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Planning Commission Minutes January 10, 2012 Page 2 Mr. Beck explained that the CUP will be permanent and will not expire, per State Statute. • He stated that some of the detail in the applicant's previous CUP's will be taken out, and will be addressed in the license, which will be reviewed every three years. He explained that the CUP is the "policy" document and the license is the "implementation" document. Mr. Beck also explained that when the original permit was approved, an operating fee for SWF was established by a separate agreement, in lieu of taxes. The original term of the agreement was 20 years. He explained that GRE feels this agreement has expired, but the city disagrees and the fee has been included in the draft. He noted that the fee due this year will be considerably less than before and will help GRE control costs. He noted that the agreement is similar to the Elk River Landfill's agreement to pay an expansion fee. Mr. Beck explained that GRE is agreeing to the fee as part of the negotiation package which includes removing some of the restrictions of the 1990 original agreement he drafted. Ms. Haug explained that the facilities will be now called the Elk River Resource Processing Facility (RPF) and GRE Resource Recovery Project (RRP). The license will be on a three- year renewal cycle. Staff recommended approval of the license and CUP with all the changes as proposed. Commissioner Anderson asked if staff could foresee any problems in the future with combining the CUP and license for both properties, if one of the properties were sold. Mr. Beck explained that the CUP runs with the land, not with the owner. He stated that he no longer sees a need to keep them separate and did not foresee any impediment to having them together. He explained that the two operations and the truck movement are more of a 3-legged project and that it is preferable to the city to have one CUP. Commissioner Anderson asked if the property were sold and demand for RDF increased to • the level that another company might wish to expand or change the operation, what would happen. Mr. Beck explained that if the changes were not consistent with the license, an amendment to the CUP would be required. He noted that if GRE wanted to expand, they also would have to amend their CUP. Commissioner Anderson asked if the properties became separated (ownership), would the city still have the same control. Mr. Beck explained that the ownership does not matter for the CUP, but the license is specific to the owner and new ownership would require a new license. Commissioner Anderson asked what would happen if the haul routes were changed by a new transportation corridor. Mr. Beck stated that the license would need to be amended to change the haul route. He .stated that the haul route is not addressed in the CUP anymore, only in the license. Commissioner Anderson asked how landscaping issues would be addressed if there were any route changes. Mr. Beck stated that GRE has been very cooperative and he did not expect there would be any difficulties if additional landscaping were required. Commissioner Anderson asked for clarification on the operating fee in lieu of taxes. Mr. Beck explained that the fee is similar to the tipping fee for the landfill SWF. He discussed how the original fee was established, noting that this was reset at a volume-based rate. He noted that the city has been a partner in maximizing the use of the facility in order to reduce the amount of waste going into the landfill. Chair Ives opened the public. No comments were received. Chair Ives closed the public hearing. •