80 FAIR OAKS LANE | ATHERTON, CALIFORNIA 94027 | PH: (650) 752-0577 | EM: [email protected] www.ci.atherton.ca.us
September 18, 2024 SENT VIA EMAIL & MAIL
Honorable Amarra A. Lee
Judge of the Superior Court
c/o Bianca Fasuescu
Hall of Justice
400 County Center. 2nd Floor
Redwood City, CA 94063-1655
Subject: Response of the Town of Atherton to the Civil Grand Jury Report "The State of Compost Compliance in San Mateo County"
Dear Judge Lee,
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the Civil Grand Jury report entitled "The State of Compost Compliance in San Mateo County." The Town of Atherton’s response to both the findings and recommendations are listed below.-
Responses to Civil Grand Jury Findings:
F2. Green bin contamination among compliant multi-family dwellings and businesses prevents them from diverting more organic waste.
Response:
The Town of Atherton agrees with this finding.
F4. Multi-family dwellings and businesses produce a significant amount of the County’s organic waste.
Response:
The Town of Atherton agrees with this finding.
F5. Citizens cannot conveniently access reliable diversion and participation rates because JPAs and cities do not make the information available on their government websites.
Response:
The Town of Atherton disagrees with this finding. Quarterly reports are made available with the meeting packet
TOWN OF ATHERTON
CITY COUNCIL
80 FAIR OAKS LANE
ATHERTON, CALIFORNIA 94027
(650) 752-0577
80 FAIR OAKS LANE | ATHERTON, CALIFORNIA 94027 | PH: (650) 752-0577 | EM: [email protected] www.ci.atherton.ca.us
for the Refuse & Recycling Committee and some report highlights are showcased in the Town’s Quarterly Athertonian Newsletter.
F6. Assessing progress on organic waste diversion in Atherton, Brisbane, Millbrae, Pacifica, San Bruno, South San Francisco, and Woodside is difficult because they and their haulers do not separate waste tons by property type on their annual or quarterly reports.
Response:
The Town of Atherton agrees with this finding.
F7. An alternate and reliable method to separating waste tons by property type would be analyzing contamination statistics from route audits and waste evaluations.
Response:
The Town of Atherton agrees with this finding.
Responses to Civil Grand Jury Recommendations:
R4. Beginning November 30, 2024, cities should publish quarterly or annual waste reports with diversion and participation rates on their government websites.
Response:
The Town of Atherton will implement this recommendation and will begin publishing quarterly waste reports, provided by GreenWaste, with diversion and participation rates on our government website starting November 30, 2024.
R5. Beginning December 31, 2024, cities should separate waste tons and diversion rates into the three (or two) property types (business, residential, multi-family) in their annual or quarterly reports.
Response:
The Town of Atherton will work to implement this recommendation and coordinate with GreenWaste on separating waste tons and diversion rates into the three property types (commercial, residential, multi-family) in our annual and quarterly reports starting December 31, 2024.
R6. Starting April 1, 2025, cities that cannot separate waste tons and diversion rates by property type should conduct waste evaluations on highly contaminated routes more often.
Response:
The Town of Atherton has conducted route audits through GreenWaste and is willing to request more route audits on highly contaminated routes more often starting April 1, 2025, if the proposed solution to R5 is not successful.
R7. Starting May 1, 2025, cities that cannot separate waste tons and diversion rates by property type should analyze problematic routes’ past and present contamination trends to track their progress. 80 FAIR OAKS LANE | ATHERTON, CALIFORNIA 94027 | PH: (650) 752-0577 | EM: [email protected] www.ci.atherton.ca.us
Response:
The Town of Atherton will implement this recommendation and will analyze contamination trends on problematic routes to track progress starting May 1, 2025 if the proposed solutions to R5 and or R6 are not successful.
This response to the Grand Jury was considered by the City Council at a public meeting on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
Should you have any questions concerning this response, please contact Christabel Soria Mendoza, Management Analyst I, at (650) 752-0577.
Respectfully,
TOWN OF ATHERTON
Diana Hawkins-Manuelian
Mayor
cc: City Council
George Rodericks, City Manager