TITLE:
Receive Report and Consider Adoption of City Council Resolution Recommending and Consenting to an Extension of the Term in the Operating Agreement and Lease for the Caspar Transfer Station between Mendocino County and Redwood Waste Solutions, Inc.
ISSUE:
Under a Joint Powers Agreement between Fort Bragg and Mendocino County (County), the County entered into an Operating Agreement and Lease (Agreement) with Solid Waste of Willits to operate the Caspar Transfer Station. Amendments to the Agreement require “prior written consent of City and County.” The Agreement with Solid Waste of Willits had an original termination date of June 30, 2017. On March 17, 2016, the Caspar Joint Coordinating Committee recommended that the term of the Agreement be extended to June 30, 2021. The County extended the term of the Agreement and retroactively requested and received written consent from the City. The Agreement was then amended again in a similar fashion with the current extension set to expire on June 30, 2025. As there are no immediate plans to develop a Central Coast Transfer Station, it is in the public interest to extend the term of the Agreement again to December 31, 2029.
On December 19, 2023, the County approved Agreement No. 23-214 / DOT Agreement No. 230040, Assignment and Assumption Agreement Among Solid Wastes of Willits, Inc., Redwood Waste Solutions, Inc., and County of Mendocino, which, among other things, assigned the Caspar Transfer Station Operations Agreement and Lease to Redwood Waste Solutions, Inc. (RWS). The County provided notice of the extension to RWS on November 6, 2024, as required, and intends to process that extension in the near term. The attached Resolution, if approved, provides the written recommendation and consent of the City Council for Mendocino County to extend the Agreement and Lease until December 31, 2029.
ANALYSIS:
Background
The City and the County jointly own 60 acres in the Caspar area at the end of Prairie Way. The City and County first entered into a joint powers agreement in October 1967 to use the property as a solid waste landfill. The landfill was operated from 1968 to 1992, when the landfill was closed. Since then, the property has been used for a solid waste transfer station. The County had operated the facility until it executed the Operating Agreement and Lease with Solid Waste of Willits on January 25, 2011.
The current Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) between the County and the City was executed in January of 2011 to provide for changes in how the Caspar Solid Waste Transfer Station was operated and to consider the replacement or expansion of the Caspar Transfer Station to accommodate commercial collection trucks and allow for long-haul direct transfer to a destination landfill.
The JPA calls for a Joint Coordinating Committee (Committee) consisting of two City Councilmembers and two County Supervisors. The Committee serves in an advisory role for the Board of Supervisors and the City. Mendo Recycle (formerly Mendocino Solid Waste Management Authority MSWMA) served as staff support for the Committee up until March 2019.
The JPA was amended on October 25, 2016, in order to outline specific terms and obligations for moving forward with the replacement of the Caspar Transfer Station. The County Board of Supervisors and City Council certified the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the new Transfer Station project for 30075 Highway 20 on September 19, 2016.
Acquisition of the property at 30075 Highway 20 involved a multi-party land swap. The State of California would transfer 17 acres (30075 Highway 20) to the City/County in exchange for 35 acres of land at the Caspar Landfill site. California Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) would take ownership of the 35-acre Caspar property in exchange for 12.6 acres of Russian Gulch State Park, which would be transferred to Jackson Demonstration State Forest (JDSF). Not too long after the EIR was certified, DPR pulled out of the proposed land swap. At that time, the momentum of the new Transfer Station project stalled.
As there are no immediate plans to expand or replace the Caspar Transfer Station, the Committee and City and County staff recommend an extension of the existing Caspar Transfer Station Agreement and Lease with Redwood Waste Solutions.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff recommends the City Council adopt the Resolution recommending and consenting to an extension of the Operating Agreement and Lease with Redwood Waste Solutions by the County Board of Supervisors.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Do not approve the Resolution and provide staff with alternative direction.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Extension of the Operating Agreement and Lease has no direct fiscal impact on the City of Fort Bragg.
Environmental Analysis:
Extending the Operating Agreement and Lease with Redwood Waste Solutions should not increase or decrease greenhouse gas emissions as the Agreement continues the existing operation without changes.
CONSISTENCY:
N/A
IMPLEMENTATION/TIMEFRAMES:
City staff anticipate Mendocino County Board of Supervisors will approve an extension of the Operating Agreement and Lease with Solid Waste of Willits within the month and prior to the expiration on June 30, 2025.
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution
NOTIFICATION:
Amber Fisette, County of Mendocino
AGENDA ITEM NO. _8E
AGENCY: City CouncilMEETING DATE: November 25, 2024DEPARTMENT: Public WorksPRESENTED BY: Alfredo HuertaEMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]: City CouncilMEETING DATE: November 25, 2024DEPARTMENT: Public WorksPRESENTED BY: Alfredo HuertaEMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected] AGENCY: City Council
MEETING DATE: November 25, 2024
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
PRESENTED BY: Alfredo Huerta
EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]
AGENCY: City Council
MEETING DATE: November 25, 2024
DEPARTMENT: Public Works
PRESENTED BY: Alfredo Huerta
EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY