MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF THE CASTRO VALLEY SANITARY DISTRICT HELD ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

Transcription

1 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF THE CASTRO VALLEY SANITARY DISTRICT HELD ON SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 [1. Call to order, Roll Call, and Pledge of Allegiance.] The Special Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Castro Valley Sanitary District was called to order by President McGowan at 6:05 p.m., Tuesday,, at the District Office. The Pledge of Allegiance was by President McGowan. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: ABSENT: LATE: DIRECTORS Akagi, Francis, Johnson, McGowan and Waespi None None Staff in attendance: Roland Williams, General Manager Anthony Varni, District Counsel Naomi Lue, Solid Waste Coordinator Barbara Nagy, Recording Secretary Gavin Wilgus, Intern Others in attendance are listed on the attached attendance sheet. [2. Introduction.] President McGowan welcomed all and stated the meeting would begin with a presentation by Waste Management with question and answer periods and then move on to the formal Items from the Public. Manager Williams introduced himself and thanked all for coming adding this is the second Town Hall meeting the District has held since the inception of the new Solid Waste Services contract with Waste Management beginning May 1, He then introduced CVSD s Solid Waste Coordinator, Naomi Lue, adding she has worked on the contract process from the beginning; District Counsel, Tony Varni who was involved through the entire process and; the CVSD Board of Directors. Manager Williams then introduced David Tucker, Bob Angell, Dan Barrett, Natasha

2 Page 2 Neves, Grant Hankins and Tom Ridder of Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc. (WMAC). Manager Williams continued by recapping the previous Town Hall meeting stating there were two main categories including rate adjustments and deteriorating service since the inception of the new contract. There were 19 speakers at the last meeting; Waste Management has contacted each of those people to ensure their correct billing as well as service levels. This has been communicated to CVSD by a Service Initiative Plan prepared by Waste Management. CVSD s new Quality Control Plan will be presented later in the meeting. Mr. David Tucker of WMAC stated that at the July 14 th Town Hall meeting WMAC heard issues regarding multi-family, commercial recycling outreach efforts, and customer service. Natasha Neves has made many site visits assisting owners in maximizing service and adjusting rates. WMAC has met with CVSD regarding responses as well as any new issues and continues to follow up. Everyone deserves the service they are paying for. Mr. Bob Angell will now make a presentation, followed by a question and answer period. [3. Waste Management Customer Service with Question & Answer segments.] Mr. Angell began a power point presentation starting with their Service Initiative Plan which addressed all 19 issues from the previous meeting. By August 24 th, only 1-2 open issues from that list remained. A new telephone system was introduced in May. While it has many advantageous benefits, WMAC experienced the technical difficulties that can accompany the introduction of any new technology. The last feature to be implemented by the end of September is the voic feature which will allow any call on hold in excess of 2.5 minutes to have the option to remain on hold or to be switched to a message center. and fax options will also be available. Additional Customer Service Representatives have been hired and trained. Each phone call is recorded for training purpose and to monitor the customer s experience. Collection service was discussed. There have been many missed pick-ups, as there have been higher than average open route levels due to vacations, illnesses and injuries. Open routes and driver staff levels have now been rectified. All collection vehicles have been equipped with brooms and dust pans to clean up any spillage and, drivers have been instructed to keep the opposite side door shut when servicing containers. Mr. Angell explained rate distribution in light of concerns regarding single family, multifamily and commercial rate structures. He stated no one rate subsidizes another. Refuse collection and disposal rates relate to waste generators and services used. Waste Management Billing Supervisor and Recycling Coordinator reviewed the accounts

3 Page 3 of each speaker at the last Town Hall meeting to ensure that each account was properly billed for the current levels of service. Under the old franchise agreement, multi-family properties were charged for the level of trash service and were charged a mandatory per unit recycling fee which was based on the number of dwelling units at the property regardless if the property had recycling service or not. Now trash and recycling services are bundled. The new rate for 1 cubic yard of trash includes up to 1 cubic yard of recycling. Question and Answer period began. Vallorie Kalos stated she has been a Castro Valley resident for 13 years and is not happy with the new rates. She was advised that she can lower her single family rate by reducing her 32 gallon garbage cart to a 20 gallon size, thereby lowing her monthly bill by approximately $ Dan Briggs stated he owns property on Jamison Way, North 6 th Street and Santa Maria Avenue. He cannot get tenants to comply with proper disposal of items in the proper containers. Mr. Angell stated continued education is the key. Mr. Briggs then stated if lids are up on containers, he is charged more but if containers are not full he receives no refund. Mr. Angell emphasized the importance of right-sizing. Mr. Briggs voiced concern over commercial greenwaste stating he had 14 carts that are gone but he is still being billed. Natasha Neves can do a site assessment and review his billing. Mr. Briggs then commented on new carts and trucks and their expected life expectancy. Manager Williams explained the level playing field required during the bid process. Dave Silva stated he lives in Castro Valley and owns commercial and rental properties. He commented that it is more work for Waste Management to service carts than bins. He asked if Ms. Neves had completed meetings with all tenants. She replied yes or left her business card. All recycling carts have been delivered or ordered. Mr. Silva stated service is good presently. There was a missed pickup on September 9 th. He called WMAC customer service and got through. He was told he would receive a courtesy pickup the next day. He also noted that litter on the ground left by WMAC drivers has improved. Patricia stated she attended the last Town Hall meeting. She commented that she is paying twice as much as San Leandro. Mr. Angell stated when San Leandro s contract is up, their rates will be equally increased. An unidentified audience member stated when calling WMAC customer service you can get two completely different responses to the same question. He stated he has received warning stickers regarding contents of his recycling carts. Mr. Angell stated no fines have been levied to date. The audience member added that since carts are placed at the curb the night before collection, anyone walking by can throw anything in the carts. Carts can be put out in the

4 Page 4 morning as long as it s prior to 6:00 a.m. President McGowan asked Manager Williams if fining customers is part of the contract. Naomi Lue stated this issue could be in reference to an article regarding plant debris no longer acceptable in the landfill. Also, if a recycling cart is contaminated it will be serviced as garbage and charged as an extra garbage collection. Dave Livingston stated he has service issues and calls WMAC 1-2 times per week with no improvement to the phone system, adding the customer service representatives are always nice and polite, but not always competent. He stated he ordered something and was told he must pre-pay by credit card and then was told he would be charged a $7 fee for using his credit card. He then asked about a sign on WMAC trucks stated Paid for by a Grant. Mr. Angell clarified that the only part of the truck paid for by a grant is an oil box. Then Mr. Livingston made a statement referring to staff salaries. Manager Williams stated he has experienced quick and long pick-up response times when calling WMAC. Mr. Angell stated there are three new customer service representatives and two more have come off of leave of absence. Member Waespi asked for clarification of the number of new drivers on routes. Mr. Tom Ridder stated 7 are working with 3 more coming up soon. Vacation season is winding down and that has caused 18 more workers to be available. There were 2 open routes last week. Member Waespi then asked how many customer service phone representatives were on duty. Mr. Angell replied 42 who service all of Alameda County, some of Monterey County and Livermore. Member Johnson asked about rate ratios of commercial vs. residential in other jurisdictions. Mr. Angell replied Hayward has 70% commercial, 30% residential; Castro Valley is the opposite. Mr. Livingston brought up the issue of raises for CVSD staff members. President McGowan replied that staff is not paid out of trash rates. Manager Williams stated that he has a contract and the rest of staff has a contract (3 years each). The administrative fees received from WMAC are 10% of the overall franchise fees and most of that money goes into programs. Employees receive a cost of living increase which has a floor and a ceiling rate between 2.5 and 4.5%. This year, employees received a 2.5% COLA increase. [4. Solid Waste Services Rates.] This item was incorporated into the previous item s discussion. [5. Items from the Public.] President McGowan explained each speaker will have 3 minutes in which to speak.

5 Page 5 Dave Silva asked about Liquidated Damages being levied on WMAC due to lack of performance. President McGowan replied that CVSD has created a Quality Control Plan that will be presented later in this meeting. Manager Williams stated there are many performance items in the contract to assess damages. Tom Silva, President of the Rental Housing Association, stated he attended the July 14 th meeting and wanted to give a progress report, adding he is pleased to report some success and a good start with WMAC. He requested the Board look into capital improvement assistance for multi-family units that have had to spend high sums of money to reconfigure their enclosures to accommodate the new bins. He quoted one expenditure at $7,500. Mr. Silva wants to come back to the Board in a couple of months with another follow-up report. Hera Alikian compared CVSD s residential and commercial rates to other jurisdictions stating other jurisdictions provide different rate structures for single family dwellings, apartments and mobile home parks and asked why there is no break-out with the current contract. She stated that there are too many carts, especially organics, on these properties. If less carts are required, rates should be lower. She was reminded of the ability to use bins vs. carts. Marc Crawford inquired as to the difference between what he read in articles regarding the pending increases vs. the actual contract that was signed. Mr. Crawford was also reminded that he can use bins instead of carts to minimize impact. He stated his location is built for one bin, not two and it would be a capital improvement cost in the thousands of dollars. Manager Williams stated that Stopwaste.org would be a great place to investigate a program of grant funding to assist with this type of improvement. President McGowan stated that during the six months of Board meetings and Town Hall meetings, all rates were discussed based on averages. Commercial rates were well disclosed. Manager Williams stated CVSD hired a firm to conduct surveys prior to implementing the bundled rate. CVSD did its best to explain all the details and reach out to commercial property owners to help all to understand the new plan and rates. Mr. Crawford then inquired as to staff pay raises and the General Manager s contract and addendums. Manager Williams replied that he is under a 3-year contract and it is exactly as stated in the contract of which Mr. Crawford has a copy. [6. Quality Control Plan.] Manager Williams stated this plan was created at the direction of the Board at the July 14, 2009 meeting. On September 1 st, CVSD received the Service Initiative Plan from WMAC which was good; however, the Board wanted in-house route audits, as well as phone service auditing, to verify WMAC s customer service performance. The Quality Control Plan was

6 Page 6 explained in detail including methods to determine collection service quality with a sample schedule. Dave Silva asked why CVSD would tell WMAC that we were doing this why not the element of surprise? Manager Williams replied that this is an intensive audit now to assure their initiative plan worked and establish a baseline of excellent service. We will conduct random, unannounced audits in the future. Mr. Crawford asked at what point Liquidated Damages (LDs) are collected. Manager Williams stated the first 90 days of the contract are up and we are that point now; however, CVSD s goal is to have WMAC provide excellent service, not to make money on LDs. Also, it is a process to collect LDs. Ms. Alikian stated that is true for any contract of this type. She then asked what the start times are for WMAC. Manager Williams replied 6 a.m. for residential and 4 a.m. for commercial unless the business is within 200 feet of residential property; then it is 6 a.m. Mr. Silva stated he is getting mixed messages from WMAC customer service reps. Member Johnson stated the Board appreciates all comments and we are making progress. In reference to the route audits, he added that you get what you inspect, not what you expect. Member Waespi stated Intern Gavin Wilgus, who is at this meeting, will be conducting the route audits, adding you might see him around town in the District s hybrid vehicle. There being no further discussion, a motion was made by Member Waespi to accept and implement the WMAC Quality Control Plan. The motion was seconded by Member Johnson and passed on a 5 0 vote. [7. Miscellaneous Comments from Board Members and Staff.] Recording Secretary Nagy distributed a sign-up sheet for the individual school Green Ribbon presentations reminding Board Members that these are non-compensated events. Member Johnson reminded all of the opening date of the new Library on October 31 st and the Book Pass event that same day. You can sign up to participate on the Library s website. Member Francis thanked Naomi Lue for solving a complaint that he heard at the Fall Festival within one day. Naomi Lue stated there will be a CVSD staff presentation at the October 8 th Stopwaste.org Recycling Board meeting. It has been a year and a half since CVSD presented. Manager Williams thanked WMAC for providing garbage carts to the Fall Festival.

7 Page 7 Manager Williams distributed and discussed a draft agenda for the September 22 nd Board Workshop. President McGowan requested the addition of the Sutter Health hospital issue be added. [8. Adjournment of Meeting.] There being no further business to come before the Board, Member Francis made a motion, seconded by Member Johnson and passed on a 5-0 vote, to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 p.m. by President McGowan. Respectfully submitted, Harry Francis, Secretary of the Sanitary Board