Thread by @DocumenterK

I'll be live-tweeting todays, Thursday, August 5, 2021, @CleCityCouncil Cleveland City Council's Joint Committee Meeting of Municipal Services & Development Planning & Sustainability at 9:30 AM.

@cledocumenters #CLEDocumenters & @NeighborUpCle

Join us and stream the livestream via youtube,

@clecitycouncil Joint Committee meeting will "review the updated City of Cleveland Recycling and Waste Collection Program."

Cleveland will be implementing a "bi-weekly, opt-in recycling program" that will require Clevelanders to agree to the recycling program guidelines.

Opt-in to the recycling program by calling 216-664-3030

or

by filing online here,

survey123.arcgis.com/share/31e404d4…

Learn about the recycling program guidelines,

clevelandohio.gov/sites/default/…

Access the Public Notice of meeting here,

cityofcleveland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&…

The Joint Committee Is live and the City of Cleveland's Chief Operating Officer Darnell Brown ("COO Brown") is present.

COO Brown begins his presentation with general information about the Division of Waste Collection

COO Brown alleges there were multiple reasons that lead to a lapse in the Recycling program

GT Environnement did a complete assessment of waste collection and produced a report with implementation plan that had at least 7 recommendations.

These recommendations included,

shift recycling to biweekly, opt-in program
shift bulk to biweekly, appointment-based program

Ward 8 Council Representative Mike Polensek asks "How is commissioner Alcintra?"

COO Brown, "He is managing health concerns and has retired officially."

W8 CM Polensek, "On the issue of contamination, do you have it broken down to what areas of the city had the highest contamination to what areas had the last amount? Was the 68% contamination city wide or the various zones your collected in? How was the figure determined?"

Terrell Cole, "The way the waste audit in 2018 occurred was a week's worth of collection. Each load each week was analyzed. Wards didn't do better than others. Some streets did. It's important to note that in the detail of the analysis included bag items."

W8 CM Polensek, "I am really concerned. Was it lack of education, that people didn't understand what was and wasn't recyclable? What I found in my community is that it was success in the highest owner-occupied homes."

COO Brown, "The market for recycling is a constantly evolving target. One time it was use bags, another don't use. ... It became an issue of just costs. ... It was costs and contamination.

COO Brown, "Not being clear and ramifications for not being complaint are the tools we will have to use this time. One of the reasons we are doing the opt-in program, we believe we can get a more competitive price for our commodities."

Chief of Sustainability Jason Wood is present.

W8 CM Polensek, "What was the real challenge to make the program work? When you realize our residents are paying 8.75 a month for their pickup, including their water and sewer bill is a great concern to me. I want to make sure it will occur this time. "

W8 CM Polensek, "I hope we are looking at other municipalities in Cuyahoga County. We have to look at things on more of a regional basis."

Ward 12 Council Member Brancatelli, "Under the original GT assessment, there were a series of recommendations. To the Chief, the recommendations today is what the city landed on?"

COO Brown, "These are the priority recommendations from GT and we chose those."

COO Brown continues his presentation and highlights 4 aspects of the program,

1. Opt-In Recruitment and Engagement.
2. Processing contract and acceptable materials.
3. Recycling coordinator.
4. Circular alternatives.

COO Brown reviews the opt-in process and the Cleveland Citizen Recycling Pledge,

Chief Wood continues on the opt-in process, "We are live in our opt-in process. The 90 day enrollment period runs until October 22. Once we get there, we will not stop enrollments. ... They will still be able to opt-in but it will take longer before they are live."

Chief Wood, "Contamination is a critical component of this."

He continues to describe their "multi-channel communication strategy" to recruit participants.

Chief Wood, "Our responses in not evenly spread across the City."

Map indicates the West Side has a higher active participation rate.

Ward 1 Council Member Jones, "The program we have now will be other week?"

Chief Wood, "Yes, that is correct."

W1 CM Jones, "Do we have a vendor yet?"

COO Brown, "No, we are collecting a database and will present it in an invitation to bid in 2 to 3 weeks with the goal of a contract by mid to late October."

W12 CM Brancatelli, "How about mixed use buildings?"

Terrell Cole, "They will continue and have the opportunity to participate in the program."

W12 CM Brancatelli, "Anything over 4 units will require a contract with a private company or the city?"

Chief Wood, "Correct."

W12 CM Brancatelli, "Has a mailer gone out to every resident?"

Chief Wood, "No, not yet."

W8 CM Polensek, "The map supports what I said earlier about owner-occupied homes recycling more. Residents are wondering if they do not opt-in will they receive a recycling fee reduction?"

COO Brown, "The short answer is no. It is a waste fee."

W8 CM Polensek, "Will the blue carts be removed?"

COO Brown, "Yes, at some point."

W8 CM Polensek, "The waste fee is not going to change?"

COO Brown, "Correct."

W8 CM Polensek, "Will bulk be other week?"

COO Brown, "Yes, likely alternating weeks."

W8 CM Polensek, "I want to disseminate information right now in my community."

Ward 17 Council Member Slife, "Most residents don't agree that the Waste Fee is not a recycling fee. Most will view this as getting half the service for the same costs.

W17 CM Slife, "I am a little nervous that we are putting the cart before the horse. We are asking residents to opt-in to a program in 90 days and hedging our bet that this will become a contract with a recycling company. What happens if the numbers don't come back favorably?"

COO Wood, "All indicators are that the drivers for costs are around the quality of the product. ... We understand taht everybody that has done this has been served well."

W17 CM Slife follows up with some commentary on a past recycling bid that was not executed.

W3 CM McCormack is present and has asked several questions on educating the public about generally reducing waste and implementing easily accessible education resources on the cans.

"How do we get these apartment buildings looped in with the recycling program?"

COO Brown, "Most apartments have their own haulers. Some have their own recycling as well."

A small discussion occurs about recycling for apartments and potential composting services.

COO Brown continues the presentation.

Unfortunately, I am having technical difficulties and will have to end this live-tweet session. I will return later this evening to finish.

COO Brown summarizes what was previously stated.

"Once we get through the opt-in process, the City will be responsibly for curbside collection and delivery to Ridge Road Transfer Station."

COO Brown, "We had several conversations with multiple entities. Some that think there is a favorable market for glass and some without. So, when we put our bid out it what will have an option with glass and without glass to determine whether or not glass becomes a commodity."

COO Brown, "It's the quality of the product, not just you putting the product in the can. ... Getting people to accept this as part and parcel of the process."

Chief Wood on the Recycling Coordinator, "The focus of this is going to be coordinating that outreach and education. We know that building a successful program means staying in constant consistent and thorough communication with residents who are participating in the program."

Chief Wood, "We're also going to have them support the program evaluation optimization. ... How do we grow this program so it's bigger but still successful? ... We posted the position and closed it some weeks ago. We've had some interviews this week."

W12 CM Brancatelli states he did not see the Recycling Coordinator Position as a part of the Council approved voted upon budget.

Someone replies, "It is not in our budget at the time, we have to go through a process internally."

COO Brown, "So in effect we will swap it out for another position."

W12 CM Brancatelli, "So that would have to come back to Council for legislative action?"

COO Brown, "No, it would not."

W12 CM Brancatelli, "So, one of the questions is what we received around this whole opt-in period is 'opt-in for what?' So, we're not sure what we are opting in for if we don't know what is going to be allowable for whoever wins this process contract."

W12 CM Brancatelli, "So what you're opting in for right now is wish recycling. We wish we can recycle all this but we're not sure, is that correct?"

COO Brown, "No. No. We have a very specific list of commodities which are on the screen presently. The only option we will ask the proposed bidders to give us a quote for a bid including glass and not including glass."

W12 CM Brancatelli inquires about plastics. "The other question I would have is it sounds like you guys are confident that plastic can in fact be recycled?"

Chief Wood, "Yes, certain plastics can and that is what we will have to communicate to residents."

Chief Wood defers to Kristin Hall who states, "I think the biggest thing I want to underline here is bottles and jugs.
BOTTLES AND JUDGS ONLY. ... If it tapers off and has a lid, you're good to go. ... When in doubt, throw it out."

W12 CM Brancatelli asks about apartments, tenants, and fines.

"If renters can opt in, can the landlord opt out? The landlord says 'No, I'm getting fines because you're contaminating or you're not setting out trash properly' but the fine will go to the property owner..."

W12 CM Brancatelli, "How do we distinguish that or how do we manage that?"

COO Brown answers and emphasizes, "Fines are part and parcel of our strategy. I think communication and education will uh the ability to directly do outreach to these households and then uh at the end of the day we do finally reserve the right not to service you..."

Brancatelli, "The appeal process was Board of Zoning or BBS?"

"Board of Zoning."

Brancatelli, "So, as long as we have the ability to clarify that if a landlord comes in & says yeah that fine should be directed to my tenant, is that possible through the BZA, how do we distinguish that?"

COO Brown, "Mr. Chairman, I'm not sure we have an answer to that today."

W12 CM Brancatelli reflects, "that there is a challenge to communicate when we have this kind of alternating system."

COO Brown agrees, "We understand that clarity uh is an important part of this entire process. ... We'll own that issue."

W12 CM Brancatelli is concerned about charging residents a fifty dollar ($50.00) fee for an additional cart.

"There's an equity issue, folks just can't afford it. It doesn't seem reasonable since we are coming up with these policies. How did you come up with that notion?"

COO Brown answers, "That is the direct cost really of a cart. It costs us about $50.00 for each of them. ... I do hear your concern and I am willing to take that back to our group and have further discussion on it but that appears to be the most feasible way for us..."

W12 CM Brancatelli seeks information about what percentage of the population may require an additional can.

"I know you've had a couple of years to study this now & you've had GT on for the past year, I suspect they should have enough information to say..."

Brancatelli continues with questions from residents, "From what I've been hearing from residents [is that] they have called for a special bulk pickup, they've been told that they're not taking special bulk pickups. So, are we opening that back up again for folks to call?"

Aludwig responds, "That's a discussion that will have to take place with my superiors."

Brancatelli highlights issues with communication,

"So, this communication right now is not necessarily accurate on some of these because it's still you know it is I understand the staffing issue and I understand that's been a big issue..."

Brancatelli asks another question about fines,

"When cycling resumes again...when do you anticipate we would start going to fining folks for improper set outs or are we still are we still fining folks for improper set-ups?"

Commissioner Aludwig responds, "We never stopped citing for those. Effective august the ninth we will go back to citing for the less egregious violations."

Brancatelli commends Aludwig for his general communication and responsiveness to Council.

Brancatelli reflects on littering,

"You know the city should not be a dumping ground for people just to put stuff everywhere and it's really unfortunate that people think they're just going to dump whatever they want out and we're going to come pick it up."

Brancatelli continued reflecting,

"Educating people on what they can and can't do becomes important but having some punitive measures there to make sure people do comply also is important so thank you."

Ward 2 CM Bishop,

"For those customers that are not recycling, it would be very difficult for them to keep up which week is which. It would be a great strategy that if we can come out with it with a real schedule of which week is recycling & which week is bulk."

W8 CM Polensek concurs with Brancatelli,

"The code word I want to use throughout this discussion today is flexibility. There has to be flexibility in the program."

Polensek continues,

"There has to be an understanding as to what our residents are confronted with costs and then also the more complex we make the program. ... There's been enough confusion on the program itself so flexiblity, clarity, transparency. If not, it will not work."

Polensek adds,

"You will have a bunch of angry people, more angry now then when recycling was put on hold.

Common sense. We don't need to be charging them additional funds if they're already paying a fee per month."

Ward 17 Slife shares the other Councilmembers concerns about scheduling for bulk; increased reliance on the black trash can as what is considered trash increases due to a decrease in recycling; and fines & fees.

Slife requests for the hard data on compliance challenges.

"To be able to target our outreach & communications with residents on those streets in those areas of town. We can get compliance. Get people excited about recycling. Let them learn about you know processing."

W2 CM Bishop affirms that it is possible.

W16 CM Brian Kazy asks, "The fifty dollar black can fee is that just for people who request a second can and that's not for cans that individuals need for cans that are broken?"

COO Brow, "That is correct."

Kazy, "Do we know our inventory on black cans?"

COO Brown defers to the Commissioner, "The last bond issue we are getting funding for, there's a quarter of a million dollars in there for new cans."

Someone adds, "We've got money put into the account to purchase new cans."

Aludgwig, "The inventory is about 125 carts left."

Kazy, "Are residents charged for bring recyclables or bulk item to service centers or is it free?"

Aludwig, "It's a free service but need to show their license that they are residents and are afforded 4 free dumps a year."

Kazy asks, "Are those outreach mailers going to be individual mailers regarding recycling or are they going to be inserts into a utility bill?"

Chief Wood, "It's to be determined. "

Chief wood,

"I think we will certainly utilize the inserts into the utility bills just because of the distribution rate and the average cost per piece to do that. As we look at other options on citywide mailers, it would be outside of the utility bill if we move that route."

Chief wood,

"I think one of the things that we want to take a look at too is it's not just communications around recycling. We need to make sure we're communicating all programmatic changes from waste. So, we are taking a look at developing a new waste guide."

Kazy responds, "My only concern about a utility insert, is that do people actually look at those inserts? I would advocate for an individual mailing."

W11 CM Brian Mooney, "Did you say that we're going to be start issuing tickets for improper set out at some point?

Aludwid, "Yes, sir, we're going to start August the 9th ticketing for the minor offenses."

W12 CM Brancatelli asks how the City will handle individuals who help family members that are residents dispose of bulk at centers.

Aludwig, "We try our best to not let commercial entities in there."

Aludwig, "In our experience, we've had individuals with commercial trucks. They've had a variety of utility bills with them. They're in business. If there is a particular issues that a Councilmember is aware of, I would recommend calling us to see what we can do."

Ward 4 CM Anita Gardner, "Is the city willing to pick up the cans at the houses that there are abandoned. I have some neighbors that have 3 to 4 to 5 of these cans at their property."

Someone adds, "Our drivers are instructed to note...If you note the address, let us know."

W15 CM Kazy returns,

"If the opt-in ends on October 22, does that mean that you guys won't be ready to go out for bid until probably sometime in November or December? Because is that part of the information that you're going to need for the RFP, to go out?

Kazy, "Do we know when we anticipate the City of Cleveland would start the recycling program up and when will it be operational and ready to go? Do we have at least an estimated date?"

COO Brown,

"Actually, we have already prepared the invitation to bid. It'll probably be going out in a few weeks once we get some initial data in from the - as you saw the map. We're getting an indication of the areas and the density."

"We will have some preliminary information that we can share with potential bidders including what our protocols will be for what we will accept & how we intend to enforce compliance including our letters of commitment from the residents and our ability to communicate with them."

COO Brown, "We expect actually to be entering into a contract probably mid to late October and so we expect for all intents and purposes to be able to do recycling in November of this year."

Chief Wood continues the presentation,

"We are not going to be able to recycle our way out of our waste problems. We have to start to look at more kind of what we term circular solutions that really put a much greater emphasis on the Reduce and Reuse part of the three Rs."

Chief Wood, "Last April we received a notice from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that they were putting out a funding opportunity tied to the intersection of climate change and health. If you're not familiar with the Foundation they're primarily a health focused foundation."

Wood, "This was really one of if not the first part of sustainability related funding that they had opened up. ... We put a grant application entitled 'Circular Cleveland advancing health equity and climate in the Great Lakes'."

Wood, "Cleveland was one of six cities that were selected to receive the grant. In total we were awarded just a little bit under five hundred thousand dollars out of an available three million dollars to launch our efforts."

Wood, "That effort is really going to look at a 24 to 30 month project divided into two phases. It includes funding for a roadmap and a plan and some material flow analysis that we think is pretty valuable."

Wood, "If we do this right, we can create some economic opportunity and jobs."

Chief Wood reflects on the principles guiding their circular economy approach.

Chief Wood,

"The good news is that we are not starting from scratch...The term is new but the principles are not...A lot of our residents are already doing this."

Chief Wood, "In our application to the Robert Johnson Foundation we outlined 5 key goals. ... There are some very specific implementation deliverables. One is to launch a compost facility at the West Side Market....Longer term have compost drop-off at centers."

Project Timeline.

"Work is already underway."

Chief Wood shares some actions already taken include hiring a consultant and engaging in community & stakeholders.

Chief Wood reviewed neighborhood projects that were funded in Round One, awarded July 2021.

14 projects funded, over $40,000 awarded.
Round two in early 2022.

Chief Wood reviews Circular Cleveland Ambassadors program.

"We want to make sure that we are really connected with the residents. We have 12 residents right now."

W12 CM Brancatelli inquires if the ambassadors are going to stand alone or pre-existing stewards and ambassadors.

Chief Wood answers they will be standalone but likely interlink with pre-existing stewards.

W8 CM Polensek, "Can you provide to us who the ambassadors are?"

Chief Wood, "Yes,"

Polensek, "I want to make sure our neighborhood residents understand how they can become a part of that and fit into that."

Polensek on composting, "I've always believed in composting...I can't stress enough that if we really want to impact our waste stream, we have to promote composting. ... What is our cost per ton per tipping free?"

Aludwig, "I believe it is around 33 dollars a ton."

Polensek, "If we can reduce that, we can impact our general fund bottom line."

Chief Wood, "I don't know if we've done a city fund initiative...now is probably the time to have some of these conversations...there are too many positives to not figure out a way to do it."

Polensek, "We've talked about it ad nauseum over the years. In 2021 I'd like to see us move in this direction.

I call my compost black gold...It's amazing what it does to your soil."

W3 CM McCormack, "I compost in my backyard as well. There's an organization called Rust Belt Riders who do curbside pickup and they provide the bins. That could be a business the city could partner with."

rustbeltriders.com

W2 Bishop is reading questions from the public that were sent in via email.

From Andrea Sharpe, Ward 15, she wants to make a point that we have color coded charts & we have a lot of colors for a lot of products that you are trying to distinguish that is and is not recyclable. It will be hard to distinguish if you are colorblind."

Terry McNiel, founder of FixOurStreets and a consultant, emailed several questions,

Q1 Why doesn't the City of Cleveland partner with Cuyahoga County to build a recycling center for all of NE Ohio?

Q2 Why isn't the City recycling tires into rubber crum or their natural state instead of putting into landfills?

Q3 Why isn't the City recycling the asphalt on our roads in the same program as recycling?

Q4 Why not create a new department of recycling along with bulk waste?

Chief Wood responds to McNiel's Q1,

"The startup costs are kind of the barrier to entry to getting into the recycling processing center is fairly fairly high. We want to make sure we are being smart about the dollars we invest into the program."

Chief Wood, "I think as recycling markets change and evolve and shake out we'll see more capacity potentially coming into the space through other means it's not to say that it's not something we wouldn't think about but it's a much longer term solution."

COO Brown took a shot at answering McNiel's Q2,

"We actually have done and will probably continue to do a couple of pilots with recycled asphalt. We are evaluating. We've done it on a number about a half dozen or so residential streets. So, we're evaluating."

COO Brown,

"We know that it's about 30 percent to maybe 40 percent cheaper to do it. In terms of its consistency, it's a little rougher than the regular process that we use. [We are piloting] to determine whether or not there is an appropriate application across the City."

Aludwig answers McNiel's Q3,

"The vendor that we do use that takes our tires is indeed a tire recycler."

COO Brown on McNiel's Q4, "That's obviously a policy discussion...Our goal is to relaunch, rebuild, and grow our existing program. ... Right now, it seems premature."

There were no other public comments.

COO Brown expresses his appreciation to the leadership and the committee for their engagement and recommendations.

Councilmembers made several final requests for information concerning recycling including the numbers of residential opt-ins and addresses.

Cleveland City Council's Joint Committee Meeting of Municipal Services & Development Planning & Sustainability adjourned at our around 12:06PM on August 5, 2021.

To become involved and for more meeting coverage, check out documenters.org. Have questions? Think we got something wrong? Send any enquiries on the meeting or these tweets to @cledocumenters

Or email us at [e-mail]@cledocumenters

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