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08 MAR 06.doc CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 6, 2008 7:00 P.M. – 8:08 P.M. REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING - CITY HALL - #1 MUNICIPAL DRIVE The City Council of the City of Jacksonville, Arkansas met in Regular Session on March 8, 2008 at the regular meeting place of the Council. Alderman Smith delivered the invocation and Mayor Swaim led a standing audience in the “Pledge of Allegiance” to the flag. ROLL CALL: Aldermen: Elliott, Smith, McCleary, Sansing, Ray, Stroud, and Twitty answered roll call. Mayor Swaim also answered ROLL CALL declaring a quorum. PRESENT SEVEN (7), ABSENT (3). Aldermen Rinker, Fletcher and Howard were absent. Others present for the meeting were: City Attorney Robert Bamburg, Director of Administration Jay Whisker, Public Works Director Jim Oakley, Human Resource Director Jill Fourqurean, Parks and Recreation Director George Biggs, CDBG Director Theresa Watson, Fire Chief John Vanderhoof, Police Captain Charles Jenkins, Mr. Joey Price, Alfonso Nations, Larry Smith, Mrs. Sandra Sansing, interested citizens and members of the press. PRESENTATION OF MINUTES: Mayor Swaim presented the minutes of the regular City Council meeting of February 21, 2008 for approval and/or correction at the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting. APPROVAL AND/OR CORRECTION OF MINUTES: Alderman Stroud moved, seconded by Alderman Ray that the minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting of 7 February 2008 be APPROVED. MOTION CARRIED. CONSENT AGENDA: WATER DEPARTMENT: WASTEWATER DEPARTMENT: FIRE DEPARTMENT: POLICE DEPARTMENT: STREET DEPARTMENT: SANITATION DEPARTMENT: PARKS & RECREATION: PRESENTATION: Coaches of the Year Awards Parks and Recreation Director George Biggs and Parks Commissioner Joey Price presented Coach of the Year awards to Baseball Coach Robert Watts, Softball Coach Quincy Percy, and Soccer Coaches Tina Harris and Mark Hettinger. PLANNING COMMISSION: GENERAL: a. RESOLUTION 612 (#5-2008) A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN OFFER OF GIFT FOR THE JOINT EDUCATION CENTER TO BE CONSTRUCTED AT THE LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE; AND, FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 1 CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 6, 2008 7:00 P.M. – 8:08 P.M. Mayor Swaim related that along with the 5 million raised from taxes regarding the City’s part, the 9.8 million regarding the Federal Government has been secured. He stated that the Resolution would authorize disbursal of funds. Alderman Elliott moved, seconded by Alderman Smith to read Resolution 612 (#5-2008). MOTION CARRIED. Whereupon City Attorney Bamburg read the heading of Resolution 612. Alderman Stroud moved, seconded by Alderman McCleary to approve Resolution 612 in its entirety. MOTION CARRIED. Mayor Swaim related that the projected construction start date is January 2009. b. PRESENTATION by Waste Management Mr. George Wheatley, Director of Governmental Affairs for Waste Management of Arkansas, introduced David Conrade engineer at four of the Waste Management landfills in Arkansas; Wayne Magnum Site Manager, Linda Davis and Terra Dodge customer service. He provided the City Council with a fact sheet and demonstrated aerial photographs regarding the Two Pine Landfill, noting that the photographs were taken December 23, 2007. He pointed out that the original footprint of the Landfill has been split by the construction of Hwy. 440, explaining that the permitted property is located on both sides of the Highway. It was noted that 39.1 acres on the northeast side of Hwy. 440 is already permitted and would also be considered as part of the 144.5 acre expansion, for a total permitted area after expansion of 239.5 acres. He stated that the existing Landfill capacity is approximately 12,900,000 cubic yards and the expansion area capacity would be approximately 21,500,000 cubic yards, adding that the Hwy. 440 project caused a loss of approximately 50% of the original Landfill area. Mr. David Conrade informed the City Council that the existing permitted Landfill area would reach capacity by September 2008. He added that the 144.5 acre expansion, at the rate of approximately 2,000 tons daily, would last until 2050. He noted that the Landfill has fifteen full-time employees; nine from Jacksonville, Cabot, North Little Rock, and Sherwood, four from Little Rock and Maumelle, and two from Benton and Bauxite. He then noted that there would be approximately 20 to 40 construction workers during Landfill construction activities lasting up to six months each year. He addressed concerns regarding the proximity to the Bayou Meto, pointing out that the Landfill will develop in “cells” and the first cell consisting of 10.9 acres is approximately 4,900 feet from the Bayou Meto. He stated that the last cell, Cell 16, to be developed would be approximately 1,700 feet from the Bayou Meto or approximately 100 acres from the last cell to the Bayou Meto. 2 CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 6, 2008 7:00 P.M. – 8:08 P.M. He addressed another concern mentioned at the previous meeting regarding the proximity and visibility of the Landfill from the Highway, saying that a visual screening berm is being proposed which would be planted with grass. He stated that landscaping requirements are part of the draft permit issued by ADEQ in January, explaining that ADEQ is sensitive to the propinquity of the Landfill and Highway, requiring Waste Management to implement a landscaping plan for both sides of the Highway. He presented a rendering of the landscaping plan proposed by Carter Burgess Architectural Firm, explaining that the plan calls for wildflowers, prairie grasses, and shallow root system shrubbery making it a more attractive area. In response to a question posed by a member of the audience, Mr. George Wheatley referred to a letter issued by the Audubon Society of Arkansas regarding the plans for habitat restoration including wetlands for Two Pine Landfill. He explained that the retention basins would hold enough water to support wildlife, geese, and a floating island designed not to displace any capacity of the basin. Mr. Conrade then added that on the east side of the railroad tracks there is a dirt borrow area used for construction and daily cover activities, which is to become a lake as the borrow area progresses, resulting in a 130 acre lake. He then answered that there are no foreseeable plans to develop the borrow area into landfill. He related that the Landfill applied with FEMA to redirect floodwaters from the site into a relief channel that will hold 30 million gallons of water. He pointed out that this was an extensive design and modeling process through FEMA to document that the flood relief channel is the appropriate size to contain any floodwaters in the floodway. It was noted that the channel is approximately six to eight feet deep. He related that additional to mitigate floodwaters, Waste Management is developing a 43 acre wetland area with the capacity to hold 50 million gallons of water. He stated that 30 million was required by FEMA but the site will offer an opportunity for an additional 50 million not required. Mr. Wheatley offered that the channel area is also being handled with the Audubon Society regarding aesthetics. Mr. Conrade related that when Cell 9 develops in 10 to 12 years it would be a distance of 1,634’ from the nearest home, pointing out that State regulations require landfills to come no closer than 300’, making this more than five times the required distance. It was noted that a planned development in the area would still be more than 500’ from the Landfill. He then noted that Cell 16, which would probably not be built for another 25 years, is approximately 5,130’ from Dupree Park. He explained that the Landfill is not the required distance from Hwy. 440 because the land was procured by the Highway Department but the Landfill would meet the 1000’ requirement from Highway 67/167 as part of the design plan. 3 CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 6, 2008 7:00 P.M. – 8:08 P.M. In response to a question posed by Alderman Smith, Mr. Wheatley stated thth that the comment period was from January 19 through February 19, adding that the Environmental Department could issue a decision anytime after that close. Mr. Conrade explained the environmental system for the proposed 16 cells in the expansion area. He stated that the best way to describe the cells would be to equate them to a bathtub shaped excavation, adding that inside the excavation each cell would have 16.5 feet of liner system. He related that the liner system consists of 5’ of clay followed by HDPE line. He distributed samples of the HDPE liner system for the City Council to examine. He stated that on top of the HDPE there would be an 18” drainage layer that drains rainwater to the lower end of the “bathtub”, which is then pumped out and sent to the Jacksonville Wastewater Treatment Plant. He then explained following that layer there is another filter layer before garbage is placed in the system. He noted that the garbage is covered daily with six inches of soil as a requirement. Followed by several layers of the same system capped with a geomembrane and compacted clay with another liner on top to prevent rainwater from penetrating back into the system. He stated that topsoil seeded with grasses is the final step in the process. He explained that this process keeps water from making contact with any garbage, noting that once water makes contact it is referred to as Leachate and must be sent to wastewater treatment. He stated that Leachate water is a nice dilution for the treatment. Mr. Conrade then pointed out ground monitoring wells on site, saying that water is sampled twice annually forever. He clarified that all rainwater, which does not come into contact with garbage, is directed to one of four stormwater basins. He explained that before the stormwater is discharged it is sampled and sent to a lab for analysis, saying that once the analysis finds that the water meets permit requirements it is able to be discharged into streams. He stated that every gallon of water that leaves the site is sampled. He then explained function of the twenty landfill gas monitoring probes, saying that when trash decomposes it gives off gas. He stated that approximately 50% of the gas is methane. He stated that methane is explosive so it is imperative that it does not migrate off site, adding that they are required to place probes into the ground to ensure that no gas is migrating off site through the soils. He noted that there are 79 extraction wells currently on site to remove gas from the ground, adding that 158 new wells are projected for the expansion area. He stated that Two Pine Landfill is the only landfill in the State of Arkansas that generates electricity from landfill gas. He stated that it is used as an energy source, noting that currently enough power is generated from the Two Pine Landfill to power 4,500 homes. He stated that there are six Caterpillar engines that generate 4.8 megawatts of power. He stated that there are 282 environmental monitoring points currently in the Two 4 CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 6, 2008 7:00 P.M. – 8:08 P.M. Pine Landfill. He stated that another gas plant is proposed for the expansion area, noting that in 15 to 20 years they could be generating 8 to 10 megawatts of power. He related that he feels the energy is directed to North Little Rock because they have their own power grid. Mayor Swaim clarified that Two Pine Landfill did request permission for the construction of the gas plant, pointing out that North Little Rock was a ready buyer. Mr. Wheatley informed the City Council that they have 300 landfills across the United States and Canada of which 125 have gas energy facilities. He stated that the goal is to have every landfill using methane gas as a renewable energy. In response to a question posed by Mr. Joey Price, Mr. Conrade related that as far as a landfill being an advantage to a community, it could be considered a wonderful infrastructure advantage when you consider that communities needing wastewater and water treatment plants, roads or highways, also need places for the trash to go. He stated that he believes a landfill is an integral part of a community’s infrastructure. He noted that it is rare to have a twice weekly garbage pickup, saying that he believes one of the reasons Jacksonville is able to offer that is because of the economic factor of being in close proximity to the landfill. Public Works Director Jim Oakley concurred that it is an economic advantage to have the landfill located so closely to the City. Mayor Swaim noted that if this landfill were not here then it would be a 25-mile one-way trip to the landfill on Dixon Road, off the Pine Bluff highway and southeast another 8 to 10 miles. He stated that it would increase operational costs significantly. Mr. Wheatley stated that the Two Pine Landfill generates $1.00 per ton for every ton that comes through the gates which averages approximately 2,000 tons daily. He stated that it is generated for a recycling fund that goes to the State and in turn, the State disburses those funds to the cities and counties located within the solid waste district. He briefly discussed benefits of the post closure fund noting its environmental protection benefits. He noted that the wetland development would consist of habitat as well as nature trails and educational opportunities. He stated that Two Pine Landfill is a state of the art facility, adding that other landfills have been utilized upon completion as golf courses. He stated that it is a corporate idea to have the Wildlife Habitat Certification for the Two Pine Landfill. He stated that this is the first partnership between Waste Management and the Audubon Society being implemented as a pilot program, and will be considered nationwide. 5 CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 6, 2008 7:00 P.M. – 8:08 P.M. He reviewed the list of permits as ADEQ Solid Waste Permit, ADEQ Surface Water Permit, ADEQ Air Permit, and US Army Corp of Engineers. He stated that the facility is a Class 1, Subtitle D landfill, which is a stricter regulation for landfills. He invited and encouraged visitors to the landfill. Alderman Sansing stated that with the current height of the landfill it would be the dominating feature on the horizon as seen from Jacksonville. He stated that he is concerned about the detrimental affect it could have on Jacksonville in the next two, five, or ten years. He stated that the unsightliness of the trash before it is covered is getting closer and closer to Jacksonville. He then issued concerns that the proposed lake might in the future be considered for landfill. He stated that other than the fact that it makes the City’s trash dollar go further right now; he does not see any benefit to the City of Jacksonville. Mr. Wheatley stated that currently the only space left in the existing landfill is at the top, which is why it is more visible. He added that the request for an expansion is only permissible when there is less than 5 years of life left in the current space. He noted that if not for the construction of Hwy. 440, the current landfill would not even be close to being full. He added that when trash deposit begins in the expansion it would be less visible than current operations and easier to maintain. Alderman Ray spoke in support of the creation of a lake with a berm in the middle of the lake to aid in preservation of wildlife. He stated that while no one likes the idea of a landfill near their city, Waste Management has a comprehensive plan to address aesthetics. He stated that the future subdivision development would appreciate having a lake on the other side of the landfill, adding that it could probably be used for fishing. In response to a question posed by Mayor Swaim, Mr. Wheatley explained that Waste Management owns 137 acres on the east side of the railroad tracks that will be used as a borrow area, saying that the lake will advance over time. Mr. Price questioned if Waste Management had researched options of opening a landfill in a more receptive area that is less densely populated and pointing out that he learned that in cities where there are landfills, Waste Management has remunerated to the city on a per ton basis so that it creates a positive economic impact regarding the damage to infrastructure such as streets and roads. Mr. Conrade related that for many years the City of Jacksonville received a host fee for every cubic yard handled by Two Pine Landfill, explaining that in 1998 that changed to a scholarship pledge for local students funded by Waste Management. He stated since the scholarship inception, Waste Management has given $380,000.00 in funds. He explained that the 6 CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 6, 2008 7:00 P.M. – 8:08 P.M. scholarships are $1,000.00 each and Waste Management is not involved in the selection of students that are awarded the scholarships. He then stated that in addition, Waste Management has also pledged $5,000.00 annually to the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, which started eight years ago. Mr. Price suggested that other entities outside Jacksonville that use the landfill could pay an extra amount to benefit Jacksonville. Mr. Conrade explained that every out of County ton that comes into Two Pine Landfill is charged an extra $1.00 that goes to the Pulaski County Solid Waste District of which Mayor Swaim serves on the Board. He related that the Board disburses those funds back to the various entities. He addressed Mr. Price’s concerns regarding research for a different location not on a highway, reiterating that if not for the construction of Hwy. 440, Waste Management would still have 50% of its original permit available for use and would not be seeking an expansion permit. He explained that during the same period as when Waste Management lost property for the construction of 440 it acquired the property being proposed for the expansion. In response to a question regarding the affect to proposed plans for a commercial development on the other side of the Highway, Mayor Swaim stated that the main reason that development has not moved forward is because it requires an access interchange costing over 10 million dollars. He stated that efforts were made with the Highway Department to assist in that endeavor, but the Highway Department did not feel it was their responsibility to build access to a private development. He noted that the same family that sold property to Waste Management are the developers of the property across the freeway. Mr. Conrade invited visitors to the facility for a tour. He then answered that they have not heard yet regarding the status of the proposed permit. APPOINTMENT(S): JACKSONVILLE HOUSING AUTHORITY Alderman Smith moved, seconded by Alderman Stroud to approve the reappointment of Jon Johnson for a term to expire 03/17/2013. MOTION CARRIED. HOSPITAL BOARD Alderman Smith moved, seconded by Alderman Stroud to approve the reappointment of Mike Wilson for a term to expire 06/31/2012. MOTION CARRIED. ANNOUNCEMENT(S): ADJOURNMENT: Without objection, Mayor Swaim adjourned the meeting at approximately 8:08 p.m. MOTION CARRIED. 7 CITY OF JACKSONVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 6, 2008 7:00 P.M. – 8:08 P.M. Following the close of the meeting applications were made available regarding the formation of a new chapter of the NAACP. Respectfully, ________________________ _________________________ Susan L. Davitt MAYOR TOMMY SWAIM City Clerk-Treasurer 8