A
SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
OCTOBER
26, 2007
The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in a
special Department Workshop session, Environmental Services, on Friday, October
26, 2007, at 9:00 a.m., at the Bob Norris Auditorium, Lake County Agricultural
Center, Tavares, Florida. Commissioners
present at the meeting were: Welton G. Cadwell, Chairman; Jennifer Hill, Vice
Chairman; and Elaine Renick. Commr.
Stivender was not present due to illness and Commr. Stewart was not present due
to a family emergency. Others present
were Sanford A. “Sandy” Minkoff, County Attorney; Gregg Welstead, Deputy County
Manager; and Ellie McDonald, Deputy Clerk.
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES
Mr. Daryl Smith, Director of Environmental
Services, welcomed the Board to the Departments’ presentation being given by
sixteen departmental employees representing each Division. He commented that the Director of Mosquito
and Aquatic Management had a prior commitment and did not attend today due to
an annual meeting. Mr. Smith had
distributed a hard copy of the entire slide presentation for the Board to
follow prior to the meeting. He
expressed that the employees of Environmental Services loved their work, were
very knowledgeable, enjoyed serving the citizens of Lake County, and had a
great deal of pride in their work.
SOLID WASTE OPERATIONS
INTEGRATED
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (ISWMS) DROP-OFFS
Mr. Harrie Edwards, Drop-Off
Supervisor, stated that Solid Waste Operations consisted of four
operations: The Residential Drop-off
Center, Scale House Operations, Yard Waste, and Solid Waste Operations. He explained that the Residential Drop-Off
Center consists of one supervisor and eight full-time County Landfill Attendant
employees, together with a number of temporary employees used during peak
periods and the winter season, specifying that the Residential Drop-Off Centers
are located in Astor, Paisley, Pine Lakes, Lady Lake, Loghouse (Clermont), and
Astatula (Central Solid Waste Facility). He explained that Astor, Loghouse, and Paisley
are two-tiered operations, but Loghouse and Paisley are being brought down to
single-level operations to make it easier for citizens to access and exit; the
Pine Lakes Facility is a single-level operation off Highway 44 and has easy
access for citizens. He stated that Lady
Lake, Astatula and Clermont are single-level operations, and that some of the
materials accepted at all locations were household garbage, recyclables, yard
waste, furniture and other select materials.
He explained that all materials come into, and are processed in, the
Central Solid Waste Facility in Astatula.
INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM DISPOSAL
Mr. Eric Anderson, Senior Landfill
Supervisor stated that he and Mike TerMeer are the two Landfill Supervisors and
it is their mission to keep the operation flowing, safe, to exhibit courtesy to
the people of Lake County, and to manage smooth transportation along the
highway. He noted that all the drivers hold commercial driver’s licenses, and
are required to adhere to all Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations,
move the waste up and down the highway and distribute it throughout the
County. He commented that Scalehouse
Operations consists of five employees and is supervised by Ms. Carole
Griffin. He explained that the operation
insures that all analytical data is recorded by recording anything going in and
out of Covanto, as well as anything going in or out of the main facility
enabling them to obtain information with respect to adjustments in each
facility. He specified that last year
Covanto took in 154,876 tons of garbage, and after it was burned it came back
to the facility as ash monofill at 49,553 tons, which was an eight to one
reduction. He reported that a ticket,
which records the data, is generated and handed to the person bringing in the
waste and if a payment is needed, that information is also recorded.
Mr. Anderson continued by describing
yard waste as a separate entity in itself.
He stated that 12,796 tons of raw yard wastes were collected last year,
which was mulched and used to cover raw garbage as a requirement of the
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Mr. Anderson went on to say that he
and Mr. Mike TerMeer operate the main facility where operators are dispatched
to different locations throughout the County, picking up yard waste, metal,
furniture and everything coming from each location, and described the equipment
used to handle this operation. He
explained multi-level drop-offs and wanted everyone to understand the savings
by having the green box which holds 2.5 times the amount of MSW as the 105 yard
walking floor trailer, noting that the department has green boxes at two of the
four facilities. He then explained how
the garbage is compacted and that the goal was to get the most amount of
garbage in the least amount of area. He reported that lawn mowers and equipment
which haul gas and oil are taken to the main facility and the drop-offs, where
landfill attendants pump out the oil and gasoline to save the environment and
then the machinery is recycled. He
commented that tires are accepted at all of the facilities, and are taken to
the main facility to be loaded in a trailer and reused for energy. He stated that all maintenance to the
equipment is performed in-house with the exception of working on the motors,
repairing tires and things of that nature.
He stated that the mission was to make the people of Lake County feel
comfortable and safe coming to their facility and think that coming to the
landfill was not a bad experience.
INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM FUTURE
Mr. Gary Debo, Director, Solid Waste
Operations Division, spoke to the Board regarding the accomplishments and
future projects of Solid Waste which would make a difference to the citizens
and employees of Lake County. He
commented there was a visibility issue around the fuel facility and with the
assistance of Public Works the vegetative landscaping was cleared. He stated that they hosted the Solid Waste
Association of North America’s (SWANA’s) 25th Annual Road-e-o, which
was a competition of Solid Waste equipment operators and mechanics throughout
the State using various equipment, and there were a couple of local equipment
operators who won awards. He expressed
his gratitude to the Ken Bragg Center and to Mission Inn who helped them host
the SWANA event. He stated that they
have made Loghouse improvements by removing the obsolete, stationary compactor
which posed a hazard, by lowering the wall and reshaping it to allow more space
for residents to bring their waste for proper disposal, that the Department
would be evaluating the Paisley and Astor drop-offs this fiscal year to make
them more efficient and that they would also replace leachate tanks during this
fiscal year due to the fact that ash leachate is very corrosive. He commented that the Phase III Landfill
Project concept, which had been proposed in 2004, would give them 5 million
yards of disposal capacity. He stated
that a bid was placed in 2004 and the consultant came back and doubled their
disposal capacity to 10 million yards, noting that by widening the footprint
they could go higher. He explained that
the first sequence of the Phase III Landfill Project would give them 1.7
million cubic yards of disposal capacity which should last five to six years
and that it would be necessary to come back to the Board as the phases were
built to seek Board direction whether or not to continue with this effort.
SOLID WASTE PROGRAMS
SOLID WASTE ASSESSMENTS AND
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Ms. Cindy Heffler, Assessment and
Customer Service Supervisor, stated her section was divided into two
areas: (1) Assessment Database whose
primary function is to accurately maintain the Solid Waste Assessment of over
$11 million and make sure it is annually certified to the Tax Collector, by
adding and subtracting buildings and changing the assessments as needed,
obtaining the information from the Building Department and their own field
inspections that they update weekly with the Property Appraiser, and collect
invoices for Interim Assessments for properties that had building permits
before October 1, 2006. She stated that
since that date, the Building Department had been collecting the fee for them
and greatly increased the collection rate and reduced losses; processed refunds
for vacancy refunds and impassable road rebates; responded to citizens
regarding assessment policies and charges assessed to them; prepared notices,
resolutions and public hearing documentation as outlined in Chapter 21 of the
Lake County Codes and Chapter 197 of the Florida Statutes; and prepared the
roll certification documents and the assessment roll for delivery to the Tax
Collector by September 15 of each year; and (2) The Department provides
Customer Service whose primary function is to assist citizens with garbage
issues and ensure that garbage haulers meet the requirements of the contracts;
assist citizens with complaints and questions regarding the haulers and
collection services; assist Garbage Haulers with road issues; act as a mediator
between citizens and haulers; recommend fines if haulers are not meeting their
contract guidelines; maintain a garbage customer service information and
complaint database; pay Garbage Haulers each month for money collected from
citizens for their services; adjust their invoice for what they are charged for
such things as bringing in residential garbage in a commercial truck and vice
versa; determine annual hauler collection increases; and assist with data
mining to increase the recycling service percentages for the County. She reported that she has two Field
Inspectors, whose major jobs are connected to assessment databases where they
handle the mobile home park count, the unlivable units, and verification of
structures, and share all this information with Fire and Municipal Service
Benefit Units (MSBU), as well as review hauler issues, Illegal Dumping and
Littering.
HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE
Mr. Emilio Bruna, Director of Solid
Waste Programs Division, Household Hazardous Waste, addressed the Board stating
the Household Hazardous Waste Section was asked by the State and the County to
inspect small businesses in Lake County that generate hazardous waste, noting
that at least twenty percent of the total number of firms must be inspected
each year. He explained that these
inspections were to be performed to assist the businesses in complying with
environmental provisions for hazardous waste, and if they did not comply they
would be referred to the DEP for further action. He reported that they also manage the
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program, reporting that in FY 2007 they managed
more than 731,000 pounds, including electronic waste.
Mr. Bruna stated that they were
disposing of some of the commodities which they customarily received from the
citizens. He stated that at the present
time they sell the motor oil, the batteries and carpet padding. He commented that if used cooking oil was
brought to them from mom and pop type restaurants, which otherwise might have
been thrown down the drain and damaged the waste water treatment plant, it
could result in revenue of five cents a pound for Lake County. He reported that electronic waste is a cost
item for the County, and he was shocked to see that 533,000 pounds was properly
disposed of in this program and in the future the County may be able to realize
some monies from them. He reported that
in the Household Hazardous Waste Section of the Department there is one
supervisor, one inspector and three hazardous waste technicians, all
OSHA/HAZWOPER 40 hours certified and that there have been no job related
injuries since before 2005, mentioning that these employees assisted during the
Groundhog Day Tornados by closing down the household hazardous waste portion of
the drop-off facilities. He repotted
that projects for the future include recycling paint by mixing, repackaging,
and sending that paint to non-profit organizations, and to install a personal
cooling system for the summer of 2008.
RECYCLING OPERATIONS
Ms. Debbie Fore, Recycling
Operations Coordinator for Solid Waste Programs Division, reported that on
October 1, 2007, they began management of the recyclable residential solid
waste at the Landfill, and as of October 24, 2007, the Recycling Section had
processed and shipped more than 1006 tons of material with an expected gross
revenue of over $69,000. She explained
that the staff consists of her, an Equipment Operator IV, two vacancies for
Equipment Operator II and a Recycling Administrative Specialist, as well as 6
ARC clients and potentially four Sheriff’s Department Inmates for April 2008 to
help sort out the product. She reported
they have an Interlocal Agreement with the Lake County School Board to revenue
share with the schools, and at the present time all the schools have recycling
bins and for cardboard. She commented that the timeline for full operation
would be about six months. She reported
that they are trying to locate equipment to reduce Styrofoam by melting it
down, putting it into cubes, and then selling it.
RECYCLING AND SUSTAINABILITY
Mr. Emilio Bruna, Director of Solid
Waste Programs Division, brought with him actual recyclables such as newsprint
and cardboard, as well as milk cartons, glass bottles, and coffee cans which
are considered “commingled” recyclables.
He reported that since taking over in October 2007, they were receiving
an increased rate on these recyclables.
He explained further that the rates for various recyclables would
increase more if certain commodities were separated and each commodity was sold
by the truckload.
Mr. Bruna then spoke regarding the
initiatives of the Solid Waste Programs Division which included a new Solid
Waste Collection Contract in October 2009, ideas for commercial recycling
account, the need to increase the recycling participation rate, proposal to
upgrade the Recycling Facility; enclose the HHW facility by walling it in to
comply with DEP, prepare for digital TV changeover in 2009, and submit a Policy
Proposal on Green Initiatives and Sustainability. He then defined sustainability by stating
that these are actions that can be maintained or continued, and defined “green”
as any action which is environmentally conscious. He explained that the price of crude oil rose
to over $90 a barrel and at today’s consumption rate all the crude oil would be
used by the year 2050, which is the clearest example of a non-sustainable
act. He noted that the Governor had
signed a number of Executive Orders for limiting greenhouse gases. He stated that he and Sharon Tatum,
Administration, Public Education Specialist, attended a Summit in Orange County
exhibiting organically grown products from small farms in Orange County. He mentioned that various government agencies
were holding a myriad of forums on things such as climate protection and water
sustainability. He stated the green market is supposed to be over a trillion
dollars by the year 2030, and there is an opportunity in that market for Lake
County. He stated that the problem
exists, that the citizens feel the solution is local, and that the Board could
expect a report from his department in a few months.
MARKETING RECYCLING SERVICES
Mr. Daryl Smith, Director of
Environmental Services, addressed the Board concerning marketing recycling
services in a more significant way by bringing in as many recyclables as
possible to receive more revenue. He
asked that the Board consider several ideas including marketing services to a number of commercial
customer classes such as municipalities. He explained that one consideration
associated with a new Agreement is whether they have enough solid waste coming
into the system to feed the waste management facility. He specified that as part of the negotiations
with municipalities, they want a long term Agreement to deliver their solid
waste to them. He stated the other main
non-commercial entity is the School Board and that they are currently
negotiating with them and have containers at their locations. He stated they do not have an Agreement with
the School Board at the present time, but a final draft is being circulated
which could soon be brought to the Board.
Mr. Smith reported that there are
numerous commercial customers with whom there would be an opportunity to
develop a relationship, and he would like to develop a standard agreement the
County Manager or her designee would be able to sign, enabling them to enter
into agreements with those commercial establishments to accept their
recyclables thereby providing an opportunity to market these services and continue
to enhance the revenues received in the recycling operation. He noted that they would be coming back to
the Board in a short period of time regarding this agreement.
FUTURE SOLID WASTE COLLECTION
SERVICES DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Mr. Daryl Smith proceeded to address
the Board stating that future solid waste collection was one of the most
significant activities going on in the Department of Environmental Services and
expressed his hope that the Board would have a strong commitment to be involved
and work with the Department in the development of these new collection
services, stating that the existing contracts expire November 30, 2009, and new
services need to be in place on October 1, 2009. He reported that the process had been started
to have new services in place within that time frame, and that the goals
established are: (1) to provide
comprehensive input from all the stakeholders, stating that everyone involved
would be able to participate and have input; (2) to reduce the need for
lobbying the Board; and (3) to develop the best, most appropriate, services for
Lake County customers. He explained that
the stakeholders are the Integrated Solid Waste Management System (ISWMS)
Customers, the Board of County Commissioners and staff, and the Solid Waste Collectors. He reported that a meeting schedule
consisting of thirteen meetings, one every three weeks, had been established to
bring this to fruition. He explained
that by meeting with franchise collectors, or anyone interested in providing
solid waste collection services, they could obtain input for providing
collection services that exist and formulate pros and cons on different types
of services that can be provided as part of the collection service. He mentioned that the Solid Waste Advisory
Committee monthly meetings with the public and the Board, as directed, would
bring them up-to-date on the options available for providing service.
Mr. Smith explained the importance
of starting this process so early was that it would take nine months to educate the customers on the
new services, allow collectors time to secure new equipment they may need, and
to set up their routes so that by October 1, 2009, they would be ready to go
forward. He stated by December 2008, contracts
must be awarded for these services as well as an Ordinance approved by the
Board that coincides with those contracts to make sure the customers would be
aware of what they need to do to comply with the contracts. He explained that submissions from potential
vendors on pricing, or whatever else needed to be submitted to make an award,
would need to be brought forward in October because it would take a month or so
to obtain a final decision from the Board.
He also explained there would need to be procurement documents sometime
in August or September for the vendors to bid on and to have all final
information together for Board approval by July 2008.
He stated that one of the most
important issues to be considered by the Board would be procuring the services
and whether to go through competitive procurement or through the negotiation
process. He specified that some other
issues to be considered are the pay-as-you-go system, number of garbage
collections a week, automated collection, length of the contract, satisfaction
with quality service, and collection on dirt roads. He expressed that he would like to know what
issues the Board would like considered as they move forward with the collection
services, as well as how often the Board would like to interact in this
process.
RECESS AND REASSEMBLY
At 10:20 a.m., the Chairman
announced that the Board would recess until 10:30 a.m.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE AND
ENFORCEMENT
WATER RESOURCE LABORATORY
Ms. Cathie McGwier, Laboratory
Supervisor, reported that she had a staff of three, other than herself, and
that internal county related projects include sampling all landfills, surface
water, and potable water for county departments; storm water with Public Works;
and approximately twenty springs in the County.
She stated that external projects are those which generate revenue from
external clients, including citizens with both potable water and surface
water. She reported that the laboratory
performed analysis for the Water Authority, City Wastewater Plant, industrial
waste for LRMC and the Daily Commercial; worked with environmental consultants;
and were also one of the first counties to partner with the Watershed Action
Volunteers (WAV) who collect field samples and bring them into the lab where
the data is analyzed and provided for their database as well as the County’s
database. She explained that laboratory
statistics have remained constant throughout the years regarding the number of
samples, and that the amount of field work has increased with a spike in 2006
generated primarily from outside clients.
She specified that the Surface Water Program consisted of sampling the
major chains of lakes containing 50 acres or more at least once a year, and
maintaining a historical water quality database, providing data for the Lake
County Water Atlas and that the Springs Monitoring Program currently samples 20
springs throughout the county, performs laboratory analyses, and records and
reports flow measurements data to the FDEP and the Lake County Water
Atlas. She stated that the Ground Water
Program consists of three different areas:
the landfills, the cities and potable water. She explained that they perform semi-annual sampling and analysis, water
level measures for contour maps and quarterly monitoring of the gas vents at
the landfills and report to FDEP. She
reported that they perform sampling and/or analysis for neighboring cities for
permit compliance. She then described
the potable water program stating that they perform drinking water samples for
citizens, realtors and for all the County Departments who have potable
wells. She stated that she is a member
of the Technical Working group of the Upper Ocklawaha BMAP, and provides
sampling and analytical data for that program.
She commented that recently they were involved with creating and maintaining
layers for the GIS Divisions, and working on the development of the water
bodies pilot project. She explained that
their lab maintains its certification through proficiency testing. She reported on recent improvements to
productivity and service, stating the department began electronically tracking
analyst training records, created a workflow checklist for tracking all
landfill data and inventoried all County-owned potable wells, and brought them
into compliance with sampling/analysis/permitting, and created a GIS
layer. She described future improvements
to productivity and customer service by purchasing new instrumentation for more
analyses to be performed in-house, such as efficient analyses of metals and
Total Organic Carbon; building an addition on the laboratory, providing
additional workspace and separation of chemicals from office space and
instrumentation; and interfacing the laboratory instruments with computers to
allow for direct downloads of data, reducing possible transcription errors as
well as improving analyst efficiency.
WATER ATLAS
Mr. Walter Wood, Senior
Hydrogeologist stated that he was involved in the Wekiva Permitting issues, the
Department of Health, and the Wekiva Working Group, and has been attending the
Wekiva Commission Meetings and was also very much involved in Landfill
Monitoring as far as preparing reports for DEP.
He explained the history of the Water Atlas Program which was started
from data the laboratory had been collecting for years and noted that in the
1980’s St. John’s Water Management District provided assistance so that the
data could be entered into a computer, but it was still not easily accessible
until they ran across the Water Atlas concept at the University of South
Florida, a software program, database driven, which contains data from various
agencies and allows communication with the people who work with the data, the
citizens, and scientists, in a form everyone can use. He explained that some of the information the
Atlas provided was water quality data, aerial photos, boat ramps and parks,
lake bottom contour maps, fishing reports, water levels, flows and rainfall to
name a few. He reported that
Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Orange, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota, and Seminole
Counties all have Water Atlases and that Lake County’s Water Atlas is located
at http://lakewateratlas.org. He informed the Board that the
Adopt-A-Pond/Lake Program, FACAT-Approved Lessons Plans for Grades 5-12,
Historical Pages for Waterbodies and Real-time Water Quality data were all
possible future enhancements of the Atlas.
He mentioned that this year Emergency Services is going to place live
weather data in the Atlas.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
Mr. Charlie Cox, Environmental Programs
Supervisor, reported that his department, consisting of four employees, is
basically the enforcement branch of the Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement. He stated that they set fines against people when rules are
violated and have taken over the enforcement part of the FDEP tanks contract
for 316 facilities for the County, which brought in $143,000 per year and
perform tank inspections from retail outlets and industrial facilities. He explained that they also perform
installation of tanks, make sure there are no contaminates in soil when tanks
are removed, and check transfer switches which allows retail outlets to bring a
generator onsite in case of a hurricane in order to continue pumping gas and
processing credit cards. He reported that the Department works closely with
FDEP and St. John’s Water Management District performing environmental
enforcement by taking all environmental complaints concerning wetlands, tree
removals and others coming into Lake County to resolve violations. He stated that there are forty-two active
mining operation facilities within Lake County which are inspected at least
annually for compliance with the facilities’ permit; three “sludge” spreading
operation sites and nine industrial waste spray fields primarily used for
disposal of waste water. He stated that a Home Heating Oil Recovery Program was
started a few years ago which was being paid for by environmental fines. Mr.
Cox informed the Board that they work with the Wellhead Protection Program
whereby in 2006-2007 the staff reviewed applications, inspected and approved
thirteen wellhead sites.
ENHANCED ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE
PROGRAM
Mr. Mike Bowers, Division Director
for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, stated that during April 2007,
the Department of Environmental Services was charged by the Board to come up
with some enhancements to Lake County’s Environmental Program Regulations. He stated that the intent of the enhancements
was to broaden the County’s regulatory authority and to enact more control over
possible environmental violations at the county level. In response to that
direction, Mr. Bowers stated that they would be coming to the Board requesting
a change in LDR Chapter VI, section 6.01.02 “Lands to Which this Section
Applies”, which refers to wetlands, noting they would like to include only
properties that meet the Right to Farm Act.
He explained that they also would like the Board to approve a “stop work
order” process, to be issued by the County Manager or designee, for violations
of activities permitted by Lake County in order to stop some of the damage
before it worsens. He reported that the
status of existing enhancements includes the implementation of a fining matrix
for development without an order (DWO) on parcels / properties that require an
Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) which is from $500 for one acre up to
$15,000 for 51 acres and over; and implementation of a “Notice of Commencement”
to fulfill the requirement of notification in conjunction with LDR Section
6.01.03 A. He also stated that the Pollution Recovery
Fund has been changed to the Environmental Recovery Fund with Protected Trees
and Pollutant Storage Tanks added. He
stated that, by way of the budget, they eliminated the current $75 Tree Permit
fee for the removal of trees at existing single family residential properties
because he felt people were not coming to obtain tree removal permits because
of the cost. He reported that they put
together a sliding fining matrix for people who do not get a permit, ranging
from $100 for one to four trees and up to $500 for ten plus trees, and if it is
an historic tree it will be taken to the Special Master to decide how much to
charge for illegal removal. He further
explained that contractors would pay an additional $350 fine.
Mr. Bowers reported that a few
months ago the Department pursued delegation of the State’s Environmental
Resource Permit Program (ERP) from FDEP and SJRWMD, but St. John’s Water
Management District is not willing to relinquish delegation of the enforcement
portion of the program as it would require the Department to learn the entire
program simply for that one portion. He
stated that though there is not a large environmental permitting department,
and perhaps rewording the LDRs could bring forth better regulations.
MOSQUITO AND AQUATIC PLANT
MANAGEMENT
MOSQUITO AND ACQUATIC PLANT
MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW
Mr. Robert Rinehart, Assistant
Director, Mosquito and Aquatic Plant Management Division, spoke to the Board
regarding Florida’s history stating that in 1838 delegates from what was then
the territory of Florida met at a thriving community in the panhandle called
St. Joseph, to draft a letter to the U.S. Congress requesting that Florida be
admitted into the Union, and the very next year nearly three-fourths of the
population from St. Joseph died from the dreaded yellow fever and the remaining
inhabitants of St. Joseph fled for their lives.
Mr. Rinehart explained that if it were not for that very special event
in 1839, St. Joseph, Florida, might very well have become Florida’s
capital. He mentioned that over the
centuries scientists have discovered that certain diseases such as malaria,
yellow fever, and various ensyphlematic viruses were transmitted by mosquitoes.
He opined that mosquito control is a necessary and important service, not only
for Lake County, and the State of Florida, but probably for the entire world,
commenting that the number one killer in the world today is from malaria, which
is transmitted by anopheles mosquitoes.
He related that in about 1898 an introduction of one single water
hyacinth plant into the St. John’s River in Palatka created devastating results
to our aquatic resources and that over the past 100 years water hyacinths have
spread to almost every single water body in the State of Florida; however, the
relatively new introduction of hydrillas, an exotic and invasive plant has
overshadowed the infestation of water hyacinths and has created some very
serious and biological economic impacts to Lake County communities and lakes. He opined that it is extremely important to
have some type of management protocol in place for these invasive and exotic
aquatic plants so our lakes do not end up as useless water bodies.
MOSQUITO MANAGEMENT
Mr. Craig Scott, Mosquito Management
Field Supervisor, spoke to the Board about mosquito surveillance which
basically observes the changes in mosquito abundance in order to assess what
might happen in the future. He explained
that it has been determined that it was best to deal with the more active
bitters, then determine the management activities based on risk of arboviral
disease transmission. He mentioned that
last year they collected and identified over 42,000 mosquitoes, and so far this
year, they have identified over 20,000 mosquitoes, some of which transmit
specific kinds of viruses. He mentioned
that one of the actions taken by the Department is mosquito adulticiding, which
is the reduction of the adult mosquitoes, by using ultraviolet spray systems at
night, noting that the pesticide is less than one ounce per acre, which is a
very small, safe and effective amount.
He reported that last year they treated over one million acres, and so
far this year a little over .5 million acres.
He continued by stating that the majority of field operations is larviciding
which is eliminating the mosquitoes in their aquatic stage through biological
larvicide and reported that last year approximately 25 acres were treated with
larvicide and this year over 83 acres were treated due mainly to drought
situations in the last couple of years.
AQUATIC PLANT MANAGEMENT
Mr. Scott Grippin, Aquatic Biologist
and Field Supervisor for Aquatic Plant Management, explained that their
department has Permit Type (PT) Programs.
He referred to the DEP PT1 Plant Control Program which includes
hydrillas, water hyacinth, and water lettuce plants, noting these plants take
priority because they have the capability of rendering our lakes unusable. He commented that in 2006 almost 2900 acres
of hydrilla were treated; to date 450 acres have been treated. Mr. Grippin stated that PT2s, non-DEP Program
lakes, consist of lakes with water hyacinths and water lettuce only and
residential canals greater than 10 acres.
He reported that PT3s are residential canals containing duckweed, a top
water plant, which residents consider an eyesore. He explained that the Department takes great
pride in making sure the residents are contacted and assisted in any way
possible by either cleaning out, treating, or providing suggestions on handling
duckweed.
Mr.
Grippin stated that PT4s consist of a collaboration between Mosquito Control
and Aquatic Plant Management, noting that people contact the Department
reporting they have an area containing hyacinths and/or water lettuce in their
water bodies. He stated these two plants
provide a place for certain species of mosquitoes to attach themselves to the
roofs of those top water plants, breath oxygen through the plants and keep them
from surfacing preventing natural predators from keeping them in check. He reported the Department also manages PT5
controls assisting other cities with lettuce or hyacinth.
Mr. Grippin explained that using air
boats is beneficial for overseeing the lakes. He stated that the County is
split into two regions, the North and the South and there is a technician
assigned to both regions. He commented
that he performs hydrillas surveys and concentrates his efforts on the Harris
Chain, which consists of Lakes Eustis, Harris, and Griffin and if there is a
problem, it would be taken care of immediately, resulting in less impact on the
aquatic eco system. He stated he takes
great pride in managing and keeping the lakes nice for the community by
maintaining them to be free of vegetation.
ADMINISTRATION
BUDGET OVERVIEW
Ms. Melissa Howard, Financial and
Office Coordinator, presented an overview of the Fiscal Year 2008 Budget which
was split into three areas, the first of which is Solid Waste which is
comprised of the Solid Waste Operations Programs and the Administration budget
for a total revenue of approximately $37 million, the largest portion of which
is the annual ad valorem assessment levied against the unincorporated Lake
County residents annually on their tax rolls.
She reported the tax was currently $174 per household and brought in a
total revenue of approximately $11.3 million.
She noted that they also received revenue generated through the
recycling center and hazardous waste areas for approximately $1.6 million, fees
generated through commercial and non-unincorporated waste received at the
landfill for approximately $4.8 million, as well as receiving approximately $8
million in electric revenue generated through the Covanta plant. She stated that the largest expense was
contractual services of $16.6 million which consists primarily of the operation
and maintenance fee for the Covanta plant, as well as the contract haulers fee
and $8.1 million in debt payment, primarily for the Covanta plant.
She
commented that Environmental Compliance and Enforcement had revenues of
approximately $1.5 million, which includes a subsidy from the general fund of
$1.2 million. She explained they had some revenue generated within their
department of approximately $141,000 for storage tank charges, which is a fixed
amount received from the State; and then they received $100,000 for
environmental review fees. She reported
there were review fees made up of industrial and agricultural wastewater annual
fees and reinspection fees. She stated
that the largest expense was for salaries and benefits for their staff which
was $754,000 for FY 2008. She specified
that they were also budgeting $484,000 this year for contractual services,
which was primarily for the Astatula Fuel Cleanup Project and $130,000 for
machinery and equipment to replace outdated equipment in the lab.
She
reported that the Mosquito and Aquatic Plant Division had revenues of
approximately $1.6 million, and also received a subsidy from the general fund
of approximately $1.5 million, and that they received a grant from the Florida
Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services for $100,000 as well as a
reimbursement from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection of
$37,000. With regard to expenses for
Mosquito and Aquatic Plant Division, she reported that the salary and benefits
for their staff was approximately $1.1 million, and they have budgeted $365,000
for operating supplies, including fuel for their equipment and county vehicles,
for traps and miscellaneous supplies; and have budgeted $117,000 for their machinery
and equipment.
Ms. Howard explained that some of
the office activities that their administration building office staff handles
were processing payroll for sixty employees on a bi-weekly basis; handling new
hire paperwork, and for FY 2007 that included 13 new hires for the department;
working towards acquiring a scanner for use with the DataOne Project which will
allow them to store and retrieve their documents more efficiently; handling
telecommunications for their department consisting of 1800 calls per month, 518
of which were related to customer service issues; coordinating the use of the
department’s Nextel phones; coordinating new telephone system; restructuring
telephone/fax lines to reduce cost to the department by approximately $10,000
annually; processing Direct Pays, VISA, and Journal Entries of approximately
$11.8 million, and Purchase Orders of approximately $9.9 million; as well as
participating in a March of Dimes plant sale to raise approximately $2,800.
PUBLIC EDUCATION, OUTREACH AND PUBLIC
RELATIONS
Ms. Sharon Tatum, Public Education
Specialist, addressed the Board explaining that the responsibilities of her
position were to inform the Lake County Public about the services provided by
the Department, facilitate programs that increase Lake County residents’,
students’ and visitors’ understanding of their ecological impact; and
delivering this information by classroom visits, community meetings, facility
tours, Community Outreach, newspapers and radio stations, and more recently
using volunteers. She reported that
earlier this year Lake-Sumter Community College contacted her about attending
the “2007 Quality of Life Conference” for students from 6th grade
through 12th grade, resulting in collaboration between the Lake
County Water Authority, Parks and Trails, Water Lab, Solid Waste Operations,
Solid Waste Programs, Covanta Energy, Inc., the City of Leesburg and
Lake-Sumter Community College. She
reported that the students took tours of the landfill, and Covanta performed
research and participated in presentations at Hickory Point. She was very impressed with the amount of
energy that the students exemplified with this project.
She
stated that one hour Media Presentations on WLBE radio station helped inform
the public about the Department’s responsibilities, inviting listeners to call
in with their questions and to become familiar with what was being done by
Environmental Services. She related a
recent Anti-Pollution Roundup for Pollution Prevention Expo in Eustis organized
by the Department which was advertised in the newspaper, where the Mounted
Cowboy Association Volunteers came out and showcased their organization. She stated another way to inform students
would be to bring them before the Board, noting that often the students do not
know what job Commissioners perform or which Commissioner represents their
district, and this would give them an opportunity to obtain that
information. She related that last year
a group from Tavares High School came before the Board for a Proclamation to be
declared on America’s Recycle Day.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Mr. Daryl Smith explained the most
important thing about the Covanto Plant is that the Contract expires in
2014. He also stated that the Department
does not use consultants to perform management activities, noting that the only
consultants used by the Department are either environmental or engineering
consultants.
Mr. Smith stated that the Board
would make the final decision on what services will be offered from Solid Waste
in the future. He stated that the Department would be making recommendations
for the Board and there would be some tough decisions to make through this
process. He commented that because the
services are so complex and there are so many variations they could present to
the Board, that they would get some feedback before the final presentation.
Commr. Cadwell stated that there
were probably a dozen “hot button” issues in that whole process where they
needed clear guidance.
Commr. Cadwell asked Mr. Smith about
the fining matrix for tree removal there and if there was a replanting
requirement.
Mr. Mike Bowers, Director,
Environmental Compliance & Enforcement, replied that there is a replanting
requirement.
Commr. Renick then asked what was
involved in leachate disposal.
Mr. Gary Debo explained that
leachate is liquid passing through waste which collects some of the
constituents that are in that waste and fall out the bottom, which has to be
disposed of properly. He explained that
they had been disposing of that with the Phase II Landfill, and the
constituents in the incinerator ash in that Landfill, which was primarily
chloride, reach out into the water that passes through it. He pointed out that since Lake County was a
fairly rural county, the chlorides that are in the leachate cannot effectively
be treated locally. He related that it
was an expensive proposition for the County because they had to truck the
leachate to Jacksonville to dispose of it, which greatly adds to their cost. He
stated that the chloride or salt in the leachate was corrosive, but not
hazardous, and unfortunately those tanks were in the process of failing. He mentioned that in 2003 they applied a
coating to the tanks to get a little more life out of them, but now they needed
to be replaced. He reported that one of
the advantages for the Phase III Operation would be that they could separate
the ash residual from the garbage coming into the landfill in a diversion,
which was the waste being diverted from the waste energy plant, making it much
easier and less expensive to treat, and then they might be able to treat the
leachate locally.
Commr. Hill commented that Styrofoam
recycling could be very lucrative and wanted to know if it had been put into
the budget this year.
Mr. Smith responded that it had not
been put in this year’s budget, but that it was something they were going to
examine and try to determine if it would be feasible to move forward with
recycling Styrofoam.
Commr. Hill asked where they obtain
their list of tanks to inspect.
Mr. Charlie Cox stated that LDEP
provides a list of the contracts each year.
He explained that when a tank is installed, it is registered and is put
on their list, and the facility is required to tell them what they
installed. Then it is inspected and the
facility is advised of the records to be kept.
He added that if the tank was to be removed, they would perform a
removal inspection to keep the database current. He commented that their contract requires
inspection of 90 percent of all the facilities and that they inspected 100
percent of them.
ADJOURNMENT
There
being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the
meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m.
__________________________________
WELTON CADWELL, CHAIRMAN
ATTEST:
__________________________
JAMES C. WATKINS,
CLERK