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Project Description
Nevada County designed and planned a building materials reuse and C&D
Collection facility at the McCourtney Road Transfer Station to benefit
contractors, businesses, and residents (in avoiding disposal costs);
businesses, residents, schools, artists, and nonprofits (in providing a
cost-effective resource for materials); and the County (in increasing
diversion, reducing disposal, and providing a high-benefit, low-cost, and
long-term program).
Progress Background
Since the last reporting period, budgetary shortcomings have led to
detailed scrutinizing of capitol expenditure projects throughout the County.
The Reuse Project faces questioning in terms of its cost effectiveness as
related to potential diversion and the Facility's effectiveness in helping
Nevada County reach the 50 percent diversion mandate. Nevada County has a
limited amount of resources to put forth in the development of new waste
diversion and recycling facilities and therefore it is increasingly
important that the county achieve the largest potential diversion per outlay
dollar. After conducting preliminary investigations, it was determined that
the County could increase total diversion if efforts were abstracted from a
Reuse Facility and refocused to target the non-reusable sector of
construction and demolition (C&D) waste.
Therefore, in order to better grasp the community need for the Reuse
Project, the Recycling Team was faced with the task of demonstrating that,
although a Reuse Facility may not capture enough material to significantly
increase the County's overall diversion rate, other benefits attained by the
Facility could ultimately justify the continuation of the project and the
construction and the construction of the Reuse Area. Recycling team staff
came up with several compelling reasons for the continuation of the Reuse
Project, which include:
- Ability to provide contractors and residents a location to donate
reusable materials for free as an alternative to disposal.
- Allow residents to purchase building materials and supplies at a
much-reduced rate.
- Provide a local facility within the county that highlights the reuse
tier of the recycling hierarchy.
- Create new jobs.
- Provide infrastructure for further development of C&D reuse and
recycling within the community.
- Support local organizations within the community.
- Retain taxable sales.
After much discussion with management and community stakeholders it has
been determined that there is great need for the continuation of the Reuse
Facility Project; however, due to the cost analysis and scrutiny of the
project, the project has fallen off its original completion timeline and a
new timeline is currently being developed. While discussions regarding the
fate of the project occurred, the Recycling Team worked to develop the
necessary relationships with the community to provide for a successful Reuse
Facility. Additional tasks completed to date are as follows:
- Further development of a strong partnership with the Nevada County
Contractors' Association.
- Establishment of relationship with a local affiliate of Habitat for
Humanity to run the Reuse Facility once constructed.
- Preliminary discussions with Urban Ore facility design experts to
assist in the development and planning of the Reuse Facility.
- Exportation of integrating C&D recycling with the Reuse Facility in
the most cost-effective manner.
Nevada County Contractors' Association
The Nevada County Contractors' Association (NCCA) has been an integral
part of the Reuse Project since its inception. In part, Nevada County may be
unique in that the Reuse Facility is being designed in consultation with the
end user at the end users' request. It is hoped that by responding to a
perceived demand, the Reuse Facility will be more heavily used that if the
Reuse Facility were being designed without the input of the targeted
material generators. Toward that end, Recycling Team Staff has worked with NCCA to better gauge the targeted end users' probable participation.
Recycling Team Staff provided a questionnaire to NCCA, which was then faxed
to their membership. The response received as of May 4, 2004, showed that of
the 81 responses received, 68 or 84 percent of respondents indicated they
would use the Facility, six percent of respondents would not, while ten
percent were unsure. A follow-up question was asked whether they would be
willing to sort through their waste; 57 percent indicated they would, with
14 percent negative. The conclusion of the survey shows the vast majority of
respondents (84 percent) indicated they would use the Reuse Facility for the
destination of reusable building materials. Two incentives would be provided
to participants of the Reuse Facility: elimination of disposal costs for
reusable items, and a tax deduction provided by Habitat for Humanity, a
nonprofit organization.
At this time, a meeting is being scheduled to follow up on the survey
results with the NCCA Executive Director, Barbara Bashall. Recycling Team
Staff will personally contact contractors to determine the level of interest
and type and quantity of materials they foresee dropping off at the
Facility.
Habitat for Humanity
The Recycling Team has been in contact with Habitat for Humanity (Habitat)
over the last several months. Habitat expressed a sincere interest in
running the Facility in furtherance of their mission of providing affordable
housing to local residents. Habitat is a national organization with vast
expertise managing ReStores, their term for a Reuse Area program. Calling
upon their expertise will potentially save the County time and money.
Habitat's Board of Directors embraced the concept of running the Facility
for the County. They also envision sighting a retail outlet in town to sell
the materials collected through the Facility. Since meeting with the
Recycling Team, Habitat has been working on a comprehensive business plan.
Upon acceptance of a formal agreement with the County, Habitat will embark
on a fundraising campaign to raise the $100,000 they see as necessary for
them to begin running the Facility.
Partnering with Habitat has many advantages for the County:
- Habitat's organization has vast experience in running ReStores
throughout the country.
- Habitat has a local chapter that will employ local residents to
staff the Facility.
- The network of ReStores throughout the state provide Habitat the
ability to trade materials collected if the material does not sell well
within the county. Therefore, all of the materials collected would be
reused either in Nevada County or beyond their boundaries.
- Habitat is a nonprofit agency and therefore provides an additional
incentive for generators to drop off their materials. Users who donate
materials to the Facility will receive a nonprofit donation receipt for
tax purposes.
- The funds generated for Habitat from the materials sold will be used
toward furtherance of affordable housing for local residents.
- NCCA members support Habitat for Humanity running the Facility.
Staff recommends formalizing a partnership with Habitat for Humanity
through a sole source contract to run the Facility. Recycling Team Staff
will contact the County's purchasing and legal departments to determine the
legal instrument to facilitate a partnership with Habitat to run the Reuse
Facility.
Urban Ore Design Associates
Urban Ore Design Associates (Urban Ore) specializes in the design of
resource recovery parks, with reuse, recycling, composting, and regulated
materials modules all working together to maximize profitable resources
recovery from the discard supply. Urban Ore organizes collection and
processing functions so they complement one another in a sequential order
that customers find easy, pleasant, and efficient to use. Department of
Transportation and Sanitation (DOTS) staff met with Urban Ore and discussed
the Reuse Area concept. After the determination is made to proceed with the
project, Urban Ore is ready to come to Nevada County and provide the
conceptual drawings and schematics for the Reuse Area. The design would
include building attributes such as office space, checkout area, restrooms,
and receiving area in addition to overall layout of the Facility in relation
to the C&D area and Transfer Station. Layout design work would include
attributes such as traffic patterns, among other elements. These drawings
will be given to DOTS engineering staff for the development of working
drawings and contract documents.
Yuba-Sutter Disposal Inc. to Process Non-Reusable Construction and
Demolition Materials
Yuba-Sutter Disposal Inc. (YSDI) is a CIWMB permitted facility located at
3001 North Levee Road in Marysville. One of the permitted activities taking
place there is a C&D materials processing sort line. Single-streamed C&D
materials are processed through a sort line and separated for recycling, use
as alternative daily cover, co-generation, or other recycling. The facility
boasts a 96 percent recycling rate for the C&D materials it handles. YSDI is
open to accepting C&D materials from Nevada County for processing at the
facility. Currently, their sister site, Ostrom Road Landfill, receives
Nevada County materials for disposal only. YSDI is 15.15 miles closer to
Nevada County than the landfill. Trucks loaded with material destined for
disposal currently drive past the YSDI recycling facility to dispose of the
materials at the sister site, Ostrom Road. Staff recommends opening
discussions with YSDI to receive non-reusable C&D materials such as asphalt,
concrete, gypsum board, painted and treated lumber, etc., for recycling
instead of shipping such materials for disposal. In order to accomplish
this, a drop off area adjacent to the Reuse Area would be available for
materials that are not otherwise reusable by the Reuse Facility. The two
facilities, a Reuse Facility and a C&D materials drop-off, would work side
by side to provide the best alternative to disposal for the customer.
C&D Ordinance as "Backstop Measure"
Senate Bill (SB) 1374, signed into law in 2002, requires jurisdictions to
report annually to the CIWMB progress in implementing C&D waste-related
diversion programs, specifically "A summary of progress made in diversion of
construction and demolition of waste material, including information on
programs and ordinances implemented by the local government, and
quantitative data, where possible." [PRC Section 41821 (b) (4)]. Although SB
1374 does not require jurisdictions to adopt a C&D recycling ordinance, it
is understood that the bill allows the CIWMB to take into consideration a
jurisdiction's effort to reduce C&D waste when evaluating "Good Faith
Effort". Therefore, Nevada County is considering the adoption of its own C&D
recycling ordinance, which would include using a performance-based ordinance
to affect behavior change. Basically, an ordinance would be crafted that
would require construction projects to utilize the Reuse Facility and C&D
recycling drop-off area. The goal is to have contractors reuse materials
first, recycling materials second, and only utilize disposal when reuse and
recycling options are not feasible.
The steps being taken to accomplish their project are as follows:
Task 1: Preliminary Engineering, Including Field Surveys, Preparation
of Plans and Specifications, the Identification of Utilities and Design
Alternatives.
Task 1.1: Field Survey.
After preliminary site planning, County Engineering Staff determined
that the original location of the Reuse Facility, adjacent to the permanent
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Facility, would not be the most effective.
The footprint of the HHW Facility increased due to the storage needs of
planned e-waste collection. in addition, the original location of the Reuse
Facility would potentially create excessive traffic congestion. Therefore, a
new location, limiting traffic congestion, needed to be explored.
Engineering Staff has proposed placing the Reuse Facility off the main
Transfer Station road and utilizing the wood waste road as an alternative.
Through utilization of the wood waste road traffic, congestion would be
reduce, which would encourage the use of the Facility. Also, a new location
would provide additional space for the development of a C&D materials
receiving area. As mentioned earlier, the County is currently exploring the
possibility of developing a C&D receiving yard to collect all non-reusable
C&D materials for recycling. Task 1.1 is ten percent complete.
Task 1.2: Plans and Specifications.
Nevada County will contract with Urban Ore to design the Reuse Facility and
adjacent C&D recycling and transfer area. Urban Ore architects will provide
the overall design of the Reuse Area, currently a 5,000 square foot metal
building with a 30,000 square foot outside storage area as well as the
adjacent C&D area. Design plans will include all building attributes such as
office space, restrooms, Americans with Disability Act compliance measures,
traffic patterns, etc. Plans from Urban Ore will be turned over to County
Engineering Staff who will develop contract drawings with all applicable
codes and requirements. Task 1.2 is five percent complete.
Reporting Period: June 1, 2004 Through November 30, 2004
The County anticipates the following tasks to be completed before the
November 30, 2004 reporting period deadline:
- Meet with NCCA to discuss survey results. Determine if further
detailed survey required.
- Follow-Up Survey to be conducted by Recycling Team, if necessary.
- Submittal of Reliable Contractor Declaration Form to CIWMB
for approval of potential contractors.
- Recycling Team will proceed with development of a sole-source
contract with Habitat for Humanity to run the Reuse Facility.
- Habitat to proceed with finalizing business plan.
- Recycling Team will proceed with development of conceptual designs
and schematic drawings with Urban Ore Design Associates.
- DOTS will proceed with development of agreement with Yuba-Sutter
Disposal Inc. to process single-streamed C&D materials for recycling.
- Research, develop, and prepare C&D ordinance.
Reporting Period 4: December 1, 2004 Through April 30, 2004
The County anticipates the following tasks to be completed before the
end of the grant period:
- County engineering staff will complete the following tasks:
- Prepare basis of design.
- Prepare design alternatives.
- Begin environmental review of site.
- Prepare contract drawings.
- Recycling team staff will proceed with C&D ordinance for Board of
Supervisor approval.
April 1, 2004 Through October 15, 2005
- County staff will advertise and award Facility construction contract
(April 1, 2005 through June 15, 2005).
- Building construction (June 15, 2005 through October 15, 2005).
- Facility opens (October 15, 2005).
*Permission was obtained from grant recipient to publish project profile.
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