Presentation
to Council 2/20/14
Last
year I gave a similar presentation to council and considering the
renewed interest in the subject, it's time to update the information.
New data from the Ohio EPA, the city auditor and the county solid
waste district change some of the previous assumptions.
Question:
Do we really need near or mid term changes in our landfill
operations?
Residential
pickups, including yard waste, limbs and large items are being done
in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost to the residents. I
suspect that the complaint rate is pretty low.
Our
curbside recycling program, costs have been reduced and participation
is increasing.
The
landfill financial situation is looking pretty good. The sanitation
department had a $600,000 unencumbered carry over reserve in 2012.
The carry over to 2014 is down only 1%. Which leaves sufficient
funds for unexpected expenses.
Thanks
to the solid waste committee's work to bring our tipping fees up to
date we appear to have rates about right. Compared to the 1% decline
in the carry over we saved 13% of valuable airspace volume in 2013.
At current daily tipping rates. That 13% translates into six months
extension of present cell life.
According
to the Ohio EPA the present landfill airspace capacity would support
more
than
four years of tipping at current rates of fill.
In
hindsight maybe we could have waited another two years before adding
the new capacity. That would have allowed the current construction
bond balance of $200,000 to be paid in full before incurring new
debt.
The
idea of bringing in an outside manager, for a system that is working
for the city’s residents at the present time, needs to be examined.
At
present, landfill operations are on a sound financial footing.
Expenses and revenues are in balance with a substantial carry over to
pay unexpected expenses. No tax money is being used for operations of
the department. Because the landfill is a public facility and has a
proprietary financial structure that, according to the Ohio Revised
Code, is to be a break-even operation. Money generated by the
facility must be spent on the facility. Looking at recent fee-volume
history it’s difficult to see any realistic way to increase revenue
without increasing commercial dumping significantly. Any such effort,
that would include increased truck traffic on Nelson Ave., would meet
stiff political resistance from residential neighbors.
In
any event, the soon to be created vertical expansion will, according
to the Ohio EPA, allow around 15 more years of operation at 2013
tipping rates. If a major landfill decision decision needs to be made
in ten years or so we have plenty of time to consider further
actions.
In
the meantime I would encourage the city to do a serious cost benefit
analysis of adding a roll off capability. Why let Rumpke make a
profit from servicing our local commercial entities such as Lowes. I
was informed that the sanitation department is looking into that
option.
A
renewed effort should be undertaken to reduce the dumping of
recyclable cardboard into the landfill. It costs the smaller
commercial businesses money and fills up valuable airspace
At
present and in the mid term the landfill capacity is sufficient, the
sanitation fund is in balance, and the service to the residents is
good.
If
it ain't broke let’s not try to fix it.
The
conclusions made in this presentation are my own and are open to
examination.
Paul
Hunter
