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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-03-20 City Commission Packet Materials - C2. USDA Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction Grant Commission Memorandum REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission FROM: Kevin Handelin, Solid Waste Superintendent Mitch Reister, Director of Public Works SUBJECT: Approval to accept USDA Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction Grant from Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation, should the grant be awarded to City of Bozeman. MEETING DATE: August 3, 2020 AGENDA ITEM TYPE: Consent RECOMMENDATION: Accept the grant from the Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation upon award of grant. BACKGROUND: The City of Bozeman is looking to increase municipal availability of composting services. Currently, compost collection is limited to pilot projects yielding abundant raw materials but with limited processing capability. By partnering with local business Happy Trash Can, the City of Bozeman gains a resource for processing finished compost. In addition, any raw materials delivered to Happy Trash Can will be diverted from our landfill reducing costs for the Solid Waste Division. This will lead to a positive feedback loop, with the City of Bozeman able to increase collection and Happy Trash Can expanding their processing and distribution of finished compost to subscribers, local agricultural users, and the City of Bozeman. Finished compost made available to the City of Bozeman will be used by the Parks Department as a soil amendment for fields and community gardens in lieu of synthetic fertilizers which help reduce reliance on fertilizer, improve soil quality, and increase rainwater absorption. Beyond partnering with Happy Trash Can, the City of Bozeman seeks to cultivate partnerships with Montana State University, non-profits, and other local agencies to expand food waste and compost efforts and develop plans and models for community gardens, parks, and open space. Grant funds would cover processing fees, marketing and educational materials to increase public awareness, and partnership development with the goal of a self-sustaining cooperative by 2022. ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission. FISCAL EFFECTS: There are required matching funds, maximum of $22,500.00, for this grant over two years. There is no need for a budget adjustment, as the Solid Waste Division is already engaged in the compost collection and processing activities. Attachments: Grant Narrative Report compiled on: July 20, 2020 10 USDA ​Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction (CCFWR) Project Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Grant Applicant Organization Name: City of Bozeman Email: khandelin@bozeman.net Phone: 406-582-3238 Mailing Address: PO Box 1230, Bozeman, MT 59771-1230 Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) Name: Kevin Handelin Email: khandelin@bozeman.net Phone: 406-582-3238 Mailing Address: PO Box 1230, Bozeman, MT 59771-1230 Applicant Entity Type C: City or Township Government Project Title Community Compost and Food Waste Reduction Program Requested CCFWR Funds $90,000.00 Matching Funds $22,500.00 Project Implementation Physical Address 1 Solid Waste Division Convenience Site, 2143 Story Mill Road, Bozeman, MT 59715 2 Happy Trash Can, 180 Pollywog Lane, Belgrade, MT 59714 3 Story Mill Community Park, 698 Bridger Drive, Bozeman, MT 59715 4 Bozeman Sports Park, 4600 Baxter Lane, Bozeman, MT 59718 1 11 Project Summary/Abstract The City of Bozeman is looking to increase municipal availability of composting services. Currently, compost collection is limited to pilot projects yielding abundant raw materials but with limited processing capability. By partnering with local business Happy Trash Can, the City of Bozeman gains a resource for processing finished compost. In addition, any raw materials delivered to Happy Trash Can will be diverted from our landfill reducing costs for the Solid Waste Division. This will lead to a positive feedback loop, with the City of Bozeman able to increase collection and Happy Trash Can expanding their processing and distribution of finished compost to subscribers, local agricultural users, and the City of Bozeman. Finished compost made available to the City of Bozeman will be used by the Parks Department as a soil amendment for fields and community gardens in lieu of synthetic fertilizers which help reduce reliance on fertilizer, improve soil quality, and increase rainwater absorption. Beyond partnering with Happy Trash Can, the City of Bozeman seeks to cultivate partnerships with Montana State University, non-profits, and other local agencies to expand food waste and compost efforts and develop plans and models for community gardens, parks, and open space. Grant funds would cover processing fees, marketing and educational materials to increase public awareness, and partnership development with the goal of a self-sustaining cooperative by 2022. Introduction The City of Bozeman (COB) Solid Waste Division (SWD) in partnership with the Sustainability Division, Parks and Recreation Department and Planning Division is seeking to increase its municipal availability of composting systems. Located in southwestern Montana, Bozeman is set in an expansive valley surrounded by mountain ranges, waterways and agricultural fields. Containing a population of roughly 50,000 people, Bozeman is considered one of the most livable micropolitan areas in the United States. It is the fourth largest city in Montana and is home to Montana State University (MSU), a vibrant tech industry, and is renowned for its summer and winter recreational activities. The COB strives to promote sustainable initiatives through policy and decision making, plan adoption, and community outreach. Currently, the COB is working on a Climate Action Plan to serve as a comprehensive strategy for addressing climate change. It is expected to be adopted fall 2020. One of the potential goals within the plan is to move towards becoming a zero waste community through waste reduction, recycling efforts, and reducing the total landfilled waste. This plan, along with a Strategic Plan adopted by the COB in 2018, help set goals that foster a thoughtful and strong environmental ethic for the community. Bozeman’s rapid growth is changing its landscape. At a growth rate of around 4% each year, the City is having to keep up with growing pains that come with increased development. More 2 12 development and a growing population is also increasing the waste that goes into the landfill. ​A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Report conducted by the COB in 2017 states that organic material in mixed solid waste generates landfill methane emissions which makes up 5% of Bozeman's total greenhouse gas emissions. Most importantly, this wasted resource is a high-value source of nitrogen and other soil nutrients, especially in Montana's semi-arid climate that is dominated by soils with low soil organic matter. Furthermore, t​he waste has to be trucked to a landfill 30 miles away which has substantial transportation costs for the SWD. Waste will still have to be transported to the landfill, however, with an established compost system to alleviate food waste, the truck loads and trips could lessen. Map of trip from SWD Convenience Site to Logan Landfill, 27.6 miles one way. Currently, the COB does not have an active food waste compost program, however it does offer a yard waste compost program from May through August every year to residents of the city who subscribe to the city’s garbage collection service. In the past, the COB SWD and Sustainability Division offered a home compost bin bulk purchase sale to help promote backyard composting, however, that program hasn’t existed since 2013. A current food waste composting pilot program is a partnership the SWD has with Montana State University (MSU) that has existed since 2015 which helps divert food waste from the university’s dining hall. In both 2018 and 2019, more than 500,000 pounds of organic materials have been diverted from the landfill. In order to become a zero waste community that the Climate Action Plan is striving for, the COB needs to increase its existing inputs, like its partnerships and compost program, to a fuller extent. There is also limited public exposure and knowledge to the benefits of composting resources. Currently, there are only two compost services in the region, Happy Trash Can and Yes 3 13 Compost. Between the two services, 25,000-30,000 pounds of compost is collected and processed each week. Between Yes Compost, Happy Trash Can and the City of Bozeman SWD, the amount of food waste diverted from landfill can increase, turning it into compost and returning it to the community. However, the amount of existing processing capability would not be able to sustain the amount of food waste that comes from the community. It is the aspiration of the COB that this grant will assist in achieving these goals. Objective & Procedures In order to divert food waste from landfills, the COB needs to establish a more robust compost program. The SWD plans on using a phased approach to offer compost collection to Bozeman residents and businesses. These phases would be based on existing usage patterns of yard waste collected with the existing composting program. Residents would opt in to receive the service and as each phase is established, the food waste composting services would scale up. A tote would be supplied by the COB which would be able to include both green and brown waste. It is the goal of the SWD to establish a city wide composting service for residential food scraps by 2022. Between the SWD and the Forestry Division, the COB has a variety of resources that could increase the compost program. The SWD has ample raw materials at their facility, including grass clippings, straw, manure, and yard waste. They also collect food scraps from MSU’s dining halls. The Forestry Division provides wood chips from their pruning and removal operations. This raw material takes up valuable space at the SWD’s facility and the existing processing capabilities are extremely limited. Photos of Solid Waste Division Convenience Site and the amount of compost from yard compost service, MSU food scraps, and Forestry Division wood chips. By partnering with local composting company, Happy Trash Can (HTC), the COB gains another resource for processing. Currently, HTC picks up and processes food waste from Gallatin and 4 14 Park County, averaging 15,000 pounds of waste each week. Using an aerated static pile system from Sustainable Generations, a Montana and MSU legacy company, they are able to maintain optimal temperatures and timelines even in Montana’s coldest winter days. The process takes about eight weeks in which the compost is cured and sent out to subscribers and local farms. With the establishment of a city wide compost program and the partnership with HTC, the distribution is further expanded through increased pick up services from the SWD. Between processing at the SWD convenience site and HTC’s facility, food waste strategies can be ramped up. Currently, the SWD convenience site contains a massive amount of compost materials that is collected from various feedstocks throughout the year and the residential grass collection. The residential grass collection accounts for 20 tons per week during the summer months, the dropoff convenience site takes in about 5,000 tons of brush & compost per year, and the City fall leaf collection contributes 1,000 tons per season. HTC would process the various materials delivered to them from SWD. Any overflow can be processed by SWD. The partnership with HTC takes advantage of an already existing processing system and a facility that is closer than the landfill. Although trips will be made to the landfill for general waste, by dropping off raw materials to HTC’s facility fuel consumption, travel time and staff labor is significantly reduced. HTC would process the raw compost for a fee and have the finished product available in 8-10 weeks. The finished product will then be sold to HTC’s subscribers, local agricultural producers, community gardeners, and the COB Parks Maintenance Division. Map of trip from SWD Convenience Site to Happy Trash Can, 12.2 miles one way. 5 15 Quality testing will dictate distribution of the finished product. Utilizing MSU’s Land Resources and Environmental Sciences (LRES) Department and the SWD testing program, compost will be graded according to industry standards. Higher quality compost can be distributed across all parties, while lower grade compost will be reserved for the Parks Department. Compost can be tested and results provided within a week of the request. With this quick turn around and the two programs, the finished product can be tested at a faster rate to get the finished product out to the community. Any lower grade product will be distributed to the Parks Maintenance Division to use on parks to help reduce reliance and limit the use of fertilizer as well as improve the soil quality. Higher grade products will be made available to local agricultural producers, community gardeners, and the community. Bozeman currently boasts 906 acres of City-owned parks, with most neighborhoods within a 10-minute walk to a park. Currently, only two of those parks contain community gardens with plots available for the public to rent during each summer. Between the two parks, there are only 63 plots for the entire city. To those who rent or live in places with limited yard space, these community gardens do not address enough demand. There is a great opportunity to expand community gardening through the parks program. It is also the COB’s ambition to offer compost sites at parks throughout the city where residents can drop off and pick up compost at parks. An existing park that can be a demonstration site for compost pick up and drop off location is the recently completed, award-winning Story Mill Community Park. Located on the northeast side of Bozeman near the foothills of the Bridger Mountain Range, this park contains several amenities such as a learning garden and food forest. The goal of this area is to encourage and facilitate the development of all facets of a local food system, including but not limited to food production, access, processing, distribution, resiliency, waste, education and natural resources. The COB and partners involved with the Story Mill project desire to have more programs and amenities in existing and future parks. Though limited in scale, this pilot program would serve as a demonstration site for future compost amenities and community gardens. Photos of learning garden at Story Mill Park. 6 16 The COB Parks Department and Planning Division would highlight this project through marketing materials and a design manual to set standards for similar projects. This urban design manual is currently in the works with the hope that this grant can assist it in getting finalized quicker. These materials would be distributed to the development community, private landowners, and other entities to emulate these strategies. Marketing materials could include informative flyers, guides on how to compost, and signage at demonstration sites. Collaborators Montana State University EJ Hook - Director Facilities Service PO Box 172760 Bozeman, MT 59717-2760 406-994-7840 edward.hook1@montana.edu MSU plans on extending their already existing partnership to a formalized collaborative effort in composting services. The COB and MSU have been working together on composting food waste from MSU’s dining halls since 2015. MSU is committing to provide operational, academic, and a research platform for the COB compost program. By establishing a city wide food waste composting program, the COB will utilize MSU’s resources, operations, and research platform to assist with it. Happy Trash Can Curbside Composting, LLC Ryan Green 180 Pollywog Lane Belgrade, MT 59714 406-570-0896 happytrashcancompost@gmail.com HTC is an established composting service that collects food waste from local commercial and residential clients. Their finished product is sold back to local farmers and gardeners connecting the community to the “fork to farm” movement. The partnership between the COB and HTC will help expand a citywide compost program as well as support a local small business. Broken Ground Permaculture Kareen Erbe 1505 Bridger Drive Bozeman, MT 59715 406-600-7881 info@brokenground.com 7 17 Broken Ground is a local permaculture business that offers educational workshops on gardening, composting, and permaculture. Broken Ground will provide expertise on permaculture and act as a consultant and educator for the COB while assisting with marketing efforts. It is the goal of the COB and Broken Ground to provide educational workshops related to composting, gardening, food waste, and permaculture using city parks. Evaluation Through the partnerships, procedures, and methods mentioned above, having this more robust compost program will assist in reducing food waste. Reducing the amount of travel to the landfill, processing more compost, and providing the end product at a larger scale helps achieve a long term goal set by the City. Progress can be determined by collecting data based on the amount of waste provided to HTC, compost testing results, and the amount of compost that is distributed between public and private lands. This helps local businesses expand and strengthen the private sector by increasing the product provided and what needs to be processed. The SWD utilizes RAMS PRO, which is a software that tracks routes, weights, vehicle miles, and hours. Logged every day, it includes a GPS tracking system that shows where all the trucks have been. In addition, the Parks Division has a program called City Works which tracks staff hours, vehicle miles traveled, and amount of product used in parks. These powerful tools will automate our evaluation through the two year grant. The COB would compile these data on a monthly basis to gauge success. RAMS PRO software tracking routes running and completed. 8 18 The SWD could compare these monthly metrics to the reduction of resources it takes to transport food waste to the landfill, a direct economic benefit to operations. An additional economic benefit is that the partnerships mentioned above will experience increased demand and awareness that support a viable industry. The partnership developed with MSU can be replicated with other agencies including service institutions such as the Bozeman School District and the Gallatin County Jail. Due to the volume of food waste from these institutions, additional partnerships would be necessary for processing. Yes Compost, which uses the vermicompost technique, is another fast-growing local business that could be an asset for future processing. Within the Bozeman community, there are many local agencies whose missions emphasize local food production and education of these systems. One of these agencies is Broken Ground, a permaculture business who teaches people how to grow their own food through educational workshops. Broken Ground has a relationship with the COB Parks Department holding these workshops at the Story Mill Community Park. Working with agencies such as Broken Ground, these programs could come to fruition through public-private partnerships. These public-private partnerships can help facilitate food production on public properties and provide information and education about food systems, local food, composting, soil building and healthy soil practices through the community. Story Mill Community Park can serve as a template to develop these practices for future parks throughout the city. Self-Sustainability The goals of the COB is to become a more sustainable community with a strong environmental ethic. Solidifying a compost program will reduce food waste, boost the economy, and support local farmers and community gardeners which helps achieve this goal for the years to come. Further increases in collection of compost dictates the amount of processing that needs to occur. The cost savings from reduced landfill trips would increase exponentially with demand. This could fund municipal equipment purchases, expand services for processing, and further develop business relationships. The funds received from this grant will initiate an unprecedented movement to reduce food waste, promote compost benefits and best practices, and provide a foundation for the COB. Beyond these Federal funds, the COB would increase budgeting to meet demand for this program as it aligns with the City Commission approved goals. A potential revenue source could come from user fees associated with city-wide tote pick up. These funding sources will continue the compost program for the years to come. 9 19