Minutes of Committee Meeting
Fire Department, Village Engineer, Service Department
Gorman Farm
May 2, 2006
The meeting of the Evendale Council Committee for Fire Department, Village Engineer, Service Department, and Gorman Farm was called to order at 7:10 pm. Councilmembers Smiley-Robertson, Vonderhaar and Schaefer were present. Also present were Holly Christman of the Solid Waste Management District, Barb Rohs of the Gorman Heritage Farm Foundation, and Spence Faxon of Energy Alliances, Inc.
Solid Waste Management
The first order of business was from Holly Christman from the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District who explained that every five years, the 15 year plan must be updated. Cincinnati and communities which have 60% of the population of Hamilton County must approve the plan. The recycled materials generate funds that are returned to the local communities. For Evendale, that means 7 to 8 thousand dollars per year. Currently, yard waste that is composted is counted. The waste to energy programs, which Evendale participates in, are not counted.
Ms. Christman explained that the district was created in 1989, it is paid for by tip-fees at the Rumpke Landfill, and has a goal of a recycling diversion rate of 25% of residential and commercial waste and 50% of industrial waste. The diversion rate is determined by taking the weight of recycled material and dividing it by the weight of no recycled waste. In 2005 the residential recycling rates of various communities were:
Evendale _ 14%
Blue Ash _ 24%
Montgomery _ 22%
Sycamore _ 10%
Woodlawn _ 7%
Sharonville _ 8%
Glendale _ 10%
Lincoln Heights _ 0% _ (currently no recycling programs)
Springdale _ 13%
Cincinnati - 7%
There are alterations to the Countywide plan to close the gap between the goal and the actual recycling rates. Two changes are that household hazardous waste is collected at 2 sites on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday seven months a year. The closest to Evendale is at Crescentville and Cincinnati-Dayton Road. Electronic waste, i.e. computers will be collected at a site in St. Bernard from July 11 to 16, 2006.
Other changes proposed are that grants for recycling projects will be more specific encouraging recycling. Recycling bins for Evendale residents can be obtained by calling the service department. The plan, as have all past plans, calls for an increase in tip fees. In the past, those increases, while in the plans, have not been needed and not adopted by the district. The curious thing about the tip fees is that the fee for Hamilton County waste and out of state waste is $1.00 a ton, while waste from other Ohio counties is $1.50 a ton.
Councilmember Smiley-Robertson suggested that the District look at outreach to churches and other groups that use a lot of recyclable material, but do not have information on what can be done to establish internal recycling programs. Barb Rohs volunteered that the Gorman Heritage Farm has received a grant from the Solid Waste Management District to present educational material on composting.
There will be a form resolution on the agenda of the May Council meeting adopting the updated plan. It was suggested that the form be sent to Tim Burke to make certain that it conforms to Evendale charter requirements so that it can be effective by the June 19, 2006 deadline.
Gorman Heritage Farm
Barb Rohs, speaking for the Gorman Heritage Farm Foundation, reported that they are reorganizing the staff. Gary Goosman is leaving, a new Executive Director will be hired. The executive director will primarily be responsible for outreach. Sandra Murphy will be the assistant director, primarily in charge internal matters and supervise Dave, Emily, and the front desk.
At the next Committee Meeting, scheduled for Monday, May 22, 2006 at 7:00pm (this was rescheduled because Councilmember Schaefer had a conflict) the trustees of the Gorman Heritage Farm Foundation will give further updates on the plans for the Farm on a wide range of issues.
Barb indicated that an Article on the Farm will appear in the Business Courier and that Mondays or Tuesdays are good times for corporate team building meetings. Barb indicated that the Camp is almost filled, it runs Mondays through Fridays 9 to 2:30. The Farm is still looking for Volunteer (unpaid) Junior Counselors. On other issues, the Foundation has hired Vickie Foster, a Sharonville resident to be the new Special Event coordinator.
Barb stated that the priorities for the new executive director are: 1) Restructure the offices; 2) pursue the Endowment structure now that $550,000 is available; 3) Set Councilmember day at the Gorman Farm so that the Council can see first hand the Farm; and 4) Prepare the Council presentation for the lease renewal. Barb also related that the potential Foundation Board supports and encourages the possible use of the Imperial lodge site by the Boy Scouts.
Joint Energy Purchasing Plan
C. Spenser Faxon of Energy Alliances presented information about Joint Energy Purchasing. This is made possible due to the Duke Energy purchase of Cinergy. Duke would include joint purchasing costs in individual bills while Cinergy would not. Currently, Joint Purchasing will work for natural gas, not electricity. Essentially, residential and small commercial customers would join together and purchase gas on the open market in bulk. If the program is set up, individuals would be able to opt out. Evendale is too small to stand alone. About 10,000 customers are required in one Joint Purchasing Unit. These programs have been quite successful in the Cleveland area. If enough governments decide to go forward with the program, legislation would have to be passed and a certification process must take
place. A meeting on the issue is to take place Monday, May 22, 2006 at 7:00pm. The committee recommends that Evendale send a representative to the meeting to discuss the possibility of participation.
Anchor Project
Jack Cameron reported that the Starbucks plans will be presented to Planning Commission at the May meeting. Lowe’s is not yet a done deal. Walmart has finally signed on to the TIF agreements. Anchor has had discussions with Applebee’s. Councilmember Smiley- Robertson reported that she had heard that Walmart was starting to have products to cater to a more upscale clientele. Councilmember Schaefer reported that he had read or heard the same information but thought that it was limited to one store in the Atlanta area. Councilmember Smiley-Robertson suggested that some inquiries be made about the program to determine whether this could be tried in the Evendale store. The Committee requested that Jack Cameron make these inquiries by email to his contacts at Walmart.
Cooper Creek
Jack Cameron reported that he has contacted a firm who has done studies of Cooper Creek for the City of Reading. The firm is from Lexington, Kentucky. The particular firm has a staff member with a “Creek Certification”. Jack Cameron reported that a proposal with costs and the like will be presented in the near term.
Service Department
Joe Wiehe reported that the hourly rate is too low to keep summer help. He provided written information that Sharonville is paying $10.50 per hour and Amberley Village hired Seth Redwine (who had been working for Evendale) at $10.50 per hour.
A survey shows that:
- Blue Ash is paying $12.38 to $14.29 per hour
- Amberley pays $5.25 to 11.44
- Forest Park pays $10.00 the first year and 40¢ for each year of service thereafter, not to exceed $14.94.
- Springdale pays $5.15 to $10.00 per hour
- Indian Hill pays $7.00 to $8.90 per hour.
The committee recommends that the current summer help in the service department get a pay raise so that first year part time employees start at level 3 - $9.69, and the second year employees go to level 4 - $10.00 per hour and so on. The amounts and levels were initially adopted as part of the 2006 budget. An ordinance changing the compensation rates for the service department summer help will be presented at the May Council meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 10:00 pm.
Approved:
Councilmember Smiley-Robertson
Councilmember Vonderhaar
Councilmember Schaefer
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