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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/25/2008 Urban Affairs Advisory Minutes 8-25-2008 Page 1 of 6 URBAN AFFAIRS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2008 1 CALL TO ORDER The meeting of the Urban Affairs Committee was called to order at 7 00 p.m. by Chair Shirley Doering. Members Present: Barry Berg, Sandy Breuer, Robin Curran, Shirley Doenng, Sharon Schwartz Pam Sohlberg, and Earl Wilson. Members Absent: None. Staff Present: Kathy Bodmer, Associate City Planner; Margaret Dykes, Associate City Planner; Todd Blomstrom, Public Works Director; Mike Glewwe, Street Supervisor; Susan Bast, Dakota Valley Recycling; and Bruce Nordquist, Community Development Director Guests present: Eric Dahlager, Waste Management; and Victoria Nelson, Resident. 2 APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION Sharon Schwartz moved, seconded by Barry Berg, to approve the agenda. The motion carried 7-0 3 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2006 Barry Berg stated he would like the minutes to reflect his concern that without adequate enforcement additional regulations enacted by City holds the City to ridicule and more violations. Other members stated they thought the minutes reflected his concerns. MOTION Barry Berg moved, seconded by Sandy Breuer, to approve the minutes. The motion carried 7-0 4 DISCUSSION ITEMS A. STORM DEBRIS COLLECTION POLICY Todd Blomstrom presented information related to the Crty's current storm debris policy The Crty's existing policy is to remove and clean tree debris from trees growing wrthm the right-of--way of public streets, and debris that falls into the public right-of--way regardless of original tree location. Property owners are typically expected to provide for the care, maintenance and removal of trees and tree debris located on private property There are two ordinance sections that pertain to tree removal Section 152 42 regarding the maintenance and removal of trees, and Section 96 06 regarding obstructions and excavations in public right-of--way or property On July 10, 2008, the City experienced a storm that damaged numerous trees throughout the City There was a regularly scheduled City Council meeting that night. Because a full damage assessment, which is done by City staff, was not able to be done by that evening's meeting, the City Council opted to follow http.//www ci.apple-valley.mn.us/Minutes/urban affairs/2008/08-25-08.htm1 4/28/2009 Urban Affairs Advisory Minutes 8-25-2008 Page 2 of 6 the existing procedure. Soon after the storm, some property owners began placing tree debris from private property into public right-of--way Whether this was done because they expected the City to remove the debris, or whether they thought their regular haulers would remove it is unclear Some property owners also placed debris in the nght-of--way that was clearly not created from the July 10th storm. Irrespective of the motives of property owners, the debris placement resulted in hazards for users of the public streets and sidewalks, and became potential drainage obstructions. On July 16th, the City Council held an emergency meeting to deal with the growing number of hazards. The Council was also concerned because of heavy rain forecasted for the area. The Council determined that it was in the public interest to collect storm debris placed within. the public right-of--way, regardless of where it originated. The Public Works Department began a debns-clearing operation immediately To date, the City has spent about $25,000 on clean up, not including any labor The City had done a similar storm clean up in 1998, when there were over 680 trees in the public nght- of-way damaged. At that time, the City made an exception to the typical procedure of only picking up trees in the boulevard because of the extreme damage in some neighborhoods. The clean up costs totaled $470,000, and the Crty received partial FEMA reimbursement. Todd Blomstrom stated that it is very difficult for any city to have a clear storm clean up policy There are several challenges to developing such a policy, including: "Damage assessment takes time, but a community response must often begin immediately "Damage maybe isolated to specific geographical areas. " Communicating the policy to residents. "Delayed or suspended operation and maintenance duties. " Resource requirements and costs. " Dump site availability and security Todd asked the Committee to consider four questions for discussion. 1 Should the City's storm debris policy be changed? 2. Would it be helpful to create a definition for an "emergency storm event"? 3 Should the Crty iiriplement a storm debris cleanup program as a regular part of its operation? 4 Was this more of a Code compliance issue? - Shirley Doering thanked the Public Works Department for their prompt action m removing downed trees. She said they did an excellent job removing two trees lost on July 10th. She asked what the Code requirement was for debris left on private property Mike Glewwe said the debris must be removed. Shirley asked how the City would charge for removal of debns from private property Todd said it would be extremely difficult to create an effective billing system. Earl Wilson said he was concerned that the City might infringe on tree removal companies that do the work pnvately Barry Berg asked if the City still retained an arborist to assist residents in determining when atree should be removed. Kathy Bodmer said yes, the arbonst would be available to help residents. http.//www ci.apple-valley.mn.us/Minutes/urban affairs/2008/08-25-08.htm1 4/28/2009 Urban Affairs Advisory Minutes 8-25-2008 Page 3 of 6 Barry asked if it was possible to create a larger dump site that several cities would use to try to minimize the haul routes. Todd replied that ne2ghbonng cities will often help other cities as Rosemount had done for Apple Valley on July 10th by allowing Apple Valley free use of its tree removal staging area, which was in a gravel pit. Robin Curran said she hues in a heavily wooded area and several neighbors had tree damage; the neighbors paid to have the trees removed. Robin thought some residents were abusing the system. Sharon Schwartz asked how the City assesses storm damage. Mike Glewwe said the City first receives phone calls from residents informing them of downed trees that block the streets or sidewalks. Then, Public Works sends employees to dnve around the City to determine how widespread the damage is. The first order of business is to remove the trees from the street. Sharon asked how the City would notify residents if rt were to start picking up trees from pnvate property m the event of storm damage. Todd Blomstrom replied that rt is difficult to inform everyone of changes to a program, but the City would use the City website and public access cable to try to get the word out. Sharon then asked if anyone knew how many residents placed their tree trimmings by the curb because they expected the haulers to remove it. She said because yard waste goes to the curb, maybe residents are confused and placed their storm debris where they normally place yard waste. Mike Glewwe said that the tree trimmings from the storm sat by the curb for several days and were not picked up by the haulers. At that point, the residents should have understood they were responsible for the removal of the tree trimmings. Sharon asked how often the City has picked up damaged trees. Todd Blomstrom said the City last picked up trees in July 1998 after a mayor storm affected most of the City He explained that after the July 2008 storm, Burnsville and Rosemount picked up damaged trees from pnvate property, but Eagan did not. Earl Wilson asked if the City should review the issue of tree removal over time. Sandy Breuer said she did not think this needed further review In her opinion, the fact that the City has had to remove tree trimmings from pnvate property twice m 10 years did not warrant a change to current City practices. She thought the Crty Council should review storms on a case-by-case basis and make the decision whether to remove damage trees at that time. Pam Sohlberg agreed with that assessment. Shirley Doering asked for a motion. MOTION Sandy Breuer moved, seconded by Pam Sohlberg, to recommend continuing the City's current policy regarding the removal of damaged trees from private property and advising the City Council to address the removal of such trees on a case-by-case basis. The motion carried 7-0 B RESIDENTIAL RECYCLING AND DAY-SPECIFIC COLLECTION PROGRAM Margaret Dykes presented mfonnation regarding biweekly recycling collection, single-sort recycling collection, and day-specific or zoned garbage collection. http.//www ci.apple-valley.mn.us/Minutes/urban affairs/2008/08-25-08.htm1 4/28/2009 Urban Affairs Advisory Minutes 8-25-2008 Page 4 of 6 The current ordinance states haulers must provide weekly collection of recyclables. Recycling is separated into 2 streams paper and everything else. Dakota County provides 5-gallon tubs for homeowners for recycling, and the recyclables are placed by the garage door for hauler collection. However, some residents are requesting changes so that there is only 1 stream of recycling placed in "single-sort containers", which are a minimum of 32 gallons with a lid, and that recycling be picked up biweekly These residents believe more people will recycle if it is made easier, and less fuel will be = wasted by collecting biweekly Some residents have also asked the City to consider day-specific garbage and recycling collection. This would entail breaking the City into several collection zones and everyone m that zone would have both garbage and recycling collected on the same day Kathy Bodmer presented information pertaining to a meeting held between City staff and most of the waste haulers licensed to do business in Apple Valley Representatives from Waste Management, Buckingham, Allied Waste, Dick's Sanitation, and the National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA) attended the meeting. Kathy stated that the haulers would not be m favor of either single-sort recycling or day-specific collection unless the City allowed garbage to be collected at the curb The haulers state that rt would not be cost-effective for them to run these programs unless they could gain efficiencies from curbside collection. The haulers also stated that there are environmental benefits to curbside collection. According to information provided by Waste Management, door-side collection takes an average of 25- 30 seconds while curbside collection takes approximately 7 seconds. This means less idling tnne for trucks. Additionally, Waste Management estimates that moving from door-side to curbside collection would result in a reduction of 44 hours per week of idle time for trucks, and less wasted fuel. The haulers also cited safety concerns, and aesthetics as reasons to institute a curbside collection program. Barry Berg asked about the 2004 survey of residents regarding garbage collection. He said he recalled that the majority of survey takers supported day-specific collection, and that the City could be divided into four sections for collection. He thought day-specific collection would be acceptable to residents. However, he said he recalled the majority of residents supported door-side collection. Shirley Doenng asked for clarification regarding the contamination of recyclables that might occur ifthe City went to single-sort collection. Sue Bast said contamination of recyclables occurs when garbage is mixed in with the recyclables. Sharon Schwartz said she would like more information-about single-sort recycling and the market for recycled materials. She would like staff to review the pros and cons of single-sort programs for the next meeting. Sharon then said she is concerned about the size of the single-sort containers. She said she could not fit a container that large in her garage. She would like staff to explore how other cities handle the storage of garbage containers, i.e. where are they required to be placed? She was also concerned about residents whose garbage and recycling containers overflow Robin Curran said she believed residents with overflowing garbage and recycling have undersized containers, and they have not gone to larger containers because of the expense. She did not think overflowing garbage and recycling was necessarily caused by the single-sort containers, but, rather, people's desire not to pay more for their garbage. Any change to the ordinance could address that issue. http.//www ci.apple-valley.mn.us/Minutes/urban affairs/2008/08-25-08.htm1 4/28/2009 Urban Affairs Advisory Minutes 8-25-2008 Page 5 of 6 Pam Sohlberg asked why having a single-sort container would necessitate curbside collection. Eric Dahlager, of Waste Management, said they have one truck that picks up both recycling and garbage. Providing the single-sort containers to residents is very expensive and they need to be able to move quickly through the neighborhoods to realize any savings. Eric also said they would be able to save significant amounts of fuel by going to the curbside program. Robin said she wanted a cost difference of biweekly collections vs. weekly collection. She wants to understand how much fuel would be saved if the City went to biweekly collection of recycling. Shirley said if residents recycle more, then the haulers should be making more money Enc replied that if a homeowner has more recycling than garbage, the resident could save money by going to a smaller garbage container Barry again said he thought the Crty should follow the desires of the residents and continue with door- side collection program, as this was the response of the majority of residents in the 2004 survey Shirley and Robin said they believe people have different concerns now; people seem to be more concerned about conserving fuel and decreasing emissions. People may have changed their opinions about the door-side program. Sandy Breuer said it doesn't appear that the door-side program is enforced adequately, and perhaps the Crty should dust move to the curbside program. Barry said he was also concerned about enforcement of the ordinance, and the Crty should have an administrative fine rather than charging residents with misdemeanors for garbage containers that are out of place. Sharon said she might support curbside collection for environmental issues if and only if the City had day-specific collection. Pam Sohlberg said maybe in the future the City should examine whether there should be only one designated hauler m the City It is more efficient. The Committee agreed that a single-hauler system is beyond the scope of its current business. Earl Wilson said that if Apple Valley is the only city that still has door-side collection, perhaps it is time to change the program. Victoria Nelson, a resident of the Cobblestone Lake neighborhood, said she strongly supports single-sort recycling and said the door-side program is incredibly inefficient. She said trucks would move more quickly through the neighborhoods and there would be less noise and traffic if a curbside program was instituted. Enc Dahlager asked the Committee to consider allowing five days for collection if the City instituted a day-specific collection program. He said four days is too restrictive. Barry asked if having longer days would be acceptable to the haulers. Eric said no The haulers really need the flexibility of five days. He also noted that residents can group together and negotiate with a hauler for affordable pricing and collection days. Shirley asked staff to bang answers to the Committee's questions to the next meeting. http.//www ci.apple-valley.mn.us/Minutes/urban affairs/2008/08-25-08.htm1 4/28/2009 Urban Affairs Advisory Minutes 8-25-2008 Page 6 of 6 5 OTHER BUSINESS Next Meeting Date The Committee agreed to meet on September 16, 2008, at 6.30 p.m. 6 ADJOURNMENT MOTION Pam Sohlberg moved, seconded by Robin Curran to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8 43 p.m. http.//www ci.apple-valley.mn.us/Minutes/urban affairs/2008/08-25-08.htm1 4/28/2009