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Minutes Regular Meeting <br /> Solid Waste Advisory Board <br /> December 3 , 2009 <br /> Approved January 11, 2010 <br /> waste in the unincorporated part of the county ? What are the issues associated with <br /> various options for handling the commercial solid waste ? How do they affect our <br /> goals of recycling, decreasing our carbon footprint and economics ? If necessary <br /> when it comes to writing the final plan it might be that a decision has not been made <br /> on some of those things but these are some of the steps we might take in the years <br /> ahead to make those decisions . With the economy the way it is, it might be better for <br /> us to do some of those things and think about some of those things in two to three <br /> years when hopefully it will be a better tax base . <br /> Bowerman states that going through the whole MRF thing reminds me that I know <br /> they want a long-range plan, but it seems that technology and political climate etc . <br /> change so quickly that it is almost silly to have a long-range plan . Maybe a long- <br /> range goal or hope a little more something fluid than a literal plan " this is what we' ll <br /> do" and then if we don' t do that we are a failure when that suddenly became obsolete <br /> four years into it so we didn t do it we look back and didn' t follow the plan but did <br /> choose what made the most sense in moving forward . <br /> Vickers states that the long range plan is revised every three years according to the <br /> State rules . <br /> Pollock states that an example of that when we looked at the MRFs, the level of <br /> robustness of the technology as well as the number of operating, well-financed, and <br /> well established facilities we could get to was one . Now there are three and a fourth <br /> trying to get born . So we did get outpaced by that. We don t want to be in the <br /> perpetual planning mode but we do have to re- evaluate every three years but if we <br /> have some firm goals we' ve never wavered as a county and municipalities from our <br /> waste reduction goals established collectively in 1997 . In a lot of ways that has served <br /> us well in the perspective that is firm, everyone bought into it and we can measure <br /> steady progress towards it. That is an OK kind of measure, so in terms of an interim <br /> step , let' s shift gears and talk about for the time being something a little less politically <br /> charged which would be commercial recycling. If a goal of the county based on a <br /> considerable amount of survey work done on the commercial enterprises and focus <br /> groups and a fair amount of due diligence to get feedback from that community, says <br /> that the commercial community wants what the residential community has . They <br /> value it. They want to buy into it. They like pubic provision of service and that <br /> becomes something we put forward as a plan recommendation. All the details about <br /> how to pay for it exactly but if the idea is that the goal in this planning process is that <br /> commercial is going to look more like residential in three years -- that is good enough . <br /> Sassaman states that what I think we are saying is that we are in the perpetual <br /> planning process but it is time to write down where we are in that process and submit <br /> it to the state and then continue as we see fit. <br /> 16 <br />