HomeMy WebLinkAboutA009 - Staff Report on Leaf Collection S . ,
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As part of the proposed leaf and yard waste burning ban, staff has been asked to
review what other communities had for leaf collection programs and determine what
type of program might meet the needs of Ames' citizens. Our investigation focused
on the communities of Iowa City, Iowa and Kalamazoo, Michigan due to size and
situational similarities.
The ::`: is summarized below:
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a Loose leaf collection with vacuum equipment runs from the middle of October
to Thanksgiving.
173 The Street Department has 21 FTE and 20 are assigned to this activity except
in emergencies.
1 They work 10-hour days, six days per week.
* They have four crews, each with a vacuum and two dump trucks.
* Community is covered three times.
173 Total cost is $250,000/year.
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0 Loose leaf collection with loaders.
C3 20 FTE of the 30 FTE they have are dedicated to leaf collection.
0 They use two crews of 4 trucks, 1 tractor, and l loader each.
171 The program runs from Halloween to Thanksgiving.
0 The community is covered twice each season.
1 Total cost is $200,000/year.
Many other communities were contacted or information reviewed on the Internet.
Most of the programs that people had for loose-leaf collection were similar in nature
and cost. Contacts for the agencies involved with the leaf collection programs
indicated that their programs have been long term. The programs are paid for with
local property tax funds in all locations. The obvious time commitment of people
and equipment required for the programs was the biggest problem the operational
people indicated, as well as the public relations requirements to let people know of
the collection schedule.
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In other locations, a system of bag collection is done similar to the one
currently offered in Ames by the private haulers. Residents buy bags at a price
that includes collection and disposal costs. Typically the prices range from 500 to $
1.25 per bag depending on whether the service is self-supporting, or subsidized by
other solid waste fees or property taxes.
The proposed burning ban will have the largest effect on those properties that have a
large number of trees and thus larger volumes of leaves to deal with. In a 1994
survey of the private waste haulers in Ames, less than 3% of households set out more
than 30 bags of leaves in a fall season. Using roughly 9,000 one and two family
households, that means that about 300 properties are large leaf volume producers.
Commercial properties, including apartment complexes, have their own maintenance
people to handle their leaf disposal so they are not included in the program analysis.
There appear to be three general program possibilities if the City is to develop a leaf
collection program. They include a full program of loose-leaf collection city wide, a
subsidized program of loose-leaf collection by appointment, and a subsidized bag
collection program city wide.
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The program of greatest service level to the citizens is a loose-leaf collection covering
all properties in the community. The program could malce two rounds through the
community starting the first of October and finishing in late November. It is
anticipated that four vacuum machines would be purchased. This would allow three
crews to work with one machine in reserve for breakdowns. Due to the tight schedule
to collect the leaves, equipment breakdown could be disastrous. Each crew would
have one vacuum, two modified dump trucks (to hold more leaves), two truck drivers,
and two workers to operate the vacuums and rakes. The annual estimated cost of a
program such as this is $285,000. In addition to the initial purchase price of
$60,000 for the four vacuums and $30,000 to modify the truck boxes, the
annual cost is broken down into $160,000 for equipment and $125,000 for
labor. Thus the first year cost totals $375,000. The funding source would
likely come from the General Fund (taxes) or Local Option Tax Funds. The
costs for the previous leaf collection program where leaves were collected in only
limited areas totaled $83,000 in fiscal year 1990/91. The funding source was General
Funds.
A program such as this would occupy much of the late fall work time of our staff
normally assigned to street maintenance activities. Initiating City staff
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undertaking of loose leaf collection city wide would mean that normal work
accomplished during that time would not be done or would have to be
contracted out. Those work activities include a 75% reduction in street patching,
joint sealing, seal coat street reconstruction, and other normal street maintenance
activities.
It may be possible to contract out this leaf collection function, however normally the
very expensive capital investment (trucks and vacuums) as well as the short, intense
work period makes it unattractive for private industry. Loose-leaf collection can be
likened to snow/ice control. The public arena is where those activities reside. None
of the other surveyed communities undertaking loose-leaf collection have been able to
generate outside contracting interest.
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It has been stated that the burning ban will have the greatest affect on those
properties that generate large leaf volumes. Rather than develop a program for all
properties in the City, including those that have few or a moderate volume of leaves,
it may be more appropriate to address residences that have such a large volume that it
is difficult or expensive to manage.
A program that will address the large leaf volume properties could involve subsidized
collection for one and two family dwellings based on the property owner paying some
of the cost, and the City subsidizing the balance. Such a program could involve
property owners contacting the City and paying an amount equal to one-half of the
cost to collect their leaves. At this point it appears that the user fee would equal
$30.00 per visit. The property owner/resident would be required to rake the leaves to
the area between the curb and sidewalk. The City would then vacuum the leaves up
and dispose of them. The $30.00 payment would be made in advance of the leaf
season so schedules could be made out to make the collection as efficient as possible.
This program would involve one work crew (1 truck and driver, vacuum, 2 workers)
so the affect on fall work by street personnel is lessened. Two vacuums would be
purchased to provide a backup machine when breakdowns occurred. The total cost
for this subsidized program is more difficult to predict due to the unknown demand.
The capital cost of the vacuum equipment is $30,000. The capital cost for
modification of the dump truck box to carry a large volume of leaves is $5,000 per
vehicle. Other costs related to workers and tricks would be shifted from Road Use
Tax funding to General Fund or Local Option Tax funding. If the 3% of households
that the 1994 survey showed as large leaf producers participated, the annual costs
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would involve about $30,000 of labor and equipment above the initial capital costs.
Roughly one-half of the operational cost would be recovered in revenue from resident
payments. The operating costs, exclusive of the $35,000 capital costs for the
vacuums and truck box modifications, involve labor costs at $50.00 per hour for 3
workers (incl. benefits), and equipment cost of $70.00 per hour. The total hourly
cost is $120.00. It is assumed that two locations can be collected per hour (including
travel time) so the cost per location is $60.00.
The program has the potential to be contracted out once a pattern of use is
established from the City's initial operation. The City could lease the vacuums to a
contractor who would then only have to provide trucks and workers.
The subsidized/appointment program addresses the large leaf volume resident's needs
at a reasonable cost without the effort of bagging. In addition, it does not totally
affect those regular street maintenance activities accomplished in the fall. It is likely
that one crew will be assigned to this leaf collection task. Thus the street
maintenance function will decrease by approximately 25% during the leaf season.
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The third option would involve a subsidized leaf bag collection program offered by
contract that could be established with multiple companies or with one company.
The current local cost for leaf bags, including collection and disposal, is $1.25. A
program could be created to have the City pay $1.00 per bag to contractors who show
they have collected and disposed of the leaves. The logistics of such a program will
be difficult due to the sheer volume of bags involved. One possibility includes having
residents come and obtain 250 stickers from the City. The resident would then bag
their leaves in their own bags and set them out for collection with the stickers
attached. The haulers/contractors would then collect the bags, dispose of the leaves,
and remove the stickers. The haulers/contractors would then bring the stickers into
the City for payment of $1.00 each. The subsidized bag program does not provide a
great incentive to mulch leaves or minimize the volume placed for collection.
The above concept has some problems with auditing and convenience,
however it would significantly reduce the cost of leaf disposal to residents.
The estimated cost of this program is very difficult to predict. If the 9,000
households average eight bags each, the cost would be approximately $72,000. Costs
for stickers and administration would bring the overall costs to roughly $100,000.
Freel Sanitation has indicated they may be interested in involving their company in a
bag collection program.
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The bag program does have the advantage that it does not affect normal fall
work activities of City crews.
If Council ultimately decides to develop a public subsidized leaf collection program
(in addition to the existing disposal program), staff believes that the City Wide
Loose-Leaf Collection Program that is subsidized partially by tax support, with user
fees, (Alternative II) is the best program to meet the needs of the citizens with
reasonable overall costs. It provides for the large leaf producer property, or others
who don't' wish to bag their leaves, the opportunity to have collection at a relatively
moderate charge. This program also does not require extensive City crew
involvement and does have the potential for contracting out in subsequent years.
The large unknown factor is the program participation. However if the assumptions
are off by a factor of two, the costs are still below the other proposals. In order for
this program to minimize the property tax subsidy, the user fee must be set at
a high enough level to limit participation to only the large leaf volume
properties or people with special needs. The user fee could range from $30.00
(50%) to $45.00 (75%), which is still a substantial savings for the large leaf
volume property over the cost of bagging and disposal at $ 1.25 per bag.
It should be realized that as long as the City staff operates a leaf collection
program, Council will either have to accept a decrease in the established levels
of service for street maintenance or increase contracted maintenance work
activities.
As we move to spring this year, it will not be possible to have a program in place for
April. Unfortunately this spring will be a heavy leaf period due to the unusual fall
weather we experienced in 1997. It is thus also recommended that two
additional yard waste free days be authorized in the spring at a cost of $5,000.
Whatever program is established can be in place for the fall 1998-leaf season.
February 18, 1998
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