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04-19-2006 CSMCREEK SIDE SOILS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES April 19, 2006, 4:15 p.m. Approval of Minutes from February 15, 2006 Motion by Filk, second by Anderson to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried unanimously. 2. Local Landscapers' Agreements Doug Johnson reported that he has met with Tom Prieve of Prieve Landscaping and Mitch Fabel of Crow River Landscape regarding them selling Creekside product. Prieve has committed to selling Creekside product and Fable has yet to respond. Johnson distributed a landscape agreement that will be entered into with any landscapers that sell Creekside product. This agreement covers the price of the product, delivery and billing. Not only will the landscapers carry bulk product, but bagged product as well. The Creekside "Customer Appreciation Day" at the landscape facilities has been tentatively set for May 13, 2006, from 8:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m. Casey Stotts suggested contacting the Leader to see if they will do a story about the event. He also suggested spreading the word that the prices at the landscape facilities are the same as if the product would be sold directly from the Creekside facility. Johnson mentioned that the only product that has direct sales at Creekside is bit -con. Anderson suggested selling logs at the facility. Gary Plotz noted that this discussion is being held at the county level. Plotz further noted that the City's grinder can only take smaller -sized logs and not the large size (over 18 "). Plotz has suggested to the county to take the larger logs to pallet manufacturers who have the proper equipment to process them. Fraser asked if there is a market for unground logs. Plotz stated that this has been looked at before but it is very difficult to differentiate between "good" logs and "bad" logs. Johnson mentioned that occasionally the Park Department will store large saw logs that they eventually sell. Motion by DeVries, second by Filk to approve landscapers agreement. Motion carried unanimously. 3. On -Site Minneapolis Residuals Johnson reported that the City Council approved Creekside entering into an agreement with RW Farms for accepting residuals from the Minneapolis contract. This arrangement will cost less than hauling the material to the landfill. Additionally, Creekside is able to haul back a composted product on the return haul. All of the product from the Minneapolis contract between April 1 and September will be hauled to RW Farms. Hopefully by mid- Summer all of this product will be hauled off of the Creekside site. 4. On -Site Screening Johnson reported that RW Farms has proposed to come on -site to aid in screening at a price of $1.65 /yard. This is the same cost that Creekside would have incurred with the addition of another screener. RW Farms has been instructed that hours of operations are 7:00 a.m. — 10:00 p.m. Monday - Friday and 8:00 a.m. — 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Approximately 70,000 yards of product have to be screened. Anderson raised concerns about the backup beeper on RW Farms trucks. Johnson will speak with them regarding these concerns. Lease Purchase of Trommel screener Johnson reported that the City Council approved a lease to purchase agreement for a trommel screener for the facility. This piece of equipment can be used year -round and is much more cost effective to purchase as oppose to rent as Creekside has been doing. Creekside had been spending about $100,000 /year on two screeners and this one screener can accomplish the work of two with a cost of about $50,000 /year. 6. Current Grinding Situation Johnson reported that recently one of the grinders caught on fire. The grinder was not destroyed but will take some time to repair. As a result, product has been piling up. The plan is to start grinding about two hours a day next Monday to catch up as inventory is depleted of colored mulch. Financials Ken Merrill, Finance Director, distributed an unaudited year -end financial report for Creekside. Mr. Merrill reviewed a balance sheet and financial statement for 2005. Under Refuse- Recycle, Creekside is showing a net income (loss) of ($69,888.00) for 2005. Under Compost, Creekside is showing a net income (loss) of ($278,001.35). Depreciation is included in both of these reports. Hence, Refuse- Recycle has a positive cash flow of approximately $80,000 and Compost was very close to a break -even point. Mr. Merrill also reported that bag production is up from last year, as well as bag sales. A point of significance is that labor costs were reduced significantly. Brandon Fraser suggested tracking labor hours per bag. Johnson stated that with the new software, this should be accessible. Creekside Fact Sheet Draft Doug Johnson distributed a draft of fact sheet that Creekside may have available for customers. He asked that the Board review and provide him any suggestions for revisions. 9. Site Clean -Up Doug Johnson reported that clean up of the facility is a priority for this year. Johnson noted that students will be working at the facility this summer and their focus will be to clean the facility, such as picking up material. Steve Cook suggested providing an added incentive to the students to get the facility cleaned up faster. 10. Site Berm Johnson reported that another berm could be constructed with material received at the site, however this will take 2 -3 years. This would be in replacement of planting trees that would take longer than the 2 -3 years. This berm would be built near the evergreen trees that were planted this year, ruining from the road to the river. The berm is intended to be built 10 -12 feet high. However, the Planning Commission and the DNR will be part of this process. This project will mainly affect the neighborhood so Robert Anderson will discuss this with the neighbors before any action is taken. Steve Cook suggested planting fast growing trees on top of the berm and also building an additional berm on the north end near the Cenex plant. 11. Odor Management —Local School Steve Cook stated that there is a consultant that analyzes data that is collected to measure odor. Cook also suggested utilizing a science class to work on this project. Johnson will look into thi s. 12. Trip to Space Ridge ( ?) Anderson reported that he has been out to Space Ridge and it looks very good. Johnson stated that the material contained on the site is covered with tarps. After the next meeting, the Board will take a trip to Space Ridge. Anderson suggested holding the next meeting at Creekside. Anderson asked if the new software is doing what it was intended for. Johnson stated that Creekside has not committed to purchasing it yet, but it will be ruining parallel to the current system. Some tweaking needs to be completed for the two to be compared. Motion by Anderson, second by DeVries to adjourn at 5:40 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.