SPECIAL CALLED MEETING of the ZERO WASTE ADVISORY COMMISSION APRIL 24, 2024, 6:00 PM AE HEADQUARTERS, Assembly Room 1111a 4815 Mueller Blvd Austin, TX 78723 Some members of the BOARD/COMMISSION may be participating by videoconference. The meeting may be viewed online at: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch-atxn-live Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely, please reach out to Gustavo Valle at Gustavo.Valle@AustinTexas.gov (512.974.4350) or Claudia Quiroz at Claudia.Quiroz@AustinTexas.gov (512.974.1987). CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS/COMMISSIONERS: Amanda Masino Mayor Madeline Jasper District 1 Melissa Rothrock District 2 Katrina Scheihing District 3 Melissa Caudle District 4 Caitlin Griffith District 5 Cathy Gattuso District 6 Craig Nazor District 7 Ian Steyaert (Vice-Chair) District 8 Gerry Acuna (Chair) District 10 AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first 3 speakers signed up no later than noon the day before the meeting will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. 1. 2. 3. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES DISCUSSION ITEMS Approve the minutes of the ZERO WASTE ADVISORY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING on February 7, 2024. Presentation and Discussion of Austin-Travis County Food Plan – Sergio Torres-Peralta Review and Discussion of Director’s Report (FEMA Reimbursement, Refuse, Recycling, and Organic Carts (CO-OP), Brownie Follow-Up, Brandt Road Encampment Cleanup, Onion Creek Street Sweeping, Performance Reports, and Statistical Reports) – Richard McHale Presentation and Discussion FY25 Budget –Victoria Rieger DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 5. 6. 7. Approve a recommendation for Zero Waste Youth Education Program – Keri Greenwalt Approve a recommendation for Northeast Service Center Negotiations – Richard McHale Approve a recommendation for Administrative Rules City Code Revisions RCA –Richard McHale FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Presentation of Equity-Based Preservation Plan – Cara Bertron ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least two days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call Gustavo Valle at Austin Resource Recovery Department (ARR), at (512.974.4350) for additional information; TTY users’ route …
A Food Plan for Austin-Travis County Find your seat at the table Some Food for Thought Developing a Food Plan What is a Food Plan & why do we need one? ● A Food Plan sets clear Goals and Strategies to move toward a more equitable, sustainable & resilient food system ● The Food Plan builds on several other initiatives made by the County, City, and Communities to tackle key food system issues. ● The Food Plan centers equity and the lived expertise of those most impacted by the current food system Good to Know ● On June 2021 Austin City Council directed the City Manager to initiate a planning process ● Travis County Commissioners Court approved formal participation in the plan in fall 2022 ● A draft was released on March 18th , and has been reviewed by hundreds of community members. Link to full resolution Project Timeline Phase 0: Planning for the Plan Phase 1: Vision Development Phase 2: Goal & Strategy Development Phase 3: Review and Ground truthing September 2021 - January 2023 March - August 2023 September 2023 - February 2024 February - Summer/Fall 2024 We are here ● ● ● ● Building Community Awareness 📰 Release of State of the Food System Report 📚 Onboarding Planning Consultant⭐ Recruitment of Community Teams🚀 ● Website launch 📶 ● World Cafe’s ☕ ● ● ● ● Listening Sessions & Tabling at events 📞 Equity Grounding Workshops 🤝 Community Circles 👐 Selecting Issue Area Groups🍽 ● ● ● ● Issue Area Group Meetings 🏘 Develop Goals and Strategies 🎯 Review Goals and Strategies Develop a draft for the Food Plan 🖊 ● ● ● ● Community Review of Plan 👀 Council and Commissioner Review ⚖ Approval 👍 Adoption 🏁 Co-creating the plan ● Planning Team: Coordinating and managing all moving parts ○ Includes: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ City of Austin staff Travis County staff Consultant Team Equity Consultants Austin Travis Food Policy Board Executive Leadership Team ● Community Advisory Committee: Advisory body overseeing the planning process ● Issue Area Groups: Developing goals and strategies for the plan ● Community Food Ambassadors: Connecting the plan to our communities ● Broader community feedback: Provide input at different stages of the plan Food Plan Structure ● Vision: Describes and articulates our shared aim - the kind of future we agree we would like to move toward together. ● Objectives: …
Zero Waste Advisory Commission February Meeting Minutes February 07, 2024 The Meeting of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission (ZWAC) convened at AE Headquarters and through Video Conference on Wednesday, February 7th, 2024. The following are the meeting highlights. For detailed information please visit: https://austintx.new.swagit.com/videos/297047 CALL TO ORDER Chair Gerry Acuna called the Commission Meeting to order at 6:00 pm Board Members in Attendance: Gerry Acuna, Melissa Caudle, Craig Nazor, Madeline Jasper, Ian Steyaert & Melissa Rothrock. Board Members not in Attendance: Amanda Masino, Caitlin Griffith, Cathy Gattuso, & Katrina Scheihing Staff in attendance: Richard McHale, Gena McKinley, Ron Romero, Amy Slagle, Donald Hardee, Jason McCombs, Victoria Rieger, Marcus Gonzalez, Samuel Gilbert, Andy Dawson, Yahel Baranovicht and Gustavo Valle. 1. Approval of the November 8th, 2023, Meeting Minutes (00:32) Chair Acuna entertained a motion for approval from Commissioner Nazor, seconded by Commissioner Caudle. Unanimous approval with a 6-0 vote. 2. Presentation and Discussion of Litter Abatement Programs – Sam Gilbert (03:06) Acting Division Manager Sam Gilbert with Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) presented ongoing Litter Abatement Programs. These include the Violet Bag Program, Violet Keepsafe Storage Program, Homeless H.E.A.L. (Housing-focused Encampment Assistant Link) Sites, Clean Creeks Program, Litter Control Program, Keep Austin Beautiful Program & Encampment Cleanups. Such initiatives are carried out in collaboration with other city departments like Transportation & Public Works and Parks and Recreations Department. I. II. Commissioners, staff, and stakeholders reviewed and discussed current Litter Abatement Programs. Commissioner Nazor inquired whether the city would implement single use plastic ordinance since they are found in great numbers at creeks. There are no current plans to implement such ordinances. Commissioner Acuna asked whether it was possible to increase the number of employees working in the Litter Abatement programs, specifically Homeless Encampment Cleanups. Director Richard McHale commented that Austin Resource Recovery is having ongoing budget discussion and would visit the matter. Commissioner Caudle asked about the status of the Zero Waste Rebate program. Division Manager Jason McCombs of Strategic Initiatives said that he would need to locate the data since he did not have concrete numbers at the time. Further, McCombs explained that while the numbers of businesses participating in the program have been steadily increasing since the pandemic, Strategic Initiatives continues to advertise the program as much as possible. 3. Presentation and Discussion of Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Door-to-Door Pilot – Andy Dawson (27:09) Assistant Division Manager Andy Dawson with …
To: From: Date: Zero Waste Advisory Commission Richard McHale, Director, Aus�n Resource Recovery April 24, 2024 Subject: Director’s Monthly Report to the Zero Waste Advisory Commission Number of customers (under ARR service) that have four units or less that don’t have recycling and composting. Commissioner Melissa Caudle inquired the current number of ARR customers with four units or less that do not have recycling and composting. We have identified that 335 of our multifamily residents currently don’t receive recycling services and 366 residents don’t receive composting services. These customers receive dumpster services for trash disposal and are scheduled to receive carts for recycling and compost services. Follow up on Brownie The area has improved since implementa�on. Recycling on the north side of Brownie has a high compliance rate for recycling materials with litle to no contamina�on, however we are s�ll seeing some contamina�on on the south cul-de-sacs. Compos�ng in the area has had high rates of contamina�on. During collec�ons, opera�ons teams have been sor�ng materials to iden�fy contaminants. Compost employees are not sor�ng through the materials. Contaminants are easily iden�fiable (rigid plas�cs, garden hoses, bicycle �res, trash bags and aluminum are being placed in compost carts). Compost carts are periodically being collected and disposed of as garbage. Average weights are 1300-1500 pounds a�er collec�ng nearly 100% of the carts at 4- plexas on Brownie and providing tags to educate and no�fy the customer of the contamina�on. Landfill waste has also seen improvement, with no bulk set out since the most recent bulk pick up the week of January 15, 2024. There is s�ll extra landfill trash set out, however we are seeing improvement overall. AAR/APD Brandt Road Cleanup The morning of March 4th, ARR was no�fied by Aus�n Police Department’s Rapid Response that abatement would need to be performed at a homeless encampment on Brandt Road. ARR aids APD with the immediate removal of encampments that pose a risk to public safety. The encampment along Brandt Road is at-risk to floods and fires. During the Brandt Road encampment cleanup, ARR crews removed approximately 76 tons of debris from the encampment. The debris collected during the two-day cleanup on March 4th and 5th equates to nearly 5-6 semi-automated residential refuse routes. Onion Creek Street Sweeping ARR Street Cleaning programs provide cleaning of bike lanes, boulevards, downtown and residen�al streets throughout the city. In doing so, the programs rely heavily on temporary …
A Food Plan for Austin-Travis County Find your seat at the table Some Food for Thought Developing a Food Plan What is a Food Plan & why do we need one? ● A Food Plan sets clear Goals and Strategies to move toward a more equitable, sustainable & resilient food system ● The Food Plan builds on several other initiatives made by the County, City, and Communities to tackle key food system issues. ● The Food Plan centers equity and the lived expertise of those most impacted by the current food system Good to Know ● On June 2021 Austin City Council directed the City Manager to initiate a planning process ● Travis County Commissioners Court approved formal participation in the plan in fall 2022 ● A draft was released on March 18th , and has been reviewed by hundreds of community members. Link to full resolution Project Timeline Phase 0: Planning for the Plan Phase 1: Vision Development Phase 2: Goal & Strategy Development Phase 3: Review and Ground truthing September 2021 - January 2023 March - August 2023 September 2023 - February 2024 February - Summer/Fall 2024 We are here ● ● ● ● Building Community Awareness 📰 Release of State of the Food System Report 📚 Onboarding Planning Consultant⭐ Recruitment of Community Teams🚀 ● Website launch 📶 ● World Cafe’s ☕ ● ● ● ● Listening Sessions & Tabling at events 📞 Equity Grounding Workshops 🤝 Community Circles 👐 Selecting Issue Area Groups🍽 ● ● ● ● Issue Area Group Meetings 🏘 Develop Goals and Strategies 🎯 Review Goals and Strategies Develop a draft for the Food Plan 🖊 ● ● ● ● Community Review of Plan 👀 Council and Commissioner Review ⚖ Approval 👍 Adoption 🏁 Co-creating the plan ● Planning Team: Coordinating and managing all moving parts ○ Includes: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ City of Austin staff Travis County staff Consultant Team Equity Consultants Austin Travis Food Policy Board Executive Leadership Team ● Community Advisory Committee: Advisory body overseeing the planning process ● Issue Area Groups: Developing goals and strategies for the plan ● Community Food Ambassadors: Connecting the plan to our communities ● Broader community feedback: Provide input at different stages of the plan Food Plan Structure ● Vision: Describes and articulates our shared aim - the kind of future we agree we would like to move toward together. ● Objectives: …
City of Austin Recommendation for Action File #: 24-4288, Agenda Item #: 3. 5/2/2024(cid:4) Posting Language Approve an ordinance amending City Code Section 15-6-3 (Administration) relating to the process for adoption of administrative rules related to solid waste services. Lead Department Austin Resource Recovery. Fiscal Note This item has no fiscal impact. Prior Council Action: June 28, 2012 - City Council amended City Code Chapter 15-6 (Solid Waste Services) in Ordinance No. 20120628-012 to require all proposed rules from Austin Resource Recovery to be approved, modified, or disapproved by City Council. For More Information: Richard McHale, Director, 512-974-1997; Gena McKinley, Assistant Director, 512-974-2192 Additional Backup Information: BACKGROUND In 2012, City Council amended Subsection (B) of City Code Section 15-6-3 (Administration) to add the following underlined language: Before the director may adopt or amend a rule under this chapter, the director shall present the proposed rule to the Zero Waste Advisory Commission for consideration and recommendation to City Council and the City Council will approve, modify or disapprove of the proposed rule. Administrative rules are created and adopted by the City Manager in accordance with Chapter 1-2 (Adoption of Rules) to administer the policies established by the City Council. City Code Chapter 1-2 establishes the City’s administrative rule adoption process for all City departments. This process requires public posting of proposed rules, a public comment period, and an appeals process to the City Manager. Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) operates under the unique requirements of City Code Section 15-6-3, requiring administrative rules to be approved, modified, or disapproved by City Council. AMENDMENT This amendment to Subsection (B) of City Code Section 15-6-3 is intended to align ARR’s rulemaking procedures with the existing policies established by City Code and reduce the administrative burden on appointed officials, City Council, and City staff. The amendment to Subsection (C) of City Code Section 15-6-3 deletes the term “customer” to be inclusive of City of Austin Page 1 of 2 Printed on 4/19/2024 powered by Legistar™ (cid:5) (cid:6) File #: 24-4288, Agenda Item #: 3. 5/2/2024(cid:4) the public and not limit requests to those individuals receiving City services. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of these amendments to City Code Section 15-6-3. ARR would follow the process established in City Code Chapter 1-2 for the rule adoption process. City of Austin Page 2 of 2 Printed on 4/19/2024 powered by Legistar™ (cid:5) (cid:6)
Zero Waste Advisory Commission April Meeting Minutes April 24, 2024 The Meeting of the Zero Waste Advisory Commission (ZWAC) convened at AE Headquarters and through Video Conference on Wednesday, February 7th, 2024. The following are the meeting highlights. For detailed information please visit: https://austintx.new.swagit.com/videos/303845 CALL TO ORDER Chair Gerry Acuna called the Commission Meeting to order at 6:11 pm Board Members in Attendance: Gerry Acuna, Melissa Caudle, Craig Nazor, Cathy Gattuso, Ian Steyaert, Melissa Rothrock, Caitlin Griffith, and Amanda Masino. Board Members not in Attendance: Madeline Jasper, & Katrina Scheihing Staff in Attendance: Richard McHale, Theodore Horton, Gena McKinley, Ron Romero, Amy Slagle, Jason McCombs, Victoria Rieger, Marcus Gonzalez, Keri Greenwalt, Elizabeth Nelson, Claudia Quiroz, and Gustavo Valle. 1. Approval of the April 24th, 2024, Meeting Minutes (00:38) Chair Acuna entertained a motion for approval from Commissioner Nazor, seconded by Commissioner Gattuso. The board approved the minutes in a 6-0 vote with Commissioner Masino abstaining. 2. Approve a recommendation for Zero Waste Youth Education Program – Keri Greenwalt (01:40) PIO Program Manager Keri Greenwalt with Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) requested ZWAC’s recommendation for the Zero Waste Youth Education Program contract renewal. The contract will provide students from kindergarten through 12th grade an interactive and educational outreach program that focuses on zero waste concepts and sustainability in support of Austin's Zero Waste Initiative. Keri explained that if the contract was not awarded, ARR will miss the opportunity to provide consistent engaging programs to young austinites through their schools and community groups. The current contract is set to expire on June 16th, 2024 and the recommended contractor is the current contractor (Keep Austin Beautiful). I. II. III. Commissioners, staff, and stakeholders reviewed and discussed the current Zero Waste Youth Education Program. Commissioner Nazor asked what the cost of the former contract was. Keri replied that was approximately $878,000. Commissioner Nazor also wanted clarification on who the previous contractor was. Keri explained that it was KAB (Keep Austin Beautiful) Commissioner Masino asked where the supporting documentation was. Keri noted that she was out of office and believed she had supplied the office with them. However, Keri mentioned she currently had the supporting documents and can share them with the board. While Commissioner Mansion acknowledged that the current vendor has done an excellent job, she wants time to review the supporting documents out of due diligence. Since the item is going to council on …
