Meeting adjourned. Staff will have cost comparison analysis for council on April 19, and anticipates council making decision on April 26.
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One option proposed by the company would open the landfill up to disposal from across Guilford County and possibly beyond.
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Advanced Disposal Services Carolinas presenter says her company would save the city $30.54 per ton for handling its garbage. Assuming an annual tonnage of 243,000, she says the company could save the city $7.2 million per year. A caveat, unmentioned in the presentation, Dale Wyrick with Greensboro Field Operations has said that the amount of municipal solid waste that the city could actually guarantee a private contractor is about 130,000 per year. The staff's estimate, released today, places the potential cost savings to the city of reopening the landfill at between $3.5 million and $5.3 million.
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Final presentation: Advanced Disposal Services Carolinas
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I button-holed Kee during the break.
"I'm a technology person," he said. "I've always been a technology person," adding that what we've heard today proves that alternative technology is viable.
I noted that Gate City Waste Services is proposing to reopen the landfill for waste burial, while expressing interest in alternative technology without making any guarantees.
"That would be tough to consider," Kee said.
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Presentation ends. 10-minute break. Next and last presentation: Advanced Disposal Services Carolinas.
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Kee: "It appears that you value waste to energy.... How long would it take you to transition to a full waste to energy? Is that your intent?"
Norbert: "It is."
Kee asks when it would be feasible to transition to waste-to-energy technology.
Norbert responds that when fuel costs make it uneconomical to truck trash to a landfill out of county.
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Norbert says he believes the best way to deliver waste to the White Street Landfill is by taking Wendover Avenue to Willow Lake Road to Huffine Mill Road to Rankin Road. "But either route gets traffic off of the more densely populated White Street."
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Norbert says MRR Southern has received a permit to operate a C&D landfill in Wake County, and has received a permit to operate a landfill in High Point.
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Notwithstanding that the company is proposing to reopen the landfill, Norbert says Gate City Waste Services has explored alternative technology. As energy costs rise and tipping fees increase, he says, the company and the city could explore alternative technologies. He calls it a "passion" of his.
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Hector Norbert, Gate City Waste Services: "The big issue that could use some improvement is to deal with the yard waste and we have a plan to deal with that."
He also says the landfill could be a catalyst for the economic development of northeast Greensboro by hastening the completion of the Cone Boulevard Extension.
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The company is offering to handle the city's waste for $24 per ton.
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David Griffin introduces the next company, Gate City Waste Industries. This is one of three that are proposing to reopen the White Street Landfill. Gate City Waste Services is partnership between MRR Southern, DH Griffin Companies and Waste Corp.
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Wade asks if Bertram's company has handled waste for any municipalities yet. Bertram says yes, but her answer is qualified and confusing.
This segment is over. 10 minute break before Gate City Waste Services' segment.
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Perkins questions economic viability of project.
Perkins: "If we’ve only got 122,000 tons of waste, that’s $4.8 million a year. How are you going to gap the difference between what we’ve got in our control to pay back a $73 million loan.
Rodenbough says the sale of electricity would pay back the loan, while the city's tipping fees would pay for operations.
Perkins: "You’re going to generate $6 million of electricity per year?"
Rodenbough: "We’re going to be producing more than that."
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Bertram says permitting would take at least a year.
Rodenbough: "This project will reduce pollution from what you have right now."
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Kee: "There are a lot of technology disbelievers. I graduated from a technology school, so I believe in it."
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Matheny raises questions about the financing of the project.
"What kind of guarantee, if the city of Greensboro were to choose this contract, we’d be choosing a contract based on what would hopefully happen."
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So far, Dianne Bellamy-Small, Mary Rakestraw and Trudy Wade have not asked any questions.
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Bertram, in answer to a question from Mayor Bill Knight: "From a technology standpoint we can get adequate insurance and bonding."
Rodenbough said his partnership would assume all the financial risk in the project.
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Hulbert says the financing of facility could be completely covered by "private placement," or alternately the city could sign on as an investor.
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Bertram says her company is the first waste-to-energy outfit that the US Export-Import Bank has financed. She adds, "We are on the short list for Santa Barbara County."
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Slide indicates that the Mecca, Calif. facility that plans to use International Environmental Solutions Corp.'s advanced pyrolysis technology "will be commercially operational in April 2011."
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Bertram notes that her company is based in California and developed the technology.
"With regards to stimulus money where there's made in the USA clauses, we can fulfill that," she says.
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Keith Hulbert, Cadence Infrastructure, speaking.
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A byproduct of advance pyrolysis is "carbon char." Bertram says it's not hazardous, and can be resold to fuel cement kilns.
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Karen Bertram, with International Environmental Solutions Corp., is speaking about technology aspect of proposal.
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Carolina Energy Development is offering to handle the city's solid waste for $40 per ton, but if an ARRA grant from the US Department of Energy came through they might be able to reduce their rate.
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John Rodenbough, CEO of Carolina Energy Development, is giving presentation for his company. Karen Bertram, a partner whose company developed the technology, is also present. Carolina Energy Development is proposing to use advanced pyrolysis technology at the city's transfer facility on Burnt Poplar Road to handle the city's municipal solid waste.
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Waste Industries' presentation wraps. Break time. Carolina Energy Development next on agenda. Some recent reporting here.
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Presenter: The White Street Landfill "is an asset that you have here that can control your own destiny here in Greensboro."
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Kee asks presenter if Waste Industries operates other landfills within municipalities. The presenter responds that, yes, Waste Industries operates a construction and demolition landfill in Holly Springs and contracts with Wake County to operate a landfill in the southern portion of the county.
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Based on the figures presented by Waste Industries, at-large Councilman Danny Thompson says the city could save $29 per ton and $6.7 million per year.
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Presenter: "Remember proven technology, low disposal cost… tremendous savings over the life of the contract."
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Presenter says company hosted bus tours to Waste Industries facilities in Wake County and created a “Northeast Community Council.”
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Company presenter says Waste Industries would maximize landfill capacity, but reduce "waste cell footprints, reducing leachate generation." Also, the company would finance a traffic study, and finance a relocation of the landfill entrance and scale house.
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Among others, Waste Industries operates the 1,500 ton-per-day South Wake Landfill in Holly Springs through a partnership with Wake County.
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Waste Industries is offering "a fixed disposal fee of $15/ton for all city-collected waste."
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Waste Industries is one of three companies proposing to reopen the White Street Landfill for disposal of municipal solid waste.
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Republic Services' presentation has wrapped. Break time. Next up: Waste Industries. Local lawyer Joe Williams, whom I believe is representing Waste Industries, has been up at the dais chatting with council members Trudy Wade, Danny Thompson and Mary Rakestraw. Williams is a member of the Simkins PAC.
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District 3 Councilman Zack Matheny asks Isenhour: "Would you utilize White Street Landfill or consider utilizing white street landfill.... Would it not be beneficial to utilize white street?"
Isenhour responds that Uwharrie landfill can operate more cheaply than the White Street Landfill on a per-ton basis because of the former landfill's much greater capacity.
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Mayor Bill Knight is maintaining a strict three-minute time limit for council members' questions.
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District 2 Councilman Jim Kee, who represents the area surrounding the White Street Landfill says an environmental committee that he appointed chose Republic as its first choice. "You do have some people in the neighborhood that are pulling for you," he says.
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Drew Isenhour, with Republic Services, says the company's Uwharrie landfill in Montgomery County has about 19 years of useful life left under the current permit. Isenhour emphasizes that Republic owns a number of landfills that could handle the city's trash.
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Per a submittal made today, Republic proposes to load, haul and dispose of the city's solid waste at a cost to the city of $40.80 per ton for the volumes that the city produces. Field Operations Director Dale Wyrick tells me the city produces about 130,000 tons of municipal solid waste per year.
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Republic Services, which currently handles the city's solid waste by accepting it at its landfill in Montgomery County, is making the first presentation.
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Staff released a document just before the meeting outlining solid waste disposal cost comparisons. Staff's analysis estimates the city could save $3.5 million in the next fiscal year by reopening the landfill.
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The Greensboro City Council is meeting as we speak to interview five proposers that are angling for a contract to handle the city's solid waste. I had planned to cover the meeting through Twitter, but my account doesn't seem to be functioning.
Feel free to comment or ask questions.
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