HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Board - Minutes - 04/20/2022
ECONOMIC ADVISORY COMMISSION
TYPE OF MEETING – REGULAR
April 20, 2022 4:00 – 6:00 pm
Via Zoom
02/16/22 – MINUTES Page 1
1. CALL TO ORDER
4:07 pm
2. ROLL CALL
List of Board Members Present
o John Parks
o Renee Walkup
o Thierry Dossou
o Blake Naughton
o Denny Coleman
o Aric Light
o Mistene Nugent
o Jeff Havens
o Brauilo Rojas
List of Board Members Absent – Excused or Unexcused, if no contact with Chair
has been made.
List of Staff Members Present
o Josh Birks, Staff Liaison and Director, Economic Sustainability
o Sylvia Tatman-Burruss, Sr Project Manager
o Caroline Mitchell, Manager, Waste Reduction & Recycling
o Kira Beckham, Lead Specialist
3. AGENDA REVIEW
No changes
4. CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
N/A
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
No changes-minutes approved
6. NEW BUSINESS
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Curbside Trash and Recycling Contract
Presentation – Sylvia Tatman-Burruss, Sr. Project Manager; Caroline
Mitchell, Manger, Waste Reduction & Recycling; and Kira Beckham, Lead
Specialist.
Gave overall update and provided information about the types of systems,
engagement conducted, results, and next steps.
The City is currently operating under an open market with licensing. A
contracted system is being considered. It would apply to single family homes
and small (seven or fewer units) multifamily complexes. It would not apply to
businesses, large multifamily complexes, or construction sites. It might apply
to HOAs. A contracted system was also considered in 1998 and 2008.
Contracted systems are common throughout many communities.
Benefits include fewer trucks (one truck equals 1,300 personal passenger
vehicles), improved air quality, lower truck emissions, improved customer
service, access to uniform pricing, more recycling options, and composting
options.
Some disadvantages include an opt-out fee to choose your own hauler,
perspectives about the ideal role of government, shift to administrative role of
the City organization, and logistics of a districting approach.
Some things that will stay the same include volume-based pricing for trash,
recycling bundled with trash for no additional charge, and the opt-in option for
yard trimming collection.
Things that can still be achieved by a licensed system or contract system are
increased composing, advancing Council priorities, and accelerated
composting.
Things that can only be achieved by a contracted system include three
categories:
Fewer trucks in neighborhoods
- Street maintenance savings, improved aesthetics, less noise,
one day of service, increased safety, reduced greenhouse gas
emissions, and improved air quality.
Pricing
- Predictable consistence pricing across the community and
potential service cost reduction due to efficiencies of servicing
every home on street
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Customer service and equity
- Leverage for customer service requirements (metrics and
penalties for non-compliance), and enhanced equity in service
(low-income programs and increased accessibility)
Engagement
Who: community members, haulers, Chamber of Commerce,
Downtown Development Authority, Natural Resources Advisory Board,
and environmental groups.
How: community conversations, 1,300 responses on a questionnaire,
presentations to groups, newsletters, radio advertisements, press
releases, and newspaper articles.
Focus: goals for a contracted system, concerns for a contracted
system, and priorities for a trash/recycling hauler.
Feedback:
Goals included fewer trucks, affordable equitable pricing, improved or
maintain customer service, and increased yard trimming collection
Concerns included pricing, decrease in service levels, perception of
monopoly, lack of competition, lack of choice, being stuck with
unwanted service provider, and impact to haulers and their employees
if not selected.
Priorities included consistent reliable service, affordable pricing,
responsive customer service, service options to fit the households
needs, options for yard trimmings and compost collection.
Existing haulers were supportive of contracting or continued licensing
system. The new hauler prefers the licensing system.
Next steps include community engagement about details of the contracted
service and another Council work session.
Discussion – Board
Q (Renee) Was this presentation given to Council yet?
A (Caroline) This presentation was shared on April 12th. It is still in the
early stages of the project and was a check in at a high level to see if
we should continue. Council did agree to continue so now we are
getting ready to prepare for the detailed elements.
Q (Jeff) Have you gotten to the point where you would know cost per
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household?
A (Caroline) No, we have examples of cost of service from other peer
communities that have contracts. In Fort Collins it will be based on
what services we would request as a community. For example, what
type of yard trimming collection service would you have and would it
be an opt-in or opt-out. Cost per service is less the more across the
community, however you have less choice then. Those are some of
the details we will be talking through with folks and that would impact
pricing.
Comment (Jeff) I contracted with a composting service for several
months. I stopped doing it because the price was not justified for the
amount of good I was doing for the planet. If it is uniform thing where
everyone can have it, the economy should be able to justify doing it.
Comment (Caroline) We are limited on food scrap infrastructure right
now, so we are looking at yard trimmings right now. Once composting
comes available, we could combine it in the same bin.
Comment (Denny) My former community went through this. During research
everyone was upset, yet once it was implemented nobody said anything.
Cost went down, service was quality, and prices got better. I think it is a great
direction. I would love to have the opportunity to have yard waste pick up.
Q (Mistene) Can you provide what the feedback was on the community
survey?
A (Caroline) The initial survey that went out was focused broadly on
goals, concerns, and what they would look for in a hauler. This is a
summary of themes we heard from residence from engagement on
those broad topics. This is a topic that riles people up, so the same
trajectory that Denny shared, is the same they have seen in most
communities. We are staring to hear more feedback around concern
on choice, separate from this survey.
Q (Mistene) Is the majoring for or against it?
A (Sylvia) A lot of feedback the City Manager’s Office and on City
Council forms is people are struggling with the issue of choice. Not
getting hundreds, but still getting some. At the same time, we usually
don’t hear from people that are in support of something. The people
that are in support of it have been asking some thoughtful questions
on impact and implementation.
Comment (Mistene) Our HOA is contracted, and we love it.
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Q (Brauilo) Clarification, is this for compost or trash in general?
A (Caroline) It would apply to all curbside services for single family
homes, so trash, recycling, and compost.
Q (Brauilo) Can you clarify what benefit we are losing?
A (Caroline) Primarily the ability to choose your hauler for trash and
recycling services. Community members could still choose their
haulers but if they chose someone different, then they would have to
pay an opt-out fee.
Q ( Brauilo) Have you heard feedback from the current providers; are they
okay with this new approach?
A (Caroline) The three existing service providers would support either
system. They are all nationally owned, so they are used to getting
these types of contracts and providing services in Colorado. There is a
new hauler who is open to start service in May in Fort Collins. They
are strongly against this new system, waging more of an organized
campaign to solicit negative feedback to Council as it doesn’t fit their
business plan.
Q ( Brauilo) How can a contracted service procure the same or better prices
than an open market?
A (Caroline) There is a significant change in efficiency. In the hauling
market, you are paying for fixed costs like the cost of the truck, driver,
and insurance. In the industry the most expensive thing is windshield
time, which is the amount of time to get from one customer to the next.
You must build those fixed costs into that amount of windshield time. If
you have one or two customers on a street, you must build those fixed
costs into those two customers. If you have a whole street of
customers, you can build those fixed costs among more households. It
is less expensive for one hauler to service everyone on a whole block
vs a couple around town. Another element is the purchasing process.
The City puts together a request for proposals where we outline the
kinds of services we would like. Then the haulers draft proposals on
how they would provide those services and pricing they would offer.
They compete on a community wide level vs a house by house. You
can see that pricing reflected in HOAs that already contract for service.
You tend to see lower rates in the same community, with the same
hauler, and same service than an open market.
Q (Brailo) Would the city be setting the price?
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A (Caroline) The price would be fixed through the contract in the
negation. We would have to come to an agreement on what price
would be and be controlled around situations. We would be able to
change the length of a contract.
Q (Brauilo) Regarding your argument that traffic/number of trucks will
decrease, do you have that measured and documented? People will want to
see numbers.
A (Caroline) We have those baselines from 2008 and 1998 studies in
Fort Collins. We are updating all of those to current day numbers. For
instance, in 2008 it was identified that there would be a $170,000/year
savings on road maintenance due to less trucks on the road. We are
updating those and other numbers.
Comment (Jeff) It is basically an objective fact that people complain more
than compliment. It is normal to get more negative community feedback then
positive feedback
Q (Jeff) Is it a requirement that you give an opt out option or could the City
just say this is the way it is?
A (Caroline) it is required by Colorado State Law that residences are
given the option to opt-out but allows for an opt out fee. One of the
learnings from peer communities is that the price point for the opt-out
fee ranges from $2.50 to the smallest level of priced service. The price
point of the opt-out fee has impacted how many residences opt-out.
Q (Jeff) So the City gets to decide how much the opt-out fee is?
A (Caroline) Yes.
Comment (Jeff) I advocate for a high one.
Q (Aric) What resources would be required from the City to operate this
system and are they different then resources we are already dedicating to
hauling?
A (Caroline) It depends on what elements the City would provide
because some elements like customer service and billing, can be
provided by the City or hauler. If the hauler provides those services,
then part of the base fee goes to the haulers. If the City provides those
services, the City would need to staff up and a portion of that bill would
come to the City. Those are some of the decisions we will be making
as we dive into more details. It will take more resources than we have
now but not dramatically, as we already have Waste Reduction &
Recycling staff.
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Q (Aric) Do we have a sense of average prices?
A (Kira) We want to do a pricing study that would look at invoices of
people across the community, so we can get an idea of what people
are paying for like haulers and like services. This would give us the
range of pricing for equal services. We would also be able to see any
trends or dynamics of who might be paying more and links to why.
There are elements we are still researching. One of the peer
communities noted a benefit in uniform pricing across the community,
which is a goal for us. We need to dial in on ranges and what might be
driving them.
Q (Aric) Would that happen before a decision is made to move to a
contracted system?
A (Kira) I think so. It could also give us a baseline of where we are
today and as we start looking at services offered, how much we would
want to take the prices up compared to the weight of the benefit from
that service. Making sure that the increase in price is reasonable to the
benefit.
Comment (Caroline) If anyone is willing here, part of that is going to
be collecting bills from community members. In an open market it often
varies house by house. In another community we spoke with, they had
two neighbors with the same haulers and service, and their bills were
different.
Comment (Kira) In regard to the question earlier about people being for or
against, one community letter we received was from an HOA in our
community that said they welcome this change for the broader community as
they have realized many benefits from this type of system in their
neighborhood. Some of those benefits included safety, pricing, service, and
reduction in noise and pollution. They were excited for the rest of the City to
experience it.
Q (John) What is the impact overall on amount of trash collected? We don’t
currently get feedback from haulers when there are contaminations in
recycling bins or things we don’t do right. Is this due to the open market
system we have and what would the impacts be of a contracted system on
our diversion plans?
A (Caroline) The contracted system is one way to achieve progress in
our diversion, but not the only way. There are more benefits in the
pricing, street cost savings, emissions, fewer trucks, and consolidated
services. The biggest opportunity for diversion in single family homes
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is additional composting. Fort Collins diversion rate is 29%. The
national average is 34%. We are not as low as some communities
Colorado but still not at the national average. Loveland has more than
50% because of the additional organics composting they are engaged
in. That could be achieved in either system. It is still possible to add
more with a licensed system. A big win would be recycling in correct
bins, yard trimmings, and food composting.
Q (John) Could you clarify the data point how many cars per trucks?
A (Caroline) The 2008 study stated one trash truck per 1,300
passenger cars. The thing to remember is that every time a hauler
services, it comes down the street twice, once in each direction. In
curbside, if you have a three-cart system, each hauler drives each side
3 times. Then multiply that by the number of haulers in the community;
that is where the wear and tear adds up.
Comment (Sylvia) We are working with consultants who are updating
the 2008 numbers. One thing to mention is even in a licensed system,
there could be a fee added for maintenance of streets because it is a
large cost. That is something we are also looking at and something
Council would need to decide on. It is not currently rolled into our
license system but could be part of additional requirements if Council
decides to stay in the licensed system.
Q (Renee) Is the estimate of $170,000 for road maintenance also
2008 numbers?
A (Sylvia) Yes.
Comment (Renee) So those numbers could have tripled by now.
Q (Renee) Is it conceivable that with four providers the City could end up with
one or two and then the other providers would not have business?
A (Caroline) One decision point would be how many haulers would
have a contract. There would be one hauler per district, but the
decision point is how many districts are there in the community? If
there was a situation where we had two districts, we would run
purchasing processes separate for each. It is possible where you
could have different haulers in two different districts, but also possible
a service provider would not get a contract. It feels more black and
white than it is. Reality is that a service provider could lose customers
they service, but there would be a 12 to 18-month transition period so
it is possible they would not have to shift much staffing. They also
service many sectors of the community including multifamily
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complexes, businesses and HOA’s with already established contracts
and even communities outside of Fort Collins. Multifamily complexes
and commercial services have a much higher profit margin. In
Colorado you cannot contract for those services. It would be different
for the new smaller hauler because they do not offer commercial or
multifamily services. They would have to shift their business plan to
include those sectors or areas outside of Fort Collins.
Q (John) What would you need from us as a board? I do think this is a great
idea just on environment benefits.
A (Sylvia) We are looking to go to a staff recommendation on July
12th. It might be helpful to get closer to that date so you can get more
information.
Comment (Josh) Historically it would be at a time when it makes
sense as a board to weigh in, typically in memo form, but we will see
what Council would prefer going forward. Don’t lose sight of some of
the feedback that was given tonight. At least one Board Member
expressed wanting to see the opt-out fee high. The logic is the
uniformity and consistence are the benefit, if you make the opt-out fee
low, you are not really changing the system and losing some of those
benefits. Price right to allow opt-out but only to those who are adamite.
Comment (Renee) I also am supportive that the benefits outweigh the
negatives. However, we are talking about a whole city with a lot of
people changing behavior and changed behavior is not embraced. My
recommendation is to get some current data; get information on safety
or incidents that have happened. Be well armed for community
members that don’t want to do this.
Comment (Brauilo) This issue is important and relevant. As a board
we can let you know this is issue is important and we care about it. We
would like to see something before it goes to City Council that includes
more detail. What are we gaining and potentially losing. We are not in
a position to recommend anything, but we want to have an option at
the time the issue comes to City Council or higher positions.
Q (John) John asked how the EAB can share its trash bills with staff when
the time comes.
A (Sylvia) We are looking at how we will be collecting those and
protecting privacy then we can reach back out to the Board and make
a formal request. We will also plan on starting with City staff, see how
many we can get, and go from there.
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Comment (Josh) When the team is ready to collect data, they can
reach out to me and I can send out instructions to the Board.
Q (Denny) When do you think you will be ready for recommendation from the
Board?
A (Josh) July 12th is the staff recommendation. The board will see this
again no later than the June meeting and then may be prepared to
make a formal statement. I will keep an eye on this topic. I would say
more of a formal motion of support when you have clarity on what the
recommendations could be.
Comment (Renee) Many of us take this for granted. If I were a sanitation
company or owner, I could see the benefits. I agree with Caroline about the
newer company and how it could be more challenging but who knows. It is
important as we see a lot of carriers that don’t pick up all the trash and let it
blow around. There is a lot to think about, but I think we will hold off on a final
decision today.
7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Nominations for Officer Positions
Brauilo motioned and Blake seconded Renee as Chair. Passed unanimously
8-0.
Brauilo motioned and Blake seconded John as Vice Chair. Pass unanimously
8-0.
Comment (Jeff) Right now it seems the Boards gets information about things
that are already decided vs being able to offer educated advice to the City
and Council.
Comment (Renee) It has been a disruptive couple of years, and I
think we might have gotten more done before the pandemic. Josh,
John, and I meet every month to discuss the agenda for the next
meeting. If you have ideas on topics, please let us know.
Comment (John) We can make sure our timing is correct with policies
and get information at a time when we can give feedback and
influence change vs after it is already decided.
Q (Mistene) Are our agendas truly a blank slate or are we limited on what is
on City Council’s agenda?
A (Josh) I think you are empowered to lean in on tips that are of
interest, but I think Council’s bandwidth tends to be limited, so
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focusing on things going before them are going to have the greatest
ability to influence. Finding the right time is key, so the clearer you can
be in topics of interest the easier it is to seek out those folks and get
them here soon. Sometimes council has expectation that certain
issues go to certain boards for input.
Comment (Brauilo) With my experience memos were produced.
Creating memos to City Council is good because we are a body that
advises Council and it’s a way to make our voices heard.
Q (Denny) I like the idea about providing input on matters we would like
brought up. Would Josh be able to send a reminder prior to the agenda
planning meeting so we can send over our ideas?
A (Josh) I will plan to send it out the Friday before we meet. Feel free
to email us at any time. Josh mentioned they are going to be doing an
update to the economic plan soon and thinks this Board will be a
significant steering committee for that process.
Comment (Thierry) It would be nice to know what we are covering so we
can do some research/learn more ahead of time.
Q (Blake) Is the work plan received every six months?
A (Josh) That is our ambition. It is required once a year to submit a
work plan to Council. Usually once a year we visit it and submit
something. We did that work at the end of last year. The work plan is
trying to be higher level; it is more of an intention rather than a must
deliver.
Comment (Josh) Council is going on a retreat in July or August. They set
the agenda for the year and prioritize items. It gives the Board a road map to
see what they will be focusing on. They will also take a recess. This Council
is finding new ways to conduct business than what has historically happened.
They are rounding out the first year together and have another year together
before the next election. This is uncharted territory because they are saying
they want new norms. As a Board you wrote 11 memos in the last 24 months,
but memos are not necessarily the way this Council likes to be
communicated with anymore. Once we find out a preferred style, we can
adopt that so we could increase communication and engagement.
The Board agreed to dedicate some personal time to prepare for upcoming
meetings.
8. BOARD MEMBER AND STAFF REPORTS
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None
9. OTHER BUSINESS
Comment (Brauilo) I read the news today that they dissolved the Downtown
Development Authority. It would be interest to see what the reasons were for this. I
just want to leave it on the table for a future discussion.
Comment (Josh) I would be happy to share the context on that, even
through email. The quick answer is the pandemic but other layers and
nuances that we could discuss next meeting.
10. ADJOURN - 6:52 pm