHORIZE BIDS FOR PURCHASE OF
REFUSE CONTAINERS
Proposed Action.
Staff recommends adoption of the following motion: "Move to authorize
staff to solicit bids for purchasinq refuse containers in order to
comply with state mandated volume based requirements."
Overview.
In 1993 the Waste Management Act required municipal refuse collectors
to charge by weight or volume of material collected. It was also
required that the cost for waste disposed of, must increase as the
weight or volume increases and that all costs associated with waste
disposal were made visible to the generator. In order to comply with
this legislation, staff has been working on setting variable refuse
rates (Council report no. 94-59), purchasing compatible refuse
equipment (Council report no. 93-150) and developing container
specifications.
tit Primary Issues to Consider
o What exactly does the WMA require?
o What are the penalties if we choose not to comply with the Waste
Management Act requirements?
o What impact will volume based pricing have on residents?
o How many containers will be ordered and at what cost?
Supportinq Information
o Detailed Background
o Analysis of Issues
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Lee Gusta'fsbn, blic Works Director
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Council Report 94-115
Page 2
4It Analysis of Issues
o What exactly does the WMA require?
The area of solid waste management has been changing on a yearly
basis ever since the Waste Management Act (WMA) was enacted in
1980. The waste management goal of the state outlined in this
act is to foster an integrated waste management system in a
manner appropriate to the characteristics of the waste stream.
The number one goal of the state in solid waste management is to
reduce the amount of waste generated. As incentive to encourage
this goal the state has mandated that waste haulers collect solid
waste fees based on the volume or weight of waste collected.
This provision was originally effective January 1, 1994 however
cites were offered a postponement until January 1, 1995. It now
appears that 1994 changes to the WMA do give us new alternatives.
Those alternatives would allow us to keep using the 90 gallon
containers provided we do the following:
o offer 3 price categories: 30 (small qty generator), 1-90, 2-
90
o collect more categories of recyclable materials than
required by the state as listed in section 115A.552
o have at least a 70% recycling participation rate
o Hennepin County must exceed state recycling goals
. 0 Waste generated in Hopkins must not increase from its 1993
generation rate, in proportion to the total amount of waste
generated in the Hennepin County
o What are the penalties if we choose not to comply with the Waste
Management Act requirements?
The 1993 Waste Management Act required cities that collect refuse
to establish volume based pricing structures. In 1994 however,
this provision was amended to allow cities to ???? continue as
they currently are, providing they continue to meet county and
state mandated recycling goals, and that recycling tonnages
collected do not decrease from their current rate.
Originally non-compliance to this section could have resulted in
a penalty of up to $10,000. However, with the 1994 amendments
those penalties would now only result if recycling tonnages
decreased.
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council Report 94-115
Page 3
. 0 What impact will volume based pricing have on residents?
Staff has already received approval from Council to establish the
rate structure for a volume based pricing system. A mailing was
then sent out to all residents requesting them to choose what
size container they desired. We received approximately 1000
responses from residents desiring a smaller container. Because
of this response (1000 out of a total 2780) we feel the current
90 gallon container is larger than a significant number of
residents need. Not moving towards this volume based system
after presenting it to residents would most likely upset the 1000
residents wishing to reduce their refuse collection costs. Other
residents not requesting a change would not be affected.
0 How many containers will be ordered and at what cost?
Out of the 1000 responses from residents desiring smaller
containers; approximately 500 selected a 60 gallon container, and
approximately 400 selected a 30 gallon container. These would be
the quantities we would order along with 50 - 90 gallon
containers to be used as replacements for the 90 gallon
containers we currently use that are no longer manufactured.
Estimates for the containers average around $40-45 per container
for a total of approximately $38,000-42,750.
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