DRAFT AGENDA
GENERAL MEETING – 2010/2011 – 3
Performance Space, Riverways Centre, Thuringowa Dve Thuringowa
8.30am, Friday 4th March 2011
1.WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
2.CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
3.LAWMAC FINANCIAL REPORT
4. PRESENTATION - Mr Sheils Barra, Cook Shire Council…..……10
5.LAWMAC NEWSLETTER
6.LAWMAC WEBSITE
7.LANDFILL LEVY
8.LAWMAC WASTE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2011
9.MEMBER COUNCIL REGIONAL WASTE REPORTS
10.CORRESPONDENCE
11.GENERAL BUSINESS
12.NEXT MEETING
1.WELCOME & INTRODUCTION
LAWMAC Chair, Cr Greg Thomsen to commence proceedings by welcoming all present including invited guests to General Meeting No. 2010/2011 - 3 of the Committee.
2.CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
The Draft recorded minutes of the General Meeting of the Committee held Friday 19thNovember 2010 is attached for consideration and endorsement by the Committee.
Local Authority Waste Management Advisory Committee
(LAWMAC)
Draft Minutes
GENERAL MEETING No. 2010/2011 - 2
Parks & Waste Meeting Room, Bamford Lane Depot, Kirwan/Townsville
Friday, 19th November 2010
Attendees:
Cr Greg ThomsenMackay Regional Council
Mr John HoggMackay Regional Council
Mr Shannon GormanMackay Regional Council
Cr Alan WilsonCook Shire Council
Mr Arnaud GougeonCook Shire Council
Mr Gary EwartTownsville City Council (arrived 11.00am)
Mr Ian KuhlTownsville City Council
Mr Matt McCarthyTownsville City Council (arrived 11.00am)
Cr Jennifer DownsCassowary Coast Regional Council
Mr Geoff WilsonCassowary Coast Regional Council
Mr Bill CuthbertsonTablelands Regional Council
Ms Anne McLaughlinBurdekin Shire Council
Mr Mike JonesMount Isa City Council
Cr Nancy LanskyCairns Regional Council
Mr Warren BurgessCairns Regional Council
Mr Nigel CrumptonCairns Regional Council
Mr James BeggGolder Associates
Mr Owen WhartonYarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council
Mr Patrick DunneSubloos Pty Ltd
Mr Malcolm GurneyMacDonald Johnston
Mr Bob McAuliffeMacDonald Johnston
Paul TheodorouMandalay Technologies
Mr Peter CollinsDERM – Brisbane
Ms Cristyn MorrisDERM - Brisbane
Ms Mary FieldLAWMAC Secretary
Corresponding Member Councils: Burke; McKinley; Cloncurry; Croydon; Flinders; Etheridge; Charters Towers; Carpentaria; Isaac; Richmond
Apologies:
Cr Tom GilmoreTablelands Regional Council
Ms Kirsty LamperdTablelands Regional Council
Cr Dave ClarkWhitsunday Regional Council
Mr Karl MurdochWhitsunday Regional Council
Cr Maria BosworthHinchinbrook Shire Council
Mr Tudor TanaseHinchinbrook Shire Council
Mr Jason GrandcourtMackay Regional Council
Mr Sheils BarraCook Shire Council
Cr Vern VeitchTownsville City Council
Mr Ken DiehmTownsville City Council
Cr Pierina Dalle CortBurdekin Shire Council
Ms Tracy JensenBurdekin Shire Council
Cr Duncan CunninghamMount Isa City Council
Ms Barbara StranksIsaac Regional Council
Ms Christine BlanchardLGAQ - Brisbane
Mr Ralph MeharryThiess Services
Mr Rick ThessmanQueensland Waste Consultancy
Mr Rob CurtisDERM - NQ
Mr Dean SharpeDERM – Cairns
Mr Bruce GardinerCairns Regional Council
Mr Rick RalphWaste Contractors & Recyclers Assoc Qld
Mr Richard MorganPreviously of Golder Associates
Ms Katie KelleherTranspacific Industries / NQRR
Mr Matthew FanningCarpentaria Shire Council
Mr Fred De WaardBurke Shire Council
Ms Olivia RobertsonPSF-AFGC
Proxies:
Mr Bill CuthbertsonforTablelands Regional Council
Mr Mike JonesforMount Isa City Council
Ms Anne McLaughlinforBurdekin Shire Council
Mr Ian KuhlforTownsville City Council
welcome & introduction
LAWMAC Chair, Cr Greg Thomsen declared the General Meeting open at 8.55am and welcomed all present including associate members and invited guests. Cr Thomsen advised of Cairns Regional Council’s return to LAWMAC as full financial members and welcomed representation by Cr Nancy Lansky, Mr Warren Burgess and Mr Nigel Crumpton at this meeting.
The attendances, apologies and proxies as listed were confirmed.
confirmation of previous gm draft minutes
The draft minutes of the General Meeting held Friday 6th August 2010 were adopted as a true and correct record of the meeting proceedings.
Moved: Cr Jennifer Downs (Cassowary Coast)Seconded: Cr Alan Wilson (Cook)
Carried: 8 – 0.
FINANCIAL REPORT
Financial Reports to be held over until the next meeting.
GOLDER ASSOCIATES PRESENTATION
Mr James Begg gave a presentation on landfill designs, surface water management issues, gas production assessments and final geo-membrane capping procedures relevant to landfill sites in North Queensland. Case study landfill sites at Weipa, Portsmith, Yarrabah, Goondi Bend and Bells Creek clearly showed the diversity of the NQ region with its large rainfall intensity and quantity.
LAWMAC NEWSLETTER
Tablelands Regional Council were commended for the development of the November 2010 edition of the newsletter with Burdekin Shire Council confirmed to develop the first two editions for 2011 (February and May).
LAWMAC WEBSITE
Mr Arnaud Gougeon advised that the re-development of the LAWMAC website is still a work-in-progress with all information having to be reloaded due to the deletion of the previously developed site.
EPHC NATIONAL WASTE REPORT 2010 EVALUATION FORUM
Members who attended the 1st October 2010 Forum advised that whilst the forum did provide a valuable opportunity for feedback on a National Perspective, members found the Qld State Government agency DERM to be more informative and interactive with its presentations on waste issues and draft legislations.
WASTE MANAGEMENT REPORTS AND PROGRAMS
Peter Collins advised that the Commonwealth is consulting on the product stewardship legislation the following week in Brisbane in terms of E-Waste, Tyres, etc and urged LAWMAC members to attend. Outcomes of the consultation will be made available to the secretary for circulation to members.
DERM WASTE REFORM WORKSHOP
Peter Collins reported on DERM’s Final Draft Levy Model as determined in Brisbane on day previous to this meeting plus responded to questions and issues raised.
- Resource Recovery Credits will be credited by DERM to the waste disposal operator on the basis of satisfactory evidence that the waste has been diverted and exported by local governments from waste disposal sites for the usage of productive recycling or reuse – diverted waste products do not have to be transferred off-site specifically.
- Mixed waste will be charged fully with credits issued on resource recovery when proven.
- Domestic Self-Haul Waste is basically “mum & dad with a trailer etc” – NOT commercial contractors / operators.
- Greenwaste is to be fully charged and credited upon conversion to mulch (weight difference issues in product conversion due to wet/dry condition in/out?)
- The Strategic Waste Plan funding assistance to individual councils does not appear to be available as previously advised.
- Funding assistance is specific to weighbridges only and does not include civil or electrical works at this stage.
- The question of using an off-site weighbridge was raised for consideration – however possible issues with load tampering between sites was also raised as a concern.
- Imported materials to be used specifically for operational purposes (such as site capping) is not subject to the levy
Peter advised that the Draft Legislation will be due out again mid-December 2010.
Secretary to forward copies of the LAWMAC/DERM workshop presentations by Warren Muller and Peter Collins to members.
LAWMAC WASTE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE 2011
Members endorsed the concept of a joint Q-Waste / WMAA / CQLGA / LAWMAC Conference convened at the central location of Mackay. LAWMAC to be a conference sponsor and Mackay Regional Council to provide venue plus coordinate a Technical Tour of the region. Cr Thomsen to follow up with events management at the Mackay Convention Centre and also re-establish contact with Veronica Dullens at WMAA for a date in July / August 2011.
MEMBER COUNCIL REGIONAL WASTE REPORTS
Mackay Regional Council
Shannon Gorman reported that council is currently undertaking a Service Level Review on all waste services with some rationalization planned for the future.
Working on finalizing some engineering designs for landfill remediation on old pre-amalgamation Mackay City Council sites and three other rural regional sites plus also designing transfer station to take on this function. The presentation by James Begg earlier in the meeting was very interesting and specific in some areas to issues within the Mackay Region.
Shannon reported on advertising for construction of Cell 2 at the Hogan’s Pocket landfill site which will also involve some major site works relocating the dam plus some leachate structural works along with capping of Cell 1. Council is also on the verge of awarding a contract for landfill gas management at five sites including Hogan’s Pocket.
An interesting project is underway in collaboration with Queensland Land Development Association to develop a former liquid waste site into a low cost housing in the area.
Also negotiating with a new contractor for the Resource Recovery Centre.
Burdekin Shire Council
Anne McLaughlin reported council has just awarded the tender for remedial work at the landfill otherwise it’s business as usual within the shire region.
Cassowary Coast Regional Council
Geoff Wilson reflected on James’ presentation with some innovative ideas relevant to the Bells Creek site and some good works and real challenges plus lessons learned on how not to manage cyclone waste in the future through bringing waste back to a central site rather than using several old landfill sites.
The rainfall data presented by James was also interesting in that it showed Innisfail at 3,500mls which is double to Atherton and Cairns highlighting wet weather as a major issue in this region.
Cassowary Council and Subloos held discussions on raising the bund walls at two landfill sites with Innisfail now completed and Tully planned asap.
The usage of fish-bins located at several sites has been exploited to the extent that it has become a health issue despite scheduling three empties per week. The bins have temporarily been removed whilst council works out how to better manage the service and Geoff would be interested to discuss with any other member councils dealing with this issue.
Mount Isa City Council
Mike Jones reported that it’s mainly business as usual with some excitement over the rural recycling centre getting underway plus subsequent planning for changes at the weighbridge plus set up a small transfer station to coordinate and process materials.
Tablelands Regional Council
Bill Cuthbertson reported that Council’s Waste Management Strategy will be presented to Council at a workshop on 2 December 2010 with the results of the workshop to be adopted at a future meeting.
Development of a Kerbside Collection Strategy is occurring concurrently with the Waste Strategy in preparation for releasing a new kerbside collection contract in 2011.
The Atherton waste transfer station has undergone a revamp to enable more effective management of the site. Situated on the Atherton-Herberton Road, the site facilities include a waste transfer station, materials recycling facility and dry landfill. Prior to October 2010, there was a contractor who operated a buy back shop.
Held a meeting recently with local police regarding illegal dumping who are very keen to work with council in promoting an awareness campaign and also assist with prosecution of an illegal entry at a transfer station plus removal of materials.
Sita are in the process of finalizing the latest cell construction at the Mareeba landfill site which is only a small area but will provide another twelve months in the interim.
Townsville City Council
Matthew McCarthy reported that council’s main focus is on the Magnetic Island waste transfer station site options with some review of site locations following community consultation. Council is also looking at tenders for salvage rights.
Expecting delivery next week of new side arm waste collection trucks plus also in the process of evaluating the need for two other vehicles. Waste Services is also in the process of updating its software in preparation for July 2011.
Ian Kuhl reported that, as part of council’s waste management strategy, council had determined the service level of 85% to offload waste at the facility within twenty minutes – currently waste services is attaining a rate of 93%.
Ian also briefed on the value of training staff within all LAWMAC councils and recommended the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) Landfill Operational Guidelines Manual as a good basic manual which has been made available to staff chapter by chapter for in-house training over the next 6-12 months. Ian to forward a link to the ISWA Landfill Operational Guidelines Manual for circulation to members via the secretary.
Cook Shire Council
Arnaud Gougeon reported that Cook continues to transport its general waste to the Mareeba Landfill. Council has issues with types of waste like C&D and asbestos and will have to work these out in the near future.
Arnaud has been busy with education of recycling within the shire through weekly advertising in local paper, providing information on the council website plus talks in schools.
Arnaud was involved in the organisation of a local Festival during September and heavily promoted public place recycling plus food outlets used recyclable utensils at the event which was well supported by signage of bins supplied by DERM and KAB.
Cairns Regional Council
Warren Burgess advised that council is glad to be back at the table as full members of LAWMAC and its benefits of valuable networking and interaction between the waste services of member councils.
Councils has recently endorsed its Waste Management Strategy and moving towards the implementation stage. Also currently renegotiating collection contracts for domestic, commercial, recycling, council facilities across the post-amalgamation region.
Warren commended James Begg’s presentation advising that unfortunately information was restricted due to current Portsmith Landfill Closure tendering process.
Currently developing a Waste Transfer Station Master Plan. The MRF is pretty much at capacity with consideration of expansion plus introduction of appropriate technology for the volume of materials coming through.
Council is about to go out to tender for recycling transportation contract and have engaged a contractor to do a waste characterization order.
Waste Education and Communication Plan underway to evaluate values, behavours, attitudes etc.
Council resolved to call for Expressions of Interest for greenwaste, bio-solids processing and reuse with some contractual obligations to be considered in the process.
Advertising for a new recycling officer for waste education at schools and similar plus coordination of public place recycling, event waste management etc.
Nigel Crumpton briefed members on Council’s Business Improvement Program with a period of rationalization and a review of operations, auditing, costings, etc. Looking at streamlining the business of Waste Services in council.
Mandalay Technologies
Paul Theodorou reported on plans for Mandalay to coordinate a series of workshops in early 2011 to address Waste Levy issues and to focus on supporting software system in lieu of the introduction of the DERM Levy and assist councils with subsequent changes.
LAWMAC’s ANNUAL ROSSKO AWARD 2010
Rossko Award nominee, Matthew McCarthy (Townsville) gave a PowerPoint presentation outlining the safety, environmental and efficiency innovations introduced to the waste collection transport system in Townsville City Council.
Award nominee Sheils Barra (Cook) to give his presentation at the March 2011 meeting.
Cr Jennifer Downs was honoured to be able to present the Rossko Award which originated as a tribute to the late Ross Overton (pre-amalgamation Johnstone Shire Councillor and LAWMAC founding member).
Both nominations for the 2010 Award were commended for their respective value and benefits to Townsville and Cook Councils plus also to other NQ councils through the networking of LAWMAC.
Cr Downs announced Mr Sheils Barra as the winner of the 2010 Annual Rossko Award. The Perpetual Trophy and Certificate were accepted by Cr Alan Wilson on behalf of Sheils and the $500 Bursary kindly sponsored by Mandalay Technologies to be forwarded separately.
Mr Matthew McCarthy was recognized for his excellent work at Townsville City Council and presented with a “Highly Commended” Award.
A special supplementary Rossko Award edition of the LAWMAC Newsletter is to be developed and circulated to members within the week.
CORRESPONDENCE
The inward and outward correspondence was adopted.
Moved: Mr Mike Jones (Mount Isa) Seconded: Cr Alan Wilson (Cook)
Carried: 8 – 0.
GENERAL BUSINESS
Gary Ewart reminded members of his role as LAWMAC’s representative on DERM’s Stakeholder Working Group, advised of one further meeting of the group in
January 2011 and called for questions or issues to be forwarded prior the date.
Bill Cuthbertson commended Matthew on his good work and advised of negotiations with Townsville Council for three collection trucks which highlights the networking and sharing opportunities of LAWMAC.
Anne McLaughlin reminded everyone of Asbestos Week next week and questioned mixed messages on the safe handling and disposal of asbestos.
Malcolm Gurney thanked all for making him welcome at his first LAWMAC meeting and looked forward to a positive association between MacDonald Johnston and LAWMAC over the coming years.
Nigel Crumpton thanked LAWMAC for welcoming Cairns Regional Council back as full financial members and looks forward to forming positive networking partnerships with member councils.
Cr Jennifer Downs requested that the Project Officer process work-shopped in 2010 be flagged for further consideration in 2011 and included as an agenda item at the next meeting. Geoff Wilson queried DERM funding for a regional Project Officer and Peter Collins advised that the Project Officer project would definitely be eligible for funding as additional coordination resources through DERM needs to be work-shopped in 2011.
Peter Collins commended the process of converting old collection trucks into cardboard compactors and advised of the possibility of using such innovations as case studies whilst seeking similar waste recycling opportunities in the future.
Cr Greg Thomsen congratulated the Rossko Award nominations for 2010, thanked Mandalay Technologies for its valued sponsorship of the $500 Bursary and advised that calls for sponsorship for the 2011 will be circulated via the secretary next year.
NEXT MEETING
The following dates for 2011 were determined:
Workshop & Meeting – 3rd and 4th March 2011
Workshop & Meeting - 19th and 20th May 2011 (tentative - subject to NQLGA dates)