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<br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br />TO: Mayor & City Council <br /> <br />FROM: Rebecca Haug, Environmental Technician <br /> <br />DATE: January 10, 2005 <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Composting Update <br /> <br />The amount of grass, leaves, and brush that the City accepts from residents and then <br />processes and composts has been steadily increasing. For the past several years, the <br />County has allotted approximately $50,000.00 of SCORE funds to the four cities of the <br />Sherburne County Municipal Recycling Board (Becker, Big Lake, Elk River, and <br />Zimmerman) to cover contract brush grinding and some of the hauling costs that each <br />city incurs. <br /> <br />There is a concern among the group of cities that the County will reallocate the SCORE <br />monies and reduce or eliminate funding for the local programs. City staff has been <br />working on possible solutions for the compost dilemma. <br /> <br />This issue has been discussed with Sherburne County's Solid Waste Officer and it was <br />suggested that the City bring its material to the Yonco II landfill in Becker which is in the <br />process of getting permitted to take compost. City staff has asked if the County would <br />be interested in purchasing a truck to pick up the compost to be delivered to Yonco II <br />or if the County would be willing to purchase a truck for the City to use to bring the <br />compost to Yonco II. No decisions have been made regarding the trucking of the <br />compost. Another concern City staff has with bringing their material to Yonco II is <br />whether or not we would be charged to dump the compost. City staff does not see this <br />making financial sense if we have to truck our compost to Becker and also have to pay <br />to dump it there and then Yonco II make a profit. <br /> <br />Phil Hals, Street Superintendent has contacted Todd Plaisted of Plaisted Companies to <br />see if they would be interested in composting. Todd's initial response was that they <br />would be interested in accepting leaves, grass and chipped brush from the City but not <br />as a general public drop off. Many details need to be worked out but there are many <br />positives to this proposal. <br /> <br />It was also suggested that the City work with an area farmer. I spoke with Bill Bronder, <br />Sherburne Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD) about this idea and he brought <br />