IDNR PAYT Grant ProposalMEMORANDUM
January 14,2003
TO:The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM:Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT:Iowa Department of Natural Resources PAYT Grant Proposal
Solid Waste Management Supervisor Paul Schultz is requesting City Council approval
to seek a grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for a Unit Based Pricing
Rate Structure Contractor. This grant submittal would be in partnership with Barker-
Lemar Consulting Engineers.
The City of Dubuque's Pay-As-You-Throw program is a model that has many
components useful to other Iowa municipalities. IDNR has outlined a model in their
RFP for supplying consulting services at no charge to Iowa communities considering
voluntarily implementing PAYT.
If selected, the model has the advantage of having IDNR compensate the City of
Dubuque for this assistance. It would also offer some prestige to the City of Dubuque,
both for having a quality program and for being willing to assist other communities.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
Michael C. Van Milligen
MCVM/jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, Corporation Counsel
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Paul F. Schultz, Solid Waste Management Supervisor
CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA
MEMORANDUM
January 9, 2003
TO:Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM:Paul F. Schultz, Solid Waste Management Supervisor
SUBJECT:IDNR PAYT Grant Proposal
The purpose of this memorandum is recommend that the City of Dubuque's
Operation and Maintenance Department submit a grant application in response to
IDNR's RFP for a Unit Based Pricing Rate Structure Contractor. This grant
submittal would be in partnership with Barker-Lemar Consulting Engineers.
The City of Dubuque's PAYT program is a model that has many components
useful to other Iowa municipalities. IDNR has outlined a model in their RFP for
supplying consulting services at no charge to Iowa communities considering
voluntarily implementing PAYT.
The City would assist in the following responsibilities under the proposal:
Work with department selected communities to determine the
appropriate and most effective type of unit-based pricing program for
each city. Types of unit-based pricing programs include, but are not
limited to,
· Pre-Paid Bag - garbage in only official bags is collected
· Pre-Paid Tag/Sticker- all garbage containers must have a sticker to
be collected
· Subscription System - customers sign up for a certain number or
size ofcontainers to be collected in a given period
· Weight-Based System- customers pay so much per pound for
collection
· Hybrid System - combines a flat fee along with a per unit fee for
collection
2. Develop the rate structure for implementing the unit-based pricing
system for residential solid waste. The rate structure should reflect the
uniqueness of each community, the unit-based pricing system type selected in #1
above, and the costs of managing all residential solid waste and provide an
incentive for the reduction, reuse and recycling of solid waste.
Barker-Lemar has the following responsibilities under the proposal:
1. Gather all community data and be the contact and "educator" for all
selected communities. Provide the unit-based proposed design and pricing rate
structure in a timely fashion.
2. Present the unit-based pricing rate structure to the appropriate local
government decision making body (i.e. city council or board of supervisors)
3. Provide a monthly report to the Department of Natural Resources regarding
assistance provided to each community in the preceding month along with an
update of planned activities for the upcoming month.
If we were selected, the model has the advantage of having IDNR
compensate the City of Dubuque for my assistance. It would also offer some
prestige to the City of Dubuque both for having a quality program and for being
willing to assist other communities. I estimate that I would need to spend an
average of three to five hours per community in evaluating community solid waste
data, PAYT design proposals and rate structures. For this assistance, the City
would be compensated approximately $300 per community. It is unclear how
many communities would seek these consultations, probably between 10 and 20.
Minor travel would be possible that would be compensated on a time and
materials basis. I believe in PAYT and would be willing to evaluate these designs
on my own time. I do not seek any personal compensation from this grant even if I
worked at home.
I have reviewed the implications of the grant application with Ken TeKippe
and he found it satisfactory from a financial compensation standpoint. After
receiving input from Randy Peck, I made adjustments in the grant proposal so that
there could be separate contracts for the City and Barker-Lemar. This should
eliminate the perception of any "perceived conflict of interest".
I recommend that we seek this grant. Our FY04 budget has an expectation
of receiving $4,500 in grant revenue. I think that the work entailed in this grant
can be accommodated within my schedule with little or no impact on the quality of
service deserved by our customers.