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POLICY ON WOODEN PALLETS: The practice of accepting wooden pallets at no cost has been offered to our customers for over 15 years. In general, we accept from 10,000 to 20,000 wooden pallets per year. During the public hearing portion of the meeting, concerns were raised by some users of the yard waste facility regarding loose nails resulting from the mulching of pallets as yard waste. Staff has isolated the chipping of pallets to a separate area of the yard waste facility; however, nails are certainly a byproduct of the process. In order to change this practice, staff recommends the Board enable a change to operation at the yard waste facility whereby we no longer accept wooden pallets in the yard waste area and require them to be disposed in the Class 1 landfill. The associated charge for the disposal would be the current tipping rate for Construction & Demolition Debris of $31.80 per ton for commercial customers and $30 per ton for residential customers. (one ton is approximately 40 pallets assuming 50 pounds per pallet.) FUNDING: The Landfill Gas Agreement would generate revenue (approximately $125,000 per year) for SWDD, and therefore, there is no anticipated funding required for this project. Funding for yard waste processing is budgeted and is available in the Other Professional Services account (41125534-033190) in the SWDD Recycling fund, which is funded through user assessment fees. The annual budget includes $1,300,000 for yard waste processing in the 2018/2019 fiscal year. Funding for concrete crushing and site work is currently not budgeted. Staff will recommend a budget amendment if an award of bid is recommended at a future SWDD Board meeting. The policy change for the wooden pallets would result in additional revenue (approximately $8,000 to $16,000 per year) and reduce the expense (approximately $5,000 to $10,000 per year) of chipping and off-site disposal of the pallets through our current or future yard waste processing agreement. RECOMMENDATION: Solid Waste Disposal District staff recommends that its Board approve the following: a) Approve the conceptual approach for concrete, site work and yard waste processing at the landfill. b) Approve a policy change, effective March 1, 2019, to stop accepting and processing wooden pallets in the yard waste facility and to direct them for disposal in the Class 1 landfill at current approved tipping rates. c) Direct staff to proceed with an RFP for Yard Waste Processing services. d) Direct staff to proceed with a bid for concrete crushing and site work on the landfill property. @BCL@000EE534.docx 92 Page 3 of 3