Solid Waste and Recycling Council
January 31, 2005
Minutes
Members Present:		Bob Peterson, Julie Mathiesen, Jill Barnard, Janet Person, Bill Gadwau and Gene Dawson
Members Absent:		Jim Palmer, Mike McPherson and Leonard Klein
Staff Present:		Pete Garwood and Elizabeth St. Pierre
Others Present:		None.
I.          Call to Order
	Bob Peterson called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.
II.         Public Comment
	None.
III.        Organization
	§ Election of Officers Peter Garwood, Coordinator/Planner, presided over the election of officers and opened the floor for nominations. Motion by Janet Person, supported by Jill Barnard to close nominations and to cast a unanimous ballot for Bob Peterson for Chairperson.  Motion carried – unanimous. Motion by Bill Gadwau, supported by Bob Peterson to close nominations and cast a unanimous vote for Janet Person for Vice Chairperson.  Motion carried – unanimous. § 2005 meeting dates Motion by Julie Mathieson, supported by Gene Dawson, to continue meeting on the Monday of the week preceding the Public Works Committee At 3:00 p.m.  Motion carried – unanimous.
IV.        Minutes of November 22, 2004 Meeting
	Motion by Janet Person, supported by Jill Barnard to approve the minutes of the November 22, 2004 meeting.  Motion carried - unanimous.
V.         Plan Update and Ordinance Drafting Proposal
	Julie Mathiesen stated that the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently working on changes to the guidelines for solid waste planning and enforcement.  Ms. Mathiesen also indicated that because the DEQ has no enforcement mechanisms in place the State is not pushing the updates of the current solid waste plans.  She also indicated that because the State is not pushing enforcement it was her opinion it made more sense to write an implementation plan at this time as opposed to updating the statutorily required Solid Waste Plan. The State of Michigan has no guidelines for an implementation plan.  Therefore the proposed implementation plan could put action goals into a timeline with dates.  This would include solid waste and household hazardous waste education and implementation.  Sample plans could be accessed from web searches and elsewhere. From an implementation plan could come a solid waste ordinance.  Janet Person pointed out the importance of citizen input on a draft solid waste ordinance before any public hearings.  Implementation plans could start slow or at pace that would ensure success for Antrim County.  Ms. Person presented a proposal for the ACD to write an implementation plan and a solid waste ordinance. The last time we tried to implement a recycling program, it was with the utilization of Public Act 185 which would allow the county to establish a fee per residence and commercial establishments to support the program.  PA 185 requires township buy-in, but failed because the townships wouldn’t buy into it.  Alternative funding mechanisms for various recycling programs were therefore discussed.  Ms. Person stated that in the course of writing the proposed solid waste implementation plan, the ACD would conduct a search for methods of paying for recycling programs.  Suggestions included finding local buyers (e.g. refrigerators); tire collection (“pay as you throw”) has worked in Echo Township (at $3 per tire).  Sources and fees for scrap metal were also discussed.  Ms. Person informed the Council the ACD would write the implementation plan and a solid waste ordinance for $10,000. Ms Mathieson stated that hiring a Solid Waste Coordinator to do the plan and provide implementation made the most sense but since the county didn’t want to do that, contracting with the Antrim Conservation District was the next best thing.  Bob Peterson asked Janet Person to provide a one (1) page summary of what would go into the solid waste implementation plan.
VI. Other Matters
	² Household Hazardous Waste Day A memo from Janet Person describing activities and costs of Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Solid Waste Plan for 2005 was discussed. The council agreed that Ms. Person should present the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Day proposal to the Public Works Committee. Dates, fees, sites and contracts for hazardous waste collection were discussed: o 2 separate days were considered, one in August and one in October.  o 4 sites in Antrim County were discussed.  o The county could enter into a contract with ACD if needed for this work. o Fees, of $5 per drop off and 50 cents per pound for participants, were recommended.
VII.       Communication
	None.
VIII. Member Comment
	None.
Meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
The next Solid Waste Recycling Council meeting will be February 22, 2005 at 3:00 p.m.