5. SPSR 09-03-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Plaisted Companies is requesting an amendment of our conditional use permit for the purpose of allowing leaf composting at our facility in Elk River. We currently have an agreement with the city of Elk River to remove the grass, leaves and wood waste from the city's collection site when full. We bring the components to our facility, mix them in the proper composting ratios and place them in windrows. We then monitor the temperatures weekly, turn the piles accordingly and in about eight months we have a useable compost material. The product is then screened to remove any debris, stones and woody material. As part of our agreement, the city then places a portion of this finished product back at the dropp off site so residents can load in small quantities as needed. The balance of the finished product is consumed by Plaisted Companies daily blending of potting soils, rain garden mixes, MNDOT soils, etc. This I believe has been a good project for both Plaisted Companies and the city. Before our partnership, the city was merely dumping the raw components in large piles at the city property on county road 12 and did not have the room or budget to compost the materials properly. Part two of our composting plan would be to haul in processed materials from other cities, process them in the same fashion and consume that material in our daily business. We are working with a company called Organic Technologies who has contracts with various cities to supply us with more raw components. Our hours of operation would be consistent with our current sand and gravel operation. There will be no consumer drop off sites at our facility and any sites proposed would be screened by the use of berms and greenery. Organic smell is controlled by monitoring the heat and turning the piles as needed. Raw components (ie wet grass) are quickly mixed with leaves and woodchips to aerate and defuse the odor. Overall, the advent of composting and horticulture blends have added approximately 2-3 jobs at our company, with additional growth of up to 5 new jobs in the near future. Composting is a critical step in reducing the volume of waste needlessly sent to landfills for disposal. We are proud to be a part of the solution.