Title
a. Consider Board Referral 2020.10 seeking to reactivate the Litter Abatement Program and to explore options for a partnership with one or more local non-profit or for-profit organizations to address reports of litter and dumping in a more timely manner; and
b. Provide direction. (ADDED VIA ADDNEDA)
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors provide direction to staff regarding the desire and priority for pursuing options for expanding the Litter Abatement Program and seeking funding from the Waste Districts.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
On February 25, 2020, Supervisor Phillips issued a referral requesting Environmental Health Bureau (EHB) and Resource Management Agency (RMA) to provide a report on Litter abatement on March 17, 2020 (Referral No. 2020.10). This report is intended to provide information so the Board can determine if any further action is desired.
RMA currently operates a Litter Abatement Program for public rights of way and county lands by responding to requests for service. EHB currently manages waste management contracts that include special pick up programs in certain areas. As a referral, staff is providing information about the services currently provided, and what would be required to increase these services.
Abatement on County (public ) lands other than rights of way is performed by RMA-Facilities. Abatement within the rights of way is performed by public works crews, supplemented with Alternative Work crews, and are eligible for using Road Funds. RMA currently has two Litter Guard positions to run the Work Alternative program, which is a program where the courts assign people to serve providing a community service. Work Alternative resources have diminished since 2013, which resulted in reduction of Litter Guard positions. The result has been a significant backlog of Requests for Service (RFS) to pick up litter. The time to respond given current resources is about one month; however, the current “shelter in place” order resulted in addition resources being made available so RMA will be increasing litter pick up while these resources are available.
The Health Department/Environmental Health Bureau (EHB) administers the solid waste Agreement (Unified Franchise Agreement or “UFA”) with Waste Management, Inc. for solid waste services in unincorporated Monterey County. These services also include clean up events,
outreach/education, recycling service pick up, green waste service pick up, special events, and services connected to emergency operations. EHB often partners with Waste Management, Inc. for outreach and education via EHB’s Recycling and Resource Recovery team. Currently we are in contract negotiations with Waste Management, Inc. to expand services related to illegal dumping. Response and services related to illegal dumping will be a staple part of any solid waste agreement in order to help mitigate illegal dumping in unincorporated Monterey County.
Last year, County requested that the two waste districts allocate $100,000 each to help enhance the existing Litter Abatement services. Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority (SVR) allocated $100,000. Monterey Regional Waste Management District (Marina) only provided $75,000. The District Manager recommended $50,000 because they were implementing a cleanup for hazardous waste in Big Sur costing $50,000 that total combined would equal $100,000. The District Board determined that more was needed and agreed to $75,000 for road cleanup plus the $50,000 hazardous material waste in Big Sur, equating to a total of $125,000 for both services.
MOUs signed by the Board of Supervisors and Districts explicitly restrict the program to non-profit organizations. When staff tried to formalize contracts with non-profits, we could not reach terms for what is required to perform these services. As a result, funding allocated from the Districts was not used to supplement the County’s services.
If the Board directs staff to pursue this project, staff would need to work with the Districts to revise the MOUs and request funding for the next fiscal year. In addition, staff would need to process contracts for services since current contracts with vendors do not include these services. This work would require approximately 100-110 hours of staff time in order to complete all the tasks necessary. Presuming a RFQ is required for services, the timeframe to start work under this program would be September 1, 2020, presuming this is prioritized over other current projects. Staff seeks Board direction if this is a project to pursue, and if so the priority for applying staff resources over other active projects.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Health Department - Environmental Health Bureau
Resource Management Agency
Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority
Monterey Regional Waste Management District
FINANCING:
RMA’s Litter Abatement program has cost an average of about $450,000 per year since 2010. Abatement within the rights of way is performed by public works crews, supplemented with Alternative Work crews, and are eligible for using Road Funds. Pick up on County (public ) lands other than rights of way is performed by RMA-Facilities. The proposal is to enhance our current program using funding from the two waste districts. In that case, there would be no increase to County costs.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
This action meets the Board of Supervisor’s strategic initiatives in economic development through collaboration, strengthen economic development to ensure a diversified and healthy economy. Administratively this action meets the Board of Supervisor’s administrative strategic plan and develop a sustainable, physical infrastructure that improves the quality of life for County residents and supports economic development results.
X Economic Development
X Administration
__ Health & Human Services
__ Infrastructure
__ Public Safety
Prepared by (RMA): Carl P. Holm, AICP, Director of RMA
Prepared by (EHB): Ricardo Encarnacion, Assistant Director of EHB