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12 - PRESENTATIONS/CHARTER AMENDMENTS/POLICE DEPT/RECYCLING PROGRAMItem No. 12 COUNCIL MEMBER AGENDA ITEM REQUEST Please complete this form to have an item placed on the agenda for the Council's consideration. The deadline for requesting an item on an agenda will be the Wednesday before the council meeting takes place. This time is necessary so that staff can research the matter and prepare /review an ordinance, resolution, or other document such as a contract. In order for your fellow Council Members to fully understand your item, have productive discussion, ensure efficient council meetings, and for staff to be able to assist you as completely as possible, it is important that you describe the item with as much detail as possible and include any supporting documentation so that it may be included in the Council's meeting packets. Please return this completed form to the City Manager's office or the City Clerk's office. Council member making request: ❑ Aaron Jenkins ❑ Matt Frierson ❑ Sue Lancaster ❑ Edwin Pickle ❑ Benny Plata ® A.J. Hashmi ❑ Steve Clifford Description of Item: Receive presentations discuss and act on the following a. Council Member Lancaster and City Attorney Kent McIlyar on charter amendments, including the effect of city boundaries if the mayor is elected at -large b. Council Member Plata on the police department including retention of police officers c. Mayor Hashmi on a recycling program for the citizens of Paris Are additional sheets or supporting materials attached? ® Yes ❑ No I request that this item be placed on the agenda for the: ® City Council meeting on this date: June 22, 2015 ❑ Sometime in the next 2 meetings ❑ No specific time in mind — just keep it on a list of pending issues Signature: A.J. Hashmi Date: 6 -16 -2015 City of Paris Revised 05/12/2015 Conference Call with Redistricting Attorney Bob Bass (If Mayor is elected at- large) June 15, 2015 at 4:30 p.m. Those attending the meeting were Mayor Hashmi, Council Member Lancaster, Council Member Pickle, City Manager John Godwin, City Attorney Kent McIlyar and City Clerk Janice Ellis. Redistricting Attorney Bob Bass met with the group via telephone conference call. For background information, Attorney Bob Bass was the consultant/attorney who was hired to assist the City during the re- districting process in 2011, following the 2010 US Census. The purpose of the meeting was to ask Mr. Bass questions about the feasibility and process for amending the City Charter to provide for election of the City Mayor by citizens of Paris rather than by nomination and appointment. There was also discussion about redistricting of current City Council Districts and what is allowed under the Voting Rights Act. Mayor Hashmi inquired if it was possible to maintain the seven single- member districts and have the Mayor elected at -large by the citizens without having to re- district the existing seven single - member districts. Council Member Pickle wanted to explore having a hybrid system, such as having four single member districts and three at -large districts with the mayor being elected at- large. Council Member Lancaster said she would like to maintain the seven districts but have the mayor elected at -large by the citizens. Mr. Bass responded that if the City Council wants to keep the existing seven single- member districts, they could add an eighth at -large position on the City Council for the Mayor to be elected by the citizens of Paris. He also said that it was feasible to redistrict and remap the current seven council districts down to six single- member districts and have the City Mayor elected at large every two years. Mr. Bass said that it would be difficult to convert seven single - member districts to a hybrid arrangement with 4 single- member districts and 3 at -large districts and maintain those current majority- minority districts in Paris. He is not confident that the Department of Justice would approve such a change and that it could lead to a Voting Rights Act challenge. Mr. McIlyar added that if City Council were to change to a seven plus one system, that would create an 8- member City Council and potential for more tie votes, 4 to 4, unless they amend Charter to say that Mayor votes only when necessary to break a tie vote. Attorney Bass said the best option for creating a Mayor at Large elected by citizens would be to reduce the seven single - member districts down to six single- member districts and have the Mayor elected at large by the citizens every two years. Mr. Bass closed by saying that it would be very important to get community buy -in on any proposed changes to the current City Council and Mayor electoral system. He said that the City Council could appoint a charter review committee to study these issues and make recommendations to City Council. The committee should be made up of members representing all voting districts in the community and this committee should solicit input and comment from all communities that make up the City of Paris, Texas. Mayor Hashmi asked about the cost for re- districting the City from seven single- member districts to six - single member districts and a Mayor at Large and Mr. Bass said that the cost run $10,000 or more depending upon various factors, like number of meetings attended, number of reports, number of map revisions, etc. Meeting about retention of Police Officers June 15, 2015 at 5:20 p.m. Those attending the meeting were Mayor Hashmi, Council Member Lancaster, Council Member Plata, City Manager John Godwin, Police Chief Bob Hundley and City Clerk Janice Ellis. Mayor Hashmi said the purpose of this meeting was to figure out what could be done to retain police officers, because a lot of officers were leaving the police department. He told Chief Hundley they would like to learn what was taking place at the PD so that the council can be appraised of the situation. Mayor Hashmi also told Chief Hundley he was under no obligation to implement any suggestions, that came out of this meeting and he should follow what the city manager says the primary objective here for the council to assist them in helping out with the situation as it pertains to making policies for future. Council Member Plata inquired if Chief Hundley felt there was a morale issue and Chief Hundley answered yes. Council Member Plata inquired of the issues. Chief Hundley said some officers leave because they were asked to leave, some leave for better pay and more opportunities for advancement. Council Member Plata inquired about the rotation into the Investigation Division. Chief Hundley explained the organization of the Police Department citing most of the officers were in patrol which was approximately 38 -39 officers. He said the PD was not fully staffed at this time and officers are frustrated right now because they are short- staffed. He also said they had not been rotating officers because they were short- staffed, but in the past they rotated officers on a three month period to work as a misdemeanor investigator. Council Member Plata asked if he could visit with some of the police officers and Chief Hundley, as well as Mr. Godwin said that would be fine. Mayor Hashmi asked Chief Hundley and Mr. Godwin if there would be any repercussions to the officers that spoke to Council Member Plata, to which Chief Hundley and Mr. Godwin assured that there would be none. Council Member Plata said it was his understanding that security jobs were given to those with the most seniority. Chief Hundley confirmed that was his policy and those with seniority could first select four security jobs from the list. He also explained that some of the security jobs required more work than others and there were times that no one selected the security jobs requiring more work. Chief Hundley also explained that because the PD has shifts certain officers may not be available to work off -duty security jobs. Council Member Plata suggested it would be fairer if a list was made and off -duty security jobs were offered to everyone and if an officer was on duty for the PD that he continued to stay on the list, at the top until he was available to work the security job. Mayor Hashmi said he understood that might be additional work to keep up with the list, but asked Chief Hundley if adjusting that was a possibility. Chief Hundley said he would look into it. Chief Hundley invited Council Member Plata to come to the PD and ride with an officer, as well as review the list on the board and Council Member Plata said he would do so. Chief Hundley said every Wednesday the list of security jobs is available to sign up, but that if someone calls in and security is needed within 24 hours, an emergency e -mail is sent and if a call is received that security is needed right away then whoever is available at that time gets the security job. Council Member Plata wanted to know why the officers were no longer allowed to wear ball caps and Chief Hundley said that had to do with command presence and in fact, they had voted as they did uniforms. Council Member Plata inquired what was being done to recruit minority officers and Chief Hundley said letters were sent to pastors of African - American churches and the NAACP, and that he and the City Manager had discussed explorer posts. Chief Hundley explained there were certain State requirements that had to be met dealing with qualifications, that a candidate also had to be twenty -one years of age or have sixty semester hours of college. Council Member Plata suggested contacting the Young Life Director, as well as several Hispanic ministers and said he would be more than glad to do that if city staff wanted him to do so. Chief Hundley said that would be good. Council Member Lancaster asked if there were any females on the police force and Chief Hundley answered in the affirmative. Council Member Plata said the perception in certain areas of the city was there was a lack of police presence, specifically West Paris and Paradise Estates. Chief Hundley said the PD does patrol those areas. Mayor Hashmi asked if they could have more presence in those areas and Chief Hundley told him yes. Council Member Plata inquired about the drug task force and Chief Hundley explained federal funding cut the program, and said they needed additional police officers assigned to work nothing but drugs. Council Member Plata asked if the Council could get quarterly updates on crime stats and Chief Hundley said he would get that to the Council. Chief Hundley reported that crime rate in Paris had in fact decreased over the last four years. Mayor Hashmi said he wanted to be clear and straight forward, in that it was serious for the City to spend money to train officers and lose those officers. He also said he personally supported a salary increase for police officers but he wanted to see results as to the issues brought forward to this meeting. Mayor Hashmi suggested the following: That the crime stats of crime over the past four years have been reported and Paris has been reported as one of the top ten most dangerous cities in Texas. Mayor Hashmi said if this is a reporting error than it should be corrected and accurate reporting techniques need to be adopted. 2. That Chief Hundley do what is necessary to alleviate points raised by Council Member Plata with regard to fairness in the department. 3. Review the possibility of rewarding an officer to return to patrol after duty in CID if he or she so desires since there are limited vacancies in CID and as Chief Hundley explained that once in CID officers do not want to return to Patrol duty. 4. Mayor Hashmi also asked if we could develop some innovative changes that will allow officers to rotate through Police departments in other cities so they get more outside experience through an exchange program. Mayor Hashmi said everyone likes learning something new. He said sometimes you can do the same thing but in a different manner, which would allow opportunity for the officers and done in a different manner and which would enlighten them about how other Police Departments work. Mayor Hashmi said it really is up to Chief Hundley and the City Manager how they want to address the issues. He also said as a member of the Council, he would be very supportive of the Police Department in doing whatever it takes as a policy matter to avoid loss of our trained officers to other cities. Chief Hundley said he would like to have additional training for his officers and they had not explored an exchange program, but that he would get with the City Manager. Council Member Lancaster expressed the importance of rotating positions in the police department for the purpose of cross - training. She said the she felt one of the key problem in the City was with drugs and wanted that addressed. Meeting about the possibility of a Recycling Program June 15, 2015 at 6:30 p.m. Those attending the meeting were Mayor Hashmi, Council Member Lancaster, City Manager John Godwin, Public Works Director Jerry McDaniel, City Clerk Janice Ellis and Anna Spencer. The meeting was called to assess the progress of recycling in the city of Paris and to determine if anything could be done to promote it. Citizen Anna Spencer presented everyone with a hand -out entitled "Recycling Facts." Mayor Hashmi said he invited Ms. Spencer to this meeting, because she had spoken at a Council meeting about this subject. He also said a recycling program was previously discussed but did not come to fruition. Mayor Hashmi said this time he would really like for them to assess its feasibility and attractive option for the city, both financially and as an environmental protection mechanism. Ms. Spencer explained that the Choctaw Nation had a recycling center that was run by volunteers. She said they had roll -off bins at various locations and the center took aluminum cans, plastic and paper. Ms. Spencer said they bailed and sold the recyclable material and the company that purchased the material from the Choctaw Nation was responsible for picking up the material from the center at their own expense. Mayor Hashmi inquired about incentives for citizens to get involved in recycling or bring materials for recycling that may be sold by the city. It was however felt that since the city was not in the business of recycling that it would not be a good option. At this point with suggestions from resident Anna Spencer, it was noted that if the city were to start a program and put proceeds coming from the program into a fund for improvements of city parks and possibly using it as additional funds for repair work of the trail, the city might save money and this might greatly encourage residents and children in the community to promote, encourage, and develop habits of recycling materials. Ms. Spencer said if the city recycles a lot they would be spending less money on the landfill fees. With that in mind, Mayor Hashmi also suggested that the money saved by the city on what they would have spent on putting items in the landfill could be placed in the special fund as a matching contribution from the city. Mayor Hashmi asked about the costs of providing carts and the ability of placing the carts in more than a couple of places. Mr. Godwin said he would get the cost information to them and suggested sites should be selected on convenience for citizens, such as elementary schools. Mayor Hashmi asked when staff could bring something to the Council. Mr. Godwin said staff could place this item on a July agenda. Mayor Hashmi asked that the information include the number of containers needed, the costs involved, possible locations, and a summary of incentives. Mayor Hashmi also instructed the notes of this meeting be provided to all Council Members for their review. Recycling Facts Increasing recycling levels to 60% at current waste levels would avoid the emission of more than 169 million metric tons of CO2e; equivalent to burning more than 19 billion gallons of fuel, or the annual emissions of more than 30 million cars, or the emissions from electricity used by more than 22 million homes. In 2007 each American generated 4.62 pounds of garbage each day, slightly less than the previous year. Of that, 1.5 pounds were recycled with 2.5 pounds per capita being thrown away and the rest composted. Last year in America, 91,000 tons of materials were recycled each day, for a total of 85 million tons recycled and 189 million tons thrown into landfills or sent to combustion. Getting Started Many community recycling programs have not kept pace with changes in recycling technology and best practices. They operate under very tight budgets that limit their ability to invest and improve outcomes. These factors call for a renewed focus on residential recycling programs as the key to significant improvements in recycling rates. For these improvements to last, recycling programs must move to a sustainable operating model, both from an economic and an environmental perspective. If the full economic and environmental benefits of recycling are realized, recycling will gain greater political support. There are 6 essential elements of a sustainable, effective residential recycling program that cities and towns should incorporate into their plan. These include: • Parallel access (matching recycling and waste service) Collaborate with haulers /collectors to collect recycling on the same day as waste (parallel service). Cities with parallel service have documented increases in recovery, when collection days were matched up. • Right -sized containers (large enough to hold all recyclables) There is nothing more frustrating than setting aside your recyclables and not being able to fit them in your collection bin! While the smaller open top bins were popular first steps for residential recycling, great strides have been made in cities that have converted to "carts" - wheeled containers that are large enough for all materials a household generates. These 60 - 90 gallon carts can hold all the milk jugs, magazines, catalogs, bottles and cans a household generates in a week - and easily roll out to the curb for pickup. • Single- stream collection (collect all recyclables together) Single stream recycling is a new easy and convenient way for residents to recycle. One cart is made available for all materials - not having to sort into separate bins cuts down on the space needed for recycling collection and the time it takes for citizens to recycle. The sorting of materials into commodities is done at a processing center, where materials run through machinery that sorts and bales commodities together. • High value material focus (collect the most valuable commodities) Collect high -value recyclables: be sure to include aluminum, plastic, magazines and catalogs and newspaper along with junk mail and steel cans. The high value materials (aluminum and PET) will supply needed revenues to the recycling business model. • Financial incentives, including PAYT and recycling rewards (motivate participation) Incentive to recycle: 1. Pay as you throw success stories are numerous and are included in this website 2. Recycling rewards: whether it be PAYT or one of the new incentive programs like RecycleBank, the link of incentives and successful recycling participation has been documented time and again • Education and outreach (move the "sometimes" recyclers to "always" recyclers) Effective and adequately funded education and promotion: integrate information on what to put on the carts to a comprehensive communication plan. Citizens need to know what goes in the bin and when to set it out. Simple targeted messaging increases participation rates. Each of these essential elements add value and efficiency to a local recycling system. FACTS ON TWO CITIES BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS Population: 34,422 Bottle Bill: Yes Collection Method: Contractor Funding: Enterprise Fund (Flat Fee) Households Served: 10,000 Truck Type: Side loading, single compartment, compacting Container Type: Resident supplied 32 gallon container clearly marked Materials Processing Facility: Single stream processing Contact: rnolan @braintreema.gov Website: http : / /www.braintreerecycling.org WAKE FOREST, NORTH CAROLINA Population: 27,000 Bottle Bill: No Collection Method: Contractor Funding: General Fund (replacing a flat fee) Households Served: 8,600 Truck Type: Fully automated single compartment Container Type: Rolling carts Materials Processing Facility: Single stream processing Contact: mbarton@wakeforestnc.gov Website: http: / /www.wakeforestnc.gov/ residents /publicworks_sanitation.aspx Kilgore, Texas established a recycling program in 2010. Their program is managed through a contractor service, Allied Waste, Inc. The contractor provides the containers for the recyclables as well as pickup and disposal however the city does not get any remuneration from the sale of the recycled materials. This does tell us that recycling can be profitable. • Making paper from recycled paper reduces the related contribution to air pollution 95 %. • Recycling a stack of newspaper just 3 feet high saves one tree. • More than 37% of the fiber used to make new paper products in the U.S. comes from recycled sources. Glass: Glass can be recycled and re- manufactured an infinite amount of times and never wear out. • Making glass from recycled material cuts related water pollution by 50 %. • Recycling just one glass jar saves enough electricity to light an 11 watt CFL bulb for 20 hours. • More than 28 billion glass bottles and jars end up in landfills every year -- that is the equivalent of filling up two Empire State Buildings every three weeks. Cardboard: • Recycling cardboard only takes 75% of the energy needed to make new cardboard. Recycling 1 ton of cardboard saves 46 gallons of oil. • Over 90% of all products shipped in the US are shipped in corrugated boxes, which totals more than 400 billion square feet of cardboard. • Nearly 80% of all retailers and grocers recycle their cardboard. Food Waste: (without paper products) Food waste can be used for composting and sold to farmers or it can be provided as a food source for local animal farms that meet federal, state and local regulations for food scrap usage. • Almost half of the food in the U.S. goes to waste - approximately 3,000 pounds per second. • Food scraps make up almost 12% of municipal solid waste generated in the U.S. • Many schools and businesses are starting to compost food waste on site. Compost: (food waste with food - soiled paper products) • Food and paper waste used for food can be composted into nutrient rich soil and sold to farmers. • Almost half of the food in the U.S. goes to waste - approximately 3,000 pounds per second. • Food scraps make up almost 12% of municipal solid waste generated in the U.S. • Many schools and businesses are starting to compost food waste on site. eWaste: (electronic waste) • In 2007, 82% equalling 1.8 million tons of ewaste (various electronics e.g. TVs, cell phones, computers etc) ended up in landfills. • In 1998, the National Safety Council study estimated about 20 million computers became obsolete within 1 year. In 2007, that number increased to 40 million. • Electronic waste total approximately 2% of the waste stream in the U.S. • Several states have now created mandatory collection and recycling programs for electronics. EPA is challenging everyone --from citizens to community leaders —to do their part to conserve resources. These pages help identify opportunities to get involved in your community, where you can play a significant role in material management and waste reduction. Quick Tips: Quick Tips: Volunteering • Find out how to volunteer by reading case studies of other people's projects. • Promote the 311s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) in your community by organizing community outreach activities and events, promoting sustainable community practices, and sharing knowledge and information on solid waste management. Setting up Programs To set up a program, you should do the following: • Know your community • Name a leader and build an action team • Establish working committees • Develop an action plan • Identify and secure partners • implement your plan • Evaluate results EPA website with helpful information http://epa._qovioswiconserve/downloads/recy-com/index.htm Information on the Choctaw Nation recycling program. The Choctaw Nation has recycling bins behind of their complexes in several cities to collect plastic, cardboard, paper and cans. This is a voluntary drop -off program. The Choctaw Nation reports that they recycled 5,000,000 pounds in the month of January, 2014. http: / /www.choctawnation.com /news- room /press- room /media- releases /choctaw - recycling- exceeds - five - million - pounds/ 1 have always found the area around the drop -off station to be clean with no odor. 1 called the Choctaw Nation at their headquarters in Durant, Oklahoma and talked with Cindy James, manager. This is the information from Ms. James: They use 11 cubic yard "roll offs" for collection. The roll off is picked up and replaced with an empty roll off. The container is taken to Durant where two employees sort and bail the material in a 33,000 square foot warehouse. Ms. James has about 10 vendors that she requests a quote /bid each month. The bid includes pickup at the Choctaw Nation site and transportation to the vendor's site. The last bid for #1 plastic at the time I talked with her was $360 per ton (.18 per pound). Bids vary from month to month. She offered to give a tour of the facility which is located at 3408 West Watkins Blvd, Durant, OK. Appointment may be made by calling Cindy James at 580 - 513 -7031.