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12-21-2005 CSMCREEK SIDE SOILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES December 21, 2005, 4:15 p.m. CALL TO ORDER — 4:15 P.M. Members Present: Bill Arndt, Casey Stotts, Doug Johnson, Robert Anderson, Gary Plotz and Randy DeVries Members Absent: Brandon Fraser and Marion Filk Approval of Minutes from October 19, 2005 Motion by Arndt, second by DeVries, to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried unanimously. 2. Financials — Ken Merrill Ken Merrill stated he has been working on the financials, however he feels he needs to review them with staff before they are distributed to the Board. Preliminarily, it appears as if some things need to be capitalized. A quarterly financial report will now be given to the board. Mr. Merrill will email the financial report to the board members. Ken Merrill did state that each quarter will have peaks and valleys, however it should be consistent from year to year. Gary Plotz commented that the source - separated operation costs more than the facility charges, based on bag film price increases, Waste Management increases, inflationary increases, etc. Discussion was briefly held regarding the 2006 budget. 3. 2005 Review — Doug Johnson Mr. Johnson reported that debagging operations were moved to Spruce Ridge near Biscay. The site on Adams Street currently is stocked with 800,000 bags of product (it was clarified that the October 19, 2005, minutes should read that 500,000 bags were on -site as opposed to 5000). The facility bags approximately 20 -24 bags per minute. The facility has stockpiles of compost, peat and manure and is ready to go for the season beginning in March. Several inquiries have been made from other companies regarding Creekside bagging corn product. Mr. Johnson reported that approximately four of the temporary employees will be laid off next week until the first week in May when operations start up again. 4. Spruce Ridge Operations — Doug Johnson Doug Johnson, Compost Site Coordinator, stated that debagging operations should be completed in two weeks. Half the site was completed for their debagging operations. All of the bags received from Minneapolis have been debagged. This year's operation for that contract only required eight semi trucks as compared to 15 trucks last year. Mr. Johnson reported that one neighbor at Spruce Ridge commented on the lights shining during the operation. This was adjusted and no other comments were received. Odor readings were also taken and they were within normal range. 5. Bagging Update — Doug Johnson Refer to the 2005 Review above. 6. Public Sales Discussion was held regarding the possibility of having public sales on -site. The current area on the facility's site is being used for storage and Mr. Johnson does not feel that there is ample room for sales on -site. Casey Stotts asked if residents of the City could receive some sort of benefit, such as a coupon, for bringing items to the site. Doug Johnson stated that that could be an option, but it had to be kept in mind that this is a county -wide facility and McLeod County residents are not charged anything for bringing items to the facility. Doug Johnson suggested that the local landscapers continue to be used for public sales and try to negotiate with them to lower their costs. Bob Anderson stated that he feels if residents are compensated in some way with a coupon or what have you, the neighbors be compensated in some way for the hardships they have had over the past several years. The Board will continue to brainstorm this item. 7. Neighborhood Meetings — Mayor Cook Mayor Cook reported that the neighbors and he have been meeting monthly to discuss various items. At the last meeting, the group decided monthly meetings will not be necessary and they will only need to meet on an as- needed basis. The neighbors feel operations have improved. Bob Anderson asked the chain -of- command for issues. Both the mayor and Gary Plotz stated they should be contacted first and they will pass concerns on to staff. Doug Johnson will now be attending any future neighborhood meetings. 8. Consulting for Operations Pertaining to Odors Mayor Cook stated that he had read an article about a facility near St. Louis that was surrounded by multi- million dollar homes. This facility used an operation that monitors the materials to determine when they needed to be turned, etc. and would forecast if odors would be heightened. Doug Johnson will research this further. 9. Grinding on -site versus off -site — Gary Plotz Gary Plotz stated this topic was brought up at a neighborhood meeting. Mr. Plotz informed the group that Creekside receives material from other communities in the county that need to be ground. The county had suggested that all of this material be trucked to Creekside to be ground as opposed to the grinder being transported to the other sites. The County Board approved purchase of equipment to be used to transport materials from other communities to Creekside. Mr. Plotz has learned that Glencoe and Winsted would like for Creekside to continue to come to their site for grinding. The plan is to continue to travel to these two sites because of the large volume of material, however the other communities will be bringing their items to Creekside for grinding. Of course, in the case of an emergency, the grinder will be transported to the other sites for grinding. Doug Johnson stated that for logs that are 6" — 18" in diameter, the site grinds regularly. Logs that are over 18" in diameter are ground every two years. 10. Plans when Minneapolis contract is completed — Casey Stotts Casey Stotts asked what the plan is when this contract is complete? Do we want to continue when the contract expires, if not, what is the contingency plan? What are the costs that have been put into this operation as to the profit being made? Doug Johnson stated that equipment that has been leased for this contract could be left with no strings attached. The only equipment that has been purchased are the walking floor trailers. Other communities have verbally informed Creekside that they would like Creekside to take their materials, such as is set up with Minneapolis now. Doug Johnson stated that staff is watching this closely and will be able to make an educated decision before the contract expires. Casey Stotts stated he would like numbers put together to determine how much money has been put into the operation since it started. (Bill Arndt excused himself at 5:28 p.m.) 11. General Manager Position Gary Plotz stated that the position was widely - advertised, however no proposals were received. Mr. Plotz suggested ruining the operation as it is now with him, Doug Johnson and Cam Rucks as a consultant. Cam Rucks is currently contracted for four hours a week. Mr. Johnson stated that this idea is favorable to him. It was noted that labor and equipment costs need to be held steady, or lowered, in order for the facility to be profitable. It was further noted that daily labor and equipment efficiencies will be measured. Gary Plotz mentioned that Steve Madson may be contracted on an as- needed basis for special projects. Casey Stotts asked that staff check to see what type of city -owned equipment Steve Madson may still have in his possession. Discussion was held regarding the department manual that Steve Madson is writing for Creekside. This should be completed by the end of March 2006. Bob Anderson noted that he liked the proposal of waiting to fill the General Manager position and only hiring if it is crucially needed. 12. Miscellaneous Bob Anderson asked what kind of items the advisory board has actually recommended to the City Council. Examples given were items such as contracting for a financial person, going out for an RFP for the GM position, and leasing equipment. Future discussions to have will be the future operations of the facility. One of the last piles from the Minneapolis contract is going to be screened and assessed to determine what should be done with it. The plastics may be taken to the landfill or bailed. Motion by Stotts, second by DeVries to adjourn at 5:55 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.