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Record of Proceedings

Erie Town Council Study Session: EPR and Resilience Plan (Feb 3, 2026)

Town Council — Tuesday, February 3, 2026
BodyErie, Colorado
SessionTown Council
DateTuesday, February 3, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:14:41

Transcript — Verbatim
1:15

I'm calling to order the town council study session on February 3rd, 2026.

1:22

And with that, um, I'm not quite sure who I'm turning it over to.

1:25

Erica, are you taking the lead?

1:26

I will start us off, yes.

1:31

All right.

1:34

Good evening, Mayor.

1:35

Good evening, council members.

1:37

We are very excited to be with you all tonight to talk trash.

1:44

Um this is a conversation that has been evolving for a few years at this point.

1:50

Um really excited to get into the details.

1:52

It has a lot of opportunities for the town.

1:55

Um, and we'd also love to entertain your questions as we go through the presentation.

1:59

We do have quite a bit of time to discuss.

2:02

Um so please feel free to chime in with questions as we share these slides.

2:07

Um, and then also we'll have time at the end for further discussion as well.

2:11

So we are here to talk about extended producer responsibility.

2:17

So initially we're gonna talk about a bit of the waste overview for the town of Erie and what's pertinent to the extended producer responsibility specifically.

2:26

We're gonna talk about EPR, extended producer responsibility.

2:30

Um, full disclosure, there's a lot of acronyms in this presentation.

2:34

So uh we're gonna do our best to define them.

2:37

Um, and then we'll probably use the shorthand.

2:40

But if you have questions, want a reminder, please let us know.

2:43

We did talk about bringing a dry race board and actually having them defined because there's so many.

2:48

Um so just full disclosure, it's it's a bit hard to follow at times.

2:52

We're gonna talk about how EPR affects Erie, specifically our HOAs, our residents, the town and facilities, and then we want to have a good discussion with you all about questions you may have and kind of what would be helpful from your perspective on bringing EPR to you on a regular basis and how it's evolving over time and the next steps specifically with this first phase of EPR.

3:19

So waste overview.

3:27

Oh, excuse me, I'm ahead of myself.

3:30

So quick overview.

3:31

There's five residential haulers within the town.

3:33

Um that's one way, republic, waste connections, western disposal, and WM, which is waste management.

3:40

There's also two boutique compost haulers, so Wampost, which has recently merged with Compost Colorado, and scraps.

3:47

Scraps primarily does commercial hauling, um, and definitely in the old town downtown Briggs Street area.

3:53

And it's relatively new.

4:09

And this is from 2024.

4:11

And you can see in green, it's the municipal solid waste or MSW.

4:16

We have red recycling, blue organics, and then light blue is reused.

4:21

We don't have reuse being reported currently, um, but that could change in the future.

4:26

And per our ordinance that was adopted in March of 2020, we require that haulers in Erie are licensed through Boulder County.

4:36

And because of that, we have this data that you see at the bottom through reTRAC and access to that information.

4:42

So do you I'm sorry.

4:44

No, is it okay?

4:45

Yeah, absolutely 100%.

4:47

Um, so even haulers that are hauling on the Weld County side, they need to be registered on with Boulder County.

4:54

Yes.

4:54

Okay, and then is there an agreement or an MOU or something between Boulder and Well?

5:00

No, it is through the ordinance that was adopted in March 2020, is my understanding.

5:04

We are requiring them to license through Boulder County.

5:08

And that's a conversation we can have later too, is if we want to have them be licensed through Erie specifically, so that we could do something such as require their participation in this program in EPR.

5:19

I believe it was the initial intent, but of course, uh March of 2020, immediately after passing this uh ordinance, the world fell apart.

5:27

So we do review it.

5:28

It was only partially enacted.

5:30

We had bigger fish to fry.

5:32

100%.

5:34

Good context.

5:41

So the left image is from the 2023 community survey results.

5:45

And the top bar is the most important for this conversation.

5:52

But basically 89% of residents in 2023 had access to trash and recycling curbside.

5:59

That's important to share because that 89% of residents have access to free recycling through EPR starting this year.

6:10

It's also important because there's 11% of folks in Erie that do not have trash curbside pickup that could also have, or excuse me, not trash, but recycling, that could also have access to recycling now for free through this program.

6:25

The image on the right is from an informal questionnaire that we ran from our division.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Waste Management████████████████████████████28%
Environmental Protection██████████████████████22%
Disaster Preparedness█████████████████17%
Sustainability Planning████████████12%
Community Engagement██████6%
Public Engagement█████5%
Technology and Innovation█████5%
Procedural███3%
Economic Development██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Erie Town Council Study Session: Extended Producer Responsibility and Resilience Action Plan (February 3, 2026)

The February 3, 2026 Town Council study session focused on two primary sustainability initiatives: the rollout of Colorado's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program and the next phases of Erie's Resilience Action Plan. Staff presented data on current waste services, explained the funding mechanisms of the new EPR state law, and facilitated a discussion on the implications for residents and HOAs. The session concluded with a review of the Resilience Action Plan's vulnerability assessment, strategies for infrastructure hardening, and feedback regarding future code adoption and electrification requirements.

Consent Calendar

  • No items from the consent calendar were discussed or acted upon during this specific study session; the agenda focused entirely on informational presentations and deliberation.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • HOA Residents: Expressed frustration regarding the opacity of HOA billing, noting that many residents are unaware of the specific portion of their fees allocated to recycling because it is bundled. Several residents advocated for the town to obtain a matrix of HOA fees to identify savings. One resident stated they could not get their hauler to disclose the breakdown of their fees, while others noted price ranges for similar services vary significantly ($10 to $48) across the town.
  • Council Members: Expressed strong support for expanding access to recycling for the 11% of residents currently lacking it. One member highlighted the cultural shock of moving to an area without recycling infrastructure and voiced support for the EPR goal of universal access.
  • Community Observations: Residents suggested the town could leverage the economic benefit of the waste bag fee rebate to encourage residents to shop at local businesses (specifically King's Supers) rather than Walmart, noting that local revenue recirculation is a benefit of local haulage contracts.

Discussion Items

  • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR):

    • Program Overview: Staff explained that Colorado House Bill 22-1355 (signed 2022) establishes a Producer Responsibility Organization (Circular Action Alliance) to fund recycling. The program incentivizes producers to use easily recyclable packaging and dis-incentivizes difficult-to-recycle items like flexible plastics.
    • Financial Impact: Staff stated that reimbursement for single-stream recycling costs will begin mid-to-late 2026. Residents expressed a position of concern over the delay, but staff clarified it is not a cost to taxpayers, but rather a reimbursement of existing funds.
    • HOA Strategy: A discussion ensued regarding the challenge of communicating with HOAs. Members noted that HOA management companies are difficult to reach regarding fee breakdowns. It was suggested that town staff should proactively contact HOAs with an email subject line highlighting the opportunity for reimbursement to motivate engagement.
    • Waste Diversion Rebabtes: Staff noted that the town's separate compost rebate program (funded by waste bag fees) is young, with only two or three residents having utilized the backyard composting rebate since its late 2024 launch.

  • Resilience Action Plan:

    • Adoption vs. Mandate: Council Member O'Connor expressed concern that the plan might inadvertently increase construction costs for new homes. Staff clarified that the plan is a guiding document, not a mandate, and that any cost increases would result from future code amendments regarding energy standards, which are scheduled for discussion in March.
    • Electrification Standards:
      • Staff outlined the trend toward all-electric codes, citing benefits for air quality and future-proofing homes, noting that municipalities like Lafayette and Crested Butte have already adopted such codes.
      • Residents questioned the feasibility of electrification during power outages, citing past experiences with gas stoves and ovens during the December power outage. Staff countered that natural gas appliances also often require electricity for ignition and controls, and emphasized the emerging potential of electric vehicle (EV) battery integration for backup power.
    • Resilience Hubs: Council members advocated for establishing formal "resilience hubs" to aid recovery. Staff discussed the potential of the Erie Community Center (ECC) but noted challenges regarding current power infrastructure (lack of batteries/generators). Staff proposed a shift toward a distributed model, identifying local HOA clubhouses, churches with generators, and libraries as potential networked hubs.
    • Business Recovery: Council members requested greater integration of business and resident economic recovery strategies. Staff acknowledged the focus has been on prevention (preparation) rather than reaction but agreed to look for ways to incorporate business continuity and economic resilience into the plan's goals.
    • Technical Issues: Members noted that numerous external links (EPA, USGS, FEMA) within the digital plan were broken (404 errors). Staff agreed to update these resources before final adoption.

Key Outcomes

  • EPR Rollout: The council received confirmation that the Circular Action Alliance is coordinating with haulers to determine participation. The town is tasked with facilitating communication to residents to ensure they understand the potential for recycling cost offsets starting mid-to-late 2026.
  • Resilience Plan Next Steps:
    • Staff will update the document to fix broken hyperlinks and add a preamble clarifying that the plan is aspirational and exploratory, not a binding mandate.
    • Staff will coordinate with Council Member O'Connor individually regarding specific feedback.
    • A new phase of the plan involving Master's of Environment students will focus on HOA engagement workshops, resilience hub site analysis, and an extreme heat community guide.
    • A subsequent study session in late March is scheduled to discuss specific code and energy code adoption options, with a state mandate requiring adoption by July if the town does not act.
    • The plan will be revised to better incorporate strategies for business and resident economic recovery.

Meeting Transcript

I'm calling to order the town council study session on February 3rd, 2026. And with that, um, I'm not quite sure who I'm turning it over to. Erica, are you taking the lead? I will start us off, yes. All right. Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, council members. We are very excited to be with you all tonight to talk trash. Um this is a conversation that has been evolving for a few years at this point. Um really excited to get into the details. It has a lot of opportunities for the town. Um, and we'd also love to entertain your questions as we go through the presentation. We do have quite a bit of time to discuss. Um so please feel free to chime in with questions as we share these slides. Um, and then also we'll have time at the end for further discussion as well. So we are here to talk about extended producer responsibility. So initially we're gonna talk about a bit of the waste overview for the town of Erie and what's pertinent to the extended producer responsibility specifically. We're gonna talk about EPR, extended producer responsibility. Um, full disclosure, there's a lot of acronyms in this presentation. So uh we're gonna do our best to define them. Um, and then we'll probably use the shorthand. But if you have questions, want a reminder, please let us know. We did talk about bringing a dry race board and actually having them defined because there's so many. Um so just full disclosure, it's it's a bit hard to follow at times. We're gonna talk about how EPR affects Erie, specifically our HOAs, our residents, the town and facilities, and then we want to have a good discussion with you all about questions you may have and kind of what would be helpful from your perspective on bringing EPR to you on a regular basis and how it's evolving over time and the next steps specifically with this first phase of EPR. So waste overview. Oh, excuse me, I'm ahead of myself. So quick overview. There's five residential haulers within the town. Um that's one way, republic, waste connections, western disposal, and WM, which is waste management. There's also two boutique compost haulers, so Wampost, which has recently merged with Compost Colorado, and scraps. Scraps primarily does commercial hauling, um, and definitely in the old town downtown Briggs Street area. And it's relatively new. And this is from 2024. And you can see in green, it's the municipal solid waste or MSW. We have red recycling, blue organics, and then light blue is reused. We don't have reuse being reported currently, um, but that could change in the future. And per our ordinance that was adopted in March of 2020, we require that haulers in Erie are licensed through Boulder County. And because of that, we have this data that you see at the bottom through reTRAC and access to that information. So do you I'm sorry. No, is it okay? Yeah, absolutely 100%. Um, so even haulers that are hauling on the Weld County side, they need to be registered on with Boulder County. Yes. Okay, and then is there an agreement or an MOU or something between Boulder and Well? No, it is through the ordinance that was adopted in March 2020, is my understanding. We are requiring them to license through Boulder County. And that's a conversation we can have later too, is if we want to have them be licensed through Erie specifically, so that we could do something such as require their participation in this program in EPR. I believe it was the initial intent, but of course, uh March of 2020, immediately after passing this uh ordinance, the world fell apart. So we do review it.

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