1. Call to Order
8:10 p.m.
2. Roll
Directors Amoroso, Bertsch, Siedman present.
Directors Kayfetz, McClellan absent.
Director Amoroso presiding.
3. Measure G
Shall Bolinas Community Public Utility District take over solid waste collection services, acquire equipment, and provide residential and commercial garbage collection and recycling services effective on or after January 1, 2002. The 2002 cost for weekly curbside pickup would not exceed the current hauler’s 2001 charges.
Director Amoroso opened the meeting with an outline of the circumstances leading to putting Measure G on the November 2000 ballot.
Shoreline Disposal has been the garbage collection service provider for Bolinas for the last twenty years. In 1998 Waste Management bought Shoreline. At the same time West Marin Landfill, in which Shoreline had a 20% interest, sued Shoreline for a share in the costs of closing its dump and Shoreline filed a cross-complaint against BCPUD, Stinson Beach Water District and Marin County. This lawsuit has cost the District $30,000 so far to defend and will probably cost at least another $10,000. By the beginning of 1999 BCPUD was involved in a lawsuit, Shoreline had refused to negotiate any kind of refund to District customers for earlier excess charges (the County received $244,000), and customer relations had been compromised by the arbitrary removal of the recycling dumpsters at the school (contrary to agreement in the franchise contract), and the change, without notice, of the holiday trash pickup schedule.
Spearheaded by Amoroso the Board began researching other options for January 2002, the end of the renegotiated two-year contract with Shoreline. Contact with Tamalpais Community Services District, which operates its own collection service, led to the hiring of solid waste consultant Paul Rottenberg to research alternatives. Preliminary results suggest that it would be possible to offer an in-house service, which could offer more options to the customer than at present, for the same or less cost as Waste Management. To date BCPUD has invested less than $4,000 in consultant’s fees. The response to the ballot measure, in Amoroso’s view, will indicate whether there is community support for spending another $15,000 to further refine and research the propositions under consideration, and/or investigate more alternatives.
One option that has been researched is to build a transfer station near the sewer ponds where a light truck could transfer the trash into a compactor, which would periodically be hauled by a contractor to a landfill of choice. Using a small truck would lessen the impact on roads and avoid special driving regulations. Another option is to use a larger truck and haul directly to a landfill, which involves more complex license and vehicle regulations. Amoroso suggested that combining Resource Recovery and Downtown Cleanup operations with a trash collection service might create a large enough business for a full time employee.
Paul Rottenberg answered various questions from the audience about costs, equipment, administration, backup, and personnel issues.
Director Bertsch stated that although she doesn’t like dealing with Waste Management and has supported the research to date, she does not support pursuing the matter any further without clear direction from the advisory poll. She thinks the difficulties of administering the program have not been fully acknowledged.
Director Siedman concurred. In his view problems with the management of Waste Management should not cloud the fact that the service is good.
Amoroso noted, in their absence, that Directors Kayfetz and McClellan both supported the measure.
4. Community Expression
Cela O’Connor noted that the Ad Hoc Park Committee has identified some items of information that have not been supplied to BCPUD by the National Park Service and the Citizens Advisory Commission, and reported that the committee has written to the Bolinas Fire Protection District requesting comment on the Wilkins Ranch proposal.
5. Adjournment
9:25 p.m.