City of Frederick Mayor & Board of Aldermen Workshop - September 18, 2024
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
City of Frederick Mayor & Board of Aldermen Workshop - September 18, 2024
The Mayor and Board of Aldermen met on September 18, 2024, at 3:00 PM in City Hall for a workshop focusing on two sustainability initiatives: the Residential Compost Pilot Program and proposed amendments to City Code Chapter 32 regarding low impact landscaping. The meeting included approval of prior minutes, staff presentations, board discussion, and public comments.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (September 4, 2024): Approved 4-0 (Alderman Nash absent). Motion by Alderman Shaker, second by Alderwoman Kazemchek.
Public Comments & Testimony
Residential Compost Pilot Program:
- Patrice Gallagher (East Fifth Street resident): Praised the program, noting it aligns with prior county-level recommendations for composting and education. She expressed hope the city’s leadership would influence the county’s new solid waste director.
- Kathy Kinsey (Chair, Government Affairs and Policy Committee, Mobilize Frederick): Submitted written comments expressing strong support for continuing the program. She suggested exploring commingling (compostable bags in regular trash, then sorted) and advocated for the city to support Maryland General Assembly legislation (HB 1318) that would impose a $2/ton waste disposal surcharge to fund local composting programs.
Low Impact Landscaping Code Amendments:
- Kathy Kinsey (Mobilize Frederick): Submitted written comments in support of the ordinance, noting that individual actions like native landscaping can address climate change and provide ecological benefits.
- Brandon Carberry (West South Street resident, native plant nursery owner): Supported the 85% native plant requirement, cited national trends (one in four Americans purchasing native plants), and suggested providing pre-planned garden examples from University of Maryland resources during the six-month implementation period.
Discussion Items
1. Residential Compost Pilot Program Update and Options Sustainability Manager Jen Willoughby presented data on the program’s first year of citywide operation:
- Participation: Over 1,400 households (4.7% of eligible households); average 47 pounds composted per household per month. Total: 397 tons (nearly 1 million pounds) diverted. A community drop-off site opened in the last month received over 1,000 pounds with zero contamination.
- Costs: Program costs $19/household/month. Current total cost ~$332,000/year. If participation reaches an estimated maximum of 30% (without a mandate), cost would be ~$2.1 million/year, offset by $190,000 in reduced tipping fees (net ~$1.9 million). Current tipping fee at county transfer station: $73.46/ton.
- Funding: Grant-funded (USDA) through June 30, 2025; grant covers $200,000 with $100,000 city match. Marketing outreach (22 media mentions, 8 million+ impressions, 17 events) has been effective.
- Barriers: Pay-as-you-throw is not feasible with current automated trucks. Restaurant/commercial composting was previously studied and found problematic due to training turnover and wastewater treatment plant compatibility.
- Board discussion: Aldermen asked about cost recovery, yard waste diversion data, and potential for requiring participation. Staff noted that mandatory programs elsewhere (e.g., Berkeley, CA) often lead to high contamination rates. The board leaned toward continuing the program as a free service funded through the city budget, with further cost analysis expected during budget season.
2. Low Impact Landscaping Code Amendments Jen Willoughby presented a draft ordinance adding definitions and standards to Chapter 32 (weed ordinance):
- Key requirements: Low impact landscapes (including pollinator gardens, rain gardens, xeriscapes, meadows) must contain at least 85% native species, no noxious weeds, and may include turf grass and walkways. Meadows limited to one acre or larger with annual invasive species evaluation.
- Purpose: Provides a framework for residents to install low impact landscapes without HOA or city weed ordinance violations. State law (HB 322, 2021/2022) already prohibits HOAs from banning such landscapes; this ordinance extends protections citywide.
- Implementation timeline: Staff requested at least six months before the ordinance becomes effective to develop outreach materials, websites, and educational resources. Board discussed options: passing the ordinance now with a six-month effective date (allowing planning over winter for spring planting) versus waiting. Staff noted that without an effective date, current weed ordinance enforcement would continue until the new code is active. The board expressed support for moving forward with a six-month effective date.
Key Outcomes
- Compost Pilot Program: The board gave general guidance to continue the program and asked staff to bring back cost-recovery options during the FY2026 budget process. No formal vote was taken.
- Low Impact Landscaping Ordinance: The board directed staff to proceed with the ordinance, with the understanding that it will be passed with a six-month effective date to allow for public education and outreach. The final ordinance language and effective date will be brought back for a vote at a future meeting.
- Elected Officials’ Comments: Alderman Nash expressed interest in converting city green spaces to native landscaping. Alderman Russell reminded residents of Car Free Day on Monday, September 23, 2024. Alderman McShane celebrated his birthday (age 43). The mayor announced a Hispanic Heritage Month briefing at 5:30 PM that evening.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the Mayor and Board of Alderman workshop for the 18th of September. We begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. We have minutes to approve September 4th, 2024. So moved. Motion by Alderman Shaker, second by Auder Woman Kazemchek. All those in favor. That is 4-0. Alder Woman Nash will be joining us, she expects around 3:30. Two items on our workshop agenda today. Item number one is discussion of the residential compost pilot program, including options for moving forward. Turn it over our sustainability department. Thank you, Mayor and Born. Jen Willoughby, the city of Project Sustainability Manager. Can everybody hear me? A little feedback. Yes, a little feedback. But we can hear you. Okay, good. All right. So I just wanted to give um how's that? Nope. That's gonna be more feedback. Maybe is that better? You have to talk. Is that better? We can't tell. Is that better? Okay, let's use this one. All right. So I just wanted to give you all uh an overview of the compost program and how it's been going now that it's been operational for about a year, uh, fully operational across the city. So um in the background that you have, I provided you with some numbers, a lot of numbers, and I'll go over the more important ones today. And I just want to give you all some base information. So over this year we've established a trend. Uh it took us a while to get those numbers uh ironed out. And our households are composting approximately 47 pounds per month for each household. That's based on the data from our program. The compost program costs $19 per household per month. And just so everyone's aware, the current tipping fees at the county transfer station are $73.46 per ton. So that's per 2,000 pounds, just as a reminder. So uh our latest numbers are showing uh that we have more than 1,400 um participating households, and so this number keeps fluctuating. This uh um the current cost is gonna keep fluctuating as we get more and more participants. So the current cost at the numbers that we have today is about 332,000, and we have about a 4.7% participation rate as of uh the end of August, really. Um you look at the numbers. My guess is that our top participation rate would be about 30 percent. That would be I'd expect the the total number of households that would ultimately participate in a program like this, and the cost would be about 2.1 million, which um could would reduce our tipping fees by 190,000 at that rate. And um the so the cost of the program or the cost of our tipping fees ultimately would be reduced to about 1.9, but our program would weigh more than eat that up. So um just to give you a few numbers just to kind of get your um your thoughts going. Um I do want to go over some of the things that we've accomplished this year uh with our USDA grant. We did write in for marketing support. So I want to show you what we've done with that.
openpublica.com