Minutes - Council - 09/10/1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ordinance consists of requiring WMMI to pay the City the entire tipping fee due and if the quota of 100 additional tons per day average of waste is realized, the City will reimburse the operator in accordance with the reduced fee. Motion by Councilmember Pearson and seconded by Councilmember Peterson to introduce Ordinance ~)0-X which is an ordinance amending Section 130.102 of the City Code known as the Solid Waste Depositing Fee Chapter of the City Code. Motion carded. Voting Yes: Mayor Reimann, Councilmembers Pearson, Peterson, Cich and DeLuca. Voting No: None. Case #5: WMMI C.U.P Request for Yard Waste Compost Facility Mr. Otto stated that Waste Management of Minnesota, Inc. is requesting a conditional use permit to operate a yard waste composting facility south of the existing landfill site. The size of the proposed facility is 23,200 tons (116,000 cubic yards). The facility would be located on 33 acres. The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on February 6, 1990 and on September 4, 1990, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended adoption of findings of facts and approval of the conditional use permit by a four to three vote. Mr. Otto stated that staff's greatest concern with the request focuses on production of odors at the facility and the proximity of the facility to residents in Hunter's Hill. Mr. Otto briefly reviewed the proposed findings of fact adopted by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Steve Kollodge of Waste Management was present and stated that the yard waste facility is proposed to be located on 33.4 acres of land west of Sunfish Lake Boulevard N.W. and south of the landfill. 14.5 acres would be utilized as a composting area, four acres would be used for a curing area and one acre would be used for the tipping area. The remainder of the 33 acres would serve for drainage and buffer. The facility would accept leaves, grass and tree prunings. The operator will not accept bagged yard waste in plastic and the customer will be responsible for debagging the waste at the facility and containers will be provided for disposal of plastic bags. Mr. Kollodge noted that it appears that the plastic bagging is a major contributor to odor problems at yard waste facilities and the operator feels it would be in the best interest to require immediate debagging of materials. After materials are accepted at the tipping area, the operator will moisture condition it and transfer it into windrows in the composting area where it will stay for six to twelve months. During that time the yard waste will be monitored for oxygen ph, moisture content, appearance and odors. Following the composting process, the material will be moved to the curing area where it will remain for another six to twelve months. Following the curing time, the product will be finished compost and can be used for many different purposes. Mr. Kollodge noted that the two greatest concerns from the community is odors and ground water contamination. Mr. Kollodge stated that the ground water in this area runs northwest to southwest across the composting facility. There are also monitoring wells already existing on the landfill property. If there were any ground water impact caused by composting, the monitoring wells will detect a difference in the water content. With respect to odors, Mr. Kollodge stated that they are almost always associated with improper operation. For instance, storing in plastic bags, not debagging properly and not turning the material properly when it is in windrows. If there is an odor problem, the operators can make the windrows smaller which will have an effect of adding more oxygen to the material and decreasing the odor produced. There is also the option to introduce a lime to the material which will neutralize the acids. Another option is to mechanically aerate the material more frequently. Assuming none of these options would correct an odor problem, the final alternative would be to land-spread the problem material. Sharon Dahlgren, 6328 - 143rd Lane N.W. inquired if WMMI is conducting composting operations at the current time. City Council/September 10, 1990 Page 4 of 10