HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 04/01/2014 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 050, 2014, APPROPRIAgenda Item 7
Item # 7 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY April 1, 2014
City Council
STAFF
Susie Gordon, Senior Environmental Planner
SUBJECT
First Reading of Ordinance No. 050, 2014, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves in the General Fund for Waste
Reduction and Diversion Projects to be Approved Through the Waste Innovation Program.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to shift $18,794 accumulated during 2013 in the Waste Innovation Fund account
into the City’s General Fund account for approved projects to develop new organizational processes to enable
departments to divert more waste material from landfill disposal.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
The City Manager created a fund in 2010 to pay for projects that improve the City’s organizational ability to
divert waste generated by municipal activities from being disposed in the Larimer County landfill. Discarded
material and trash that City crews self-haul to the landfill is charged only 28 cents/cubic yard by Larimer
County Solid Waste Department, which is passed through in payment to the state for landfill regulatory
management and monitoring programs.
The balance of the regular “tipping fee” at the landfill, $5.27 per cubic yard, is placed in the City’s Waste
Innovation Program (WIP) fund. WIP revenues are received from 15 City departments that self-haul various
types of waste to the landfill in truckloads.
An interdepartmental group of employees participates in awarding funds when requests are received from
departments. Members of this group also act as “waste reduction champions” throughout the organization and
communicate with crews about how to apply these Best Management Practices in City operations
During 2013, projects were approved that allowed Water Operations staff in the Utilities to successfully screen
wet dirt excavated from water main repair projects, and for the Streets Department to purchase a power screen
for refining aggregates at the Crushing Facility (Hoffman Mill Road). Both projects quickly demonstrated field
crews’ ability to reach higher new levels of waste diversion for the City and for the community at large.
Investments made in the new equipment have also allowed the City to save money, by utilizing road base
material made at the Crushing Facility for paving projects and producing good quality fill dirt for engineering
purposes.
FINANCIAL / ECONOMIC IMPACT
The appropriation will make $18,794 available for emerging City organization waste reduction projects. Staff
proposals that have been submitted to the Waste Innovation Program will be competitively reviewed and
awarded during 2014, thereafter enabling new cost-savings measures to be practiced by field crews
throughout the organization.
Agenda Item 7
Item # 7 Page 2
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
WIP funds are intended to help City departments reduce their trash sent to the landfill, thereby reducing
methane emissions, extending the lifespan of the Larimer County Landfill, and recovering reusable
commodities. Putting recycled materials to use instead of producing new paving products helps the City
prevent emissions of greenhouse gases that would have been generated to produce virgin-content concrete
and asphalt.
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ORDINANCE NO. 050, 2014
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
APPROPRIATING PRIOR YEAR RESERVES IN THE GENERAL FUND
FOR WASTE REDUCTION AND DIVERSION PROJECTS TO BE APPROVED
THROUGH THE WASTE INNOVATION PROGRAM
WHEREAS, in 2010, the City created the Waste Innovation Program (the “WIP”) to
offer grants that allow City departments to initiate new waste diversion and recycling projects
with special attention to departments that have larger quantities of waste that is self-hauled to the
Larimer County Landfill; and
WHEREAS, WIP Funds are held in a General Fund Reserve account until awarded; and
WHEREAS, employees on an interdepartmental team administer the WIP funds and act
as liaisons for incorporating waste reduction and promoting recycling strategies when requests
are received from participating City departments; and
WHEREAS, multiple waste reduction and diversion projects have been submitted to the
WIP team for review for funding in 2014; and
WHEREAS, Article V, Section 9, of the City Charter permits the City Council to
appropriate by ordinance at any time during the fiscal year such funds for expenditure as may be
available from reserves accumulated in prior years, notwithstanding that such reserves were not
previously appropriated; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS that there is hereby appropriated for expenditure from prior year reserves in
the General Fund the sum of EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED NINETY FOUR
DOLLARS ($18,794) for waste reduction and diversion projects to be approved and
administered through the Waste Innovation Program.
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 1st day of
April, A.D. 2014, and to be presented for final passage on the 15th day of April, A.D. 2014.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
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Passed and adopted on final reading on the 15th day of April, A.D. 2014.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk