Agenda Item Wording:
title
Presentation of Solid Waste Divisions - Presentation of all Solid Waste Divisions pertaining to historical background, service and logistics, and new laws and technology.
body
Deadline for Action: 5/20/2024
Submitting Department: Public Works
Contact Name and Phone Number: Jason Serpa, Public Works Manager, jason.serpa@visalia.city, 713-4533; Nick Bartsch, Public Works Director, nick.bartsch@visalia.city, 713-4052
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that Council receive the presentation on the City of Visalia Solid Waste Department.
Background Discussion:
The City of Visalia has delivered Solid Waste service to residents since 1969. Starting with only 4 residential and 3 commercial routes, it has grown to 44 residential, 18 commercial, and 4 roll-off bin routes. In that same amount of time, the City population has grown from an estimated 40,000 to 146,073 residents. The service, in accordance with State regulation, has also added recycling and organics routes, growing the department by the number of pickups that must be completed per week. With recent adds to the technology of each truck, this increased workload has been met and balanced by the efficiencies realized from the routing software implemented to the commercial division.
Historically, the City has used many sites for the dumping of waste, but most recently the contract for the landfill has been with Tulare County for the use of their County-wide landfills. For blue recycling (e.g., plastic, aluminum, glass), the City currently has a contract with Pena’s Disposal, Inc., the only operator of a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) for efficient disposal. Pena’s utilizes a transfer station at the Tulare County Landfill so that City trucks have one destination for dumping. For green recycling (e.g., yard waste, food scraps), the City splits the contracted green waste between Waste Management and West Coast, Inc, which are located on opposite ends of the City for efficient transport.
Employing a total of almost 80 employees, including hourlies, the Solid Waste Department has a dedicated staff that completes all the daily scheduled work. With the growth of the City, a continuous factor, the Solid Waste divisions must always adapt and continue to deliver the service that the residents depend on.
Being an Enterprise Fund and completely funded by rate payer funds, the Solid Waste department recognizes the importance of maintaining the level of delivery the customer base expects. With an annual operating budget of approximately $23 million, this enterprise is one of the largest the City operates. With over 70 trucks and vehicles, and hundreds of pieces of equipment, it is important to maintain expenses while ensuring that the annual revenue is not exceeded. Due to this complexity, a solid waste rate study is budgeted for FY 24/25 to ensure that rates are in line with operation needs. The rates for the Solid Waste department have held steady since 2012, since Council approved a multi-year rate increase in 2007.
Technology:
As mentioned above, the commercial solid waste trucks have had a recent upgrade that incorporates tablets in the cab and communicates real time customer lift data to office personnel. Even though this technology is new, staff has already seen efficiencies, accountability, and data improvements in a short term. Because this upgrade required staff to build a large database of all bin serial number and RFID tags, and create routes within the software, it helps staff extract data that was a chore in the past with the help of IT or thecontracted utility billing servicer.
Fiscal Impact:
N/A
Prior Council Action: N/A
Other: N/A
Alternatives: N/A
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
No motion is necessary.
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Environmental Assessment Status: N/A
CEQA Review: N/A
Attachments: Solid Waste Department Presentation