HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 09/03/2019 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 109, 2019 APPROPRIAAgenda Item 7
Item # 7 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY September 3, 2019
City Council
STAFF
Caroline Mitchell, Environmental Planner
Ingrid Decker, Legal
SUBJECT
First Reading of Ordinance No. 109, 2019 Appropriating Prior Year Reserves in the General Fund for the
Waste Innovation Program.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to move $51,275 accumulated during 2018 in the Waste Innovation Fund account
into the City's General Fund account for approved projects to develop new organizational processes that
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 General Fund reserve in 2010 to pay for new 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 35 cents
per 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 is placed in the City’s Waste Innovation Program (WIP)
reserve. WIP funding is received from 15 City departments that self-haul various types of waste to the landfill.
An interdepartmental group of employees participates in reviewing proposals that are received from
departments. Members of this group are also “waste reduction champions” throughout the organization and
communicate with crews about how to best apply Best Management Practices in City operations.
In 2019, three applications (totaling $51,275) have been recommended for funding by the interdepartmental
team. The projects are:
1. $1,575 for safety equipment for the compost turner / tractor equipment. The tractor guard will provide
additional safety for employees and increase the longevity of this crucial equipment which makes the
municipal compost program possible.
2. $17,500 for scales for street sweepers. The scales will provide important information that will allow for
enhanced efficiencies, supporting more waste diversion in the collection of leaves during Operation Clean
Sweep, which are then composted in the municipal compost site at Hoffman Mill Crushing Facility.
3. $32,200 to hire a consulting firm that will develop a plan for further waste reduction opportunities for
industrial waste generated from municipal operations. Materials (both landfilled and diverted) generated
Agenda Item 7
Item # 7 Page 2
from industrial activities from departments such as Light and Power, Streets, and Water Field Operations
constitute on average about 97% of the materials generated from the organization, and 40% of the
materials generated from the community as a whole. The waste landfilled from the industrial activities
represented 11% of the waste landfilled from the Fort Collins community in 2018.
CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS
The appropriation will make $51,275 available for emerging City organization waste reduction projects that
have been competitively reviewed and awarded, enabling new cost-savings measures to be put into practice
throughout the organization.
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ORDINANCE NO. 109, 2019
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
APPROPRIATING PRIOR YEAR RESERVES IN THE GENERAL FUND
FOR THE WASTE INNOVATION PROGRAM
WHEREAS, in 2010, the City created the Waste Innovation Program (“WIP”), and
revenues collected for the WIP are held in a reserve account in the General Fund; and
WHEREAS, the funds are used to administer 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, an interdepartmental group of employees reviews proposals for
incorporating waste reduction, promoting recycling strategies, and awarding funds when requests
are received from participating City departments; and
WHEREAS, in 2019 to date three applications have been received (requesting $51,275 in
funding) for projects that will provide equipment to support the City’s composting program at
the Hoffman Mill Crushing Facility, provide scales for street sweepers to enhance efficiencies
and allow for more waste diversion, and hire a consulting firm to develop a plan for further waste
reduction opportunities for waste generated from municipal operations; and
WHEREAS, staff proposals that are submitted to the WIP during the remainder of 2019
will continue to be competitively reviewed, and additional projects that are approved will be
eligible for WIP funding; and
WHEREAS, this appropriation benefits public health, safety and welfare of the citizens
of Fort Collins and serves the public purpose of encouraging sustainability and reducing the
amount of solid waste the City sends to the Larimer County Landfill; 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
WHEREAS, the City Manager has recommended the appropriation described herein and
determined that this appropriation is available and previously unappropriated from the General
Fund and will not cause the total amount appropriated in the General Fund to exceed the current
estimate of actual and anticipated revenues to be received in that fund during any fiscal year.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and
findings contained in the recitals set forth above.
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Section 2. That there is hereby appropriated for expenditure from prior year reserves
in the General Fund the sum of FIFTY-ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-FIVE
DOLLARS ($51,275) for waste reduction and diversion projects to be approved as part of the
Waste Innovation Program.
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 3rd day of
September, A.D. 2019, and to be presented for final passage on the 17th day of September, A.D.
2019.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 17th day of September, A.D. 2019.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk