Manager Meeting Notes

MANAGER BIMONTHLY MEETING NOTES –

Manager Meetings will be held on the first and third Wednesday of each month, beginning December 2021.

Attendees and job titles:

Sarah Reeves, Executive Director
Amy Jewell, Administrative Director
Jon Dorwart, Director of Information Systems
Jen Holliday, Director of Public Policy & Communications
Michele Morris – Director of Outreach & Communications
Alise Certa – Marketing & Communications Manager
Brian Mital , Associate Director of Operations
Josh Estey, Director of Compliance & Hazardous Waste
Nola Ricci– Director of Finance
Dan Goossen – Director, Compost
Beth Parent – Community Engagement & Outreach Manager

9.6. 2023

MRF Meeting – kick off with architect, lots of work to do, but hoping to stick to aggressive schedule, which would break ground next spring
ORF – upcoming changes (soft rollout in October) for accepting “yard waste” that now includes wood and commingled wood & yard waste
Marketing – working on website with deadlines thru mid-October. If need something sooner, talk with Alise to prioritize work.
Board tour on 9/13
Discussion on COLA and other ways to provide in as more real-time and not the previous years 12 month average
Discussion on improving recycling and composting compliance at large events, Fair & Lake Monsters, etc.
Kat Moody went to Recology while on vacation in the Bay area and will be putting together a presentation
Rover events, last three are coming up
Request to get managers set up with Passbolt and to use it.

8.16.2023

Josh E – Safety – staff – point
Flood Recovery Clean Up Day – August 26^th to help with flood recovery
FY 25 Budget discussion –

8.9.2023

DOC entrance signs are being installed
Budget conversations – FY 25 (Deadline for preliminary budget is September 30, 203)
Future staffing needs for FY 25 will be next manager meeting
Capital budget discussions will also happen next week
NetSuite requests for homescreen set up and monthly training options

8.2.2023

Jon reviewed Passbolt software and the request for folks to use it.
Discussion on Personnel Rules & Regulations – changing to allow Sarah to make changes without going to the board or providing a general overview of rules & regulations and then having the procedures and detail in a separate document.
FY 25 Budget – Nola will be available to answer questions, schedule time with her if you need additional instruction on budget entry or have other questions.

7.19.2023 – FY 25 Budget discussion – presentation by Nola regarding providing detail in the budget software

7.5.2023 – cancelled

6.21.2023

6.7. 2023

FY 25 Budget discussion. Budgets will be done before September 30, 2023.
Discussion on the logistics of including detail in the budget software versus other sources
Further discussions/training will be provided

5.17.2023

Credit card discussion at DOC’s – will be in place for July 1
ORF, Depot to move to same credit card company (EVO)
June Board meeting – screener, concrete pad, Rover purchase

5.3.2023

Website discussion on fee changes
EPR for HHW bill -Jen updated process with expected passing of the bill this session
Discussion on PFAs and working with ANR to lead those discussions.
Reminder to use vacation and conference room calendars in Outlook
Evaluations – working on 360 evaluations
AV – Admin – coming soon

4.5.2023

Everyone will get keys issued for 19 Gregory Drive
Caution to watch for police cruisers racing out of the parking lot

3.15.2023

Discussion on how we promote our Drop-Off Centers, discussion of fees in general, and promoting folks to use the facilities Tues -Friday, since Saturday is already at capacity.
Credit card discussion – will be ready for July 1
Josh T will hold discussion regarding how to handle bins residents no longer want and will let O&C know for messaging.

3.1.2023

Admin – moving discussions and logistics
Budget -= March 8^th budget meeting, Directors to attend meeting to answer board questions

02.15.2023

Sarah, Jen, Josh E, Josh T, Nola, Michele – working on the EPA Solid Waste Infrastructure Recycling (SWIFR) Grant – deadline 2/15/2023
Admin Update – electrical inspection, minor upgrades needed, doors and windows ordered, walls going up soon, new phones arrived, conversation on AV in conference room, entry access, moving date (estimated March 20^th)
FY 24 Budget – main budget discussion at Board meeting will be about bag prices at DOC’s. Sarah/Nola to present, managers will attend to answer questions
Board meeting – also will have bond loan authorization and executive session discussions regarding MRF contract, Williston waterline issue, and Flynn Avenue.

02.01.2023 – Canceled Due to Safety Training

12.07.22

Admin Office update
Opportunities for all staff to meet at new location when possible
Review of Capital projects and timeline with staff
Interview of employees for all staff call to discuss work that is done
Kudos/recognition boards for staff
Holiday party on Dec 19
Office clean out on Dec 19
FY 24 Budget Review – Managers schedule time with Nola/Sarah

11.16.2022

Snow day/closure protocol review
DOC hardcover book, shredded paper pilot. Scavenging guidelines will be sent out to All CSWD Staff.
Administrative Office Lease – Sarah will sign lease today. Stewart Construction can start on demo tomorrow.
FY 24 Preliminary Budget – Reviewed Finance Committee meeting and assumptions used
Open enrollment – memo for health insurance and other benefits will be sent out tomorrow.

10.19.2022

Admin Office Lease – going to the board for approval at the October meeting
Phase I – Website complete, moving into Phase II moving into a developer, thanked those that participated, any feedback, Alise & Michele can receive feedback on this project
MRF Bond Vote Campaign – increasing social media posts, posting in FPF this week, reminding people that its available, information was sent to Board members to post in FPF, VPIRG support was appreciated
FY 24 Budget – staffing needs/changes to Amy, health insurance information and update going out to employees later this week. Discussion on changing to a calendar year budgeting process versus fiscal year. Would require a Charter change. Capital project will also be coming up.

10.4.2022

Snow Policy –Review of policy and closure process. Decisions to be made by 6:00 a.m. Will post procedure on internet. Admin staff is not eligible for snow days – assume ability to work from home when snow is in the forecast.
COLA – Budget process, high COLA rate, discussion with the finance committee next week about the projected increase
Health Insurance – 15 & 20% rate increase to premiums. Creatively looking at how to manage the costs AND attempts to not cost-shift to employees, or to those with lower earnings
Board Meetings – suggestion for annual board meeting training at the Annual Organizational Meeting (Robert’s Rule’s Process and cheat sheet for board and staff)
Admin Office – Sarah will update information on the Admin Office and send to all staff

9.21.2022

MRF
- All Staff Tours next week – same message provided to public to be given to staff. (Becky please send calendar invite)
- Bond Vote – 9 Town clerks responded that a total of 2,000 ballots have requested and/or fulfilled.
- EPA – Grant writing – Grant money opportunities for the MRF. EPA group is “Oceans Group” with concern for plastics in the ocean. Opportunities for Corporate sponsorships and whether we entertain that.
IT – Shared documents should be hosted on Teams (program updates) Jon D. will produce document on how we share and store documents at CSWD.
FINANCE – Preliminary Budget schedule – requested completion by Nov 4, with a final completion deadline of December 20^th January is the first meeting scheduled with Finance Committee.
ODF – move to 860 by December. Software for scale is being upgraded. Financial and schedule wise looks good.
Milton DOC – Capital money in FY 23. Permitting in 2 months to be able to build next spring. Goal is to make the site bigger, improve thru put, add a special waste lean-to like in Hinesburg, and fix the driveway/entrance.
ROVER – Rover in Winooski – steady but not a lot of volume, walk in traffic. Hinesburg this Sat 9/24 and then Jericho, which is the last one. Review how the season went and make any changes from our new cleaner schedule. Six events are manageable and avoid hot months.
Safety Committee tomorrow 9/22
Load check – semi-annual load/check intensive – every day for a couple of hours for the next two weeks, glean a lot of information from this
Shingles decision – As a result of the shingle decision made by the Board, CSWD will follow up with Myers Recycling in October.

9.7.2022

Discussion on the IIC Committee, bylaws, and process, suggestions for term limits for members and self-reflection on process
Jen – MRF Bond Vote updates – post card being mailed to all votes from the 2020 election, Community Forum held in Charlotte – 3 attendees, weekly MRF tours
Dan -infrastructure changes progressing, will be hiring a scale operator in early winter, Casella sending additional backup material, which is helping with incoming tonnage.
Sarah – Admin Office – looking at 19 Gregory Drive in South Burlington as possible rental space, a tour for Admin staff is in the works.
Nola – Finance – fixed assets list.

8.17.2022 – cancelled

8.3.2022

Admin Building update – building costs too high to move forward with building, discussion on current needs of office space, team needs, possibility of improving IT connection concerns, discussion of hybrid schedules

7.20.022 – cancelled – Smartview Training – Nola

7.6.2022 – cancelled

6.15.2022

Discussion of customer receipt policy.
Outreach shares the successful end of the compost bin sales program; bin sales program not likely to return.
Amy J – Shares updates on life insurance (2x salary as of 7/1/22) and evaluations (to be scheduled before 6.30)
Michele – Shared VTDigger article re CSWD and discussed how to get adequate support for all ongoing and upcoming projects. Dan to compile a list of projects for manager meeting to review at next meeting.

06.01.22

Board information – Discussion on future information that will be provided monthly, quarterly, and annually by department to the Board and the best way to present that information. Required information from the SWIP and MMP will be included.
Procurement Process – Review of the procurement process, RFP’s versus RFB’s, establishing a formal public bid opening process for PFP’s, JEDI initiatives that will include guidelines to include and seek out non-traditional businesses, local considerations, and preferred vendor guidelines. Further information will be created and shared with managers and staff as the process develops.
Public Access – signage will be posted at CSWD facilities that outline the areas for the general public. There have been people video-taping public spaces in other municipal areas and we want to be sure we have signage to designate public areas from non-public areas. When we know media is going to a facility we will notify staff at those facilities.
Job openings – On-call DOC Operator and Haz Waste Floater position (8-24 hrs week) still available. Encourage all to share and further advertising suggestions are welcomed.
Retirement party on June 12^th at the SandBar for Nancy and Lee.
Michele Morris has announced her retirement for June 2023.

5.18.2022

Jen – Discussion regarding downstream compliance with CSWD vendors and responsibilities related to that. Helpsy, as an example.
Sarah – Waste Expo overview – Sarah, Josh, and Brian attended, great conference and were able to meet with MRF vendors for discussion
Amy J – updated on FY 23 changes, evaluations, and operations staff handling excessive e-mails with already busy workload. Brian suggested coding for e-mails and training on process to review
Nola – SmartView Training July 20
Jen – Legislative session ended – end of two-year biennium, expansion of bottle bill did not occur; moratorium on depack facilities temporarily until ANR adopts rules around management of food scraps; HHW EPR passed house and never picked up in the Senate, due to lack of time.
Alise – We Can Take It campaign, oversized post-card promoting A-Z list, QR codes, and significant jump in traffic,
Josh E – Rover was in St. George – 10 different communities participated. Considering how to open up blocks of times without appointments for members.

4.20.2022

Admin – Board packet mailing including Proposed FY 23 Budget
ODF Expansion – bids are due today, pricing looks good, water line is delayed until September.
MRF Equipment providers – bids are coming in which will reduce the need for the difficult sorter positions and shift to other positions in better working conditions. CSWD hired Leonine Public Affairs to the Bond Vote Campaign, Bond Vote – discussed different potential funding options to reduce the bond amount and reduce the potential liability to the towns.
DOC – SleepWell Recycling – mattress recycling will be happening with CSWD this week
Outreach – Giant Bin Blow Out Sale on Saturday 9:00 to 1:00 at GMC
ODF- spring has been delayed. Softening of demand industry wide for soils that will affect revenues, ODF is receiving less food waste but Casella collection of food waste is not being composted and some of those customers have expressed frustration and might come back.

ODF – RFP for trommel to help remove plastic and contamination, hopefully purchase in July

RFP – website committee will start up, will chose vendor, set kick-off meeting , launching We Can Take It campaign, will send direct mail household
Finance – SmartView training options, budget will go with a 20 step schedule but with the request that the 25 step be considered.

4.6.2022

Discussion on FY 23 Budget and Finance Committee meetings and the work of the Ad Hoc Committee, reviewed next steps

3.16.2022 –

Josh E – Rover events at DOC only. Richmond closing and other conversations there is a desire to service other towns. A rotating schedule of Rover events and explained the logic behind the rotating schedule in various towns.
Josh E- mask mandate removed in Williston and Essex.
Josh Tyler – Milton DOC – Milton will be taking appliances and bulky waste on either April 4^th or April 11^th. We can take leaf, yard, and wood waste at the same bunker there.
Finance Committee Meeting – Meeting number two was held. Progress was made with the budget process starting with the overview first. The next meeting will be on March 29^th.

3.2.2022 –

Josh Estey – based on CDC guidelines, we will eliminate mask wearing in local communities where they have removed the mandate. Williston & Essex remain with mandates.
Jen H. Solid waste grant money available. Talk with Jen about possible projects. A list of priorities for infrastructure grant initiatives will be created. Discussion on the Depot, Rover truck and a new HVAC upgrades, a separate stream of certified compostable items into the grant options. Haz Waste, Food Scraps, recycling and options for textiles
Paid Time Off – Discussion on putting together guidelines on how PTO works across programs and being sure everyone understands the eligibility of that PTO (when scheduled to work and CSWD closes facilities, but not Administrative Staff who are able to work from home)
Josh Tyler – Working on the capital budget including a review of the three years of capital and taking a comprehensive look at solar.
Nola – Budgeting FY 23 is going out to the Finance Committee this week.

2.16.2022

RFP issued for website overhaul – Discussion to form a committee on how to best include all voices. The representative on the committee would be responsible for soliciting feedback from their appropriate department. This commitment is a couple of meetings per month. Encourage boots on the ground participation on this committee.
Budgeting Software – Discussion on new budgeting software and purchasing the support program, which has limited hours so please go through Nola for questions. Training will be provided on Smartview and we will work on budgets throughout the year.

1.19.2022

Safety Training reminder for Feb 3^rd
Loader training for 17
ODF – Temp worker is leaving with last day tomorrow. Talking with McVey about offering DOC help for scale operation and potential intern, so waiting on an actual hire as budget
Tim – advertised for DOC – 3 internal candidates – interviews tomorrow – decision early next week
Admin Building – anticipated timeline by end of this year – confident that we’ll be making design perspective. Initial phase, high, medium low, environmental perspective – and then back to this group in April to look for feedback with fairly clear direction.
Nola – payroll update – time request issues with Ascentis – pay worked on the holiday that affected 12 people and that was resubmitted. Alternate pay went through. Now know what to look for – good for the next round. /cheat sheet for new hires/
Budget – bit rushed in the training – more training time. Current budget being put into the system.

12.14.2021

Discussion on the carry-over of vacation and the timing of reducing the amount to be carried over. No decisions have been made. The Ad Hoc Committee acknowledged providing adequate time so that employees are not unnecessarily losing time.
Emergency Communications Procedure – discussion on holding mock training for processes, the availability of the phone tree staff and what constitutes and emergency. A director from each department can respond to the text letting the rest of the group know it’s been seen and handled. Josh E. will make adjustments as needed.
Timesheet – discussion on manual entry versus time clock entry with new system. Time clock entry would be clocking in and clocking out and would eliminate possibilities of error. Employees and Managers (not finance) will be responsible for accuracy of the timesheet submittal. Training will be provided.

12.1.2021

Manager Meeting discussion –Agenda will now be created and meetings will be held on the 1^st and 3d Monday of the month rather than weekly.
Discussion on how we monitor and measure public inquiries that come to various CSWD staff and the Board and whether we want to make changes. Michele & Alise will talk with Beth & Jen and come back with any recommendations
DEI Training – started by building a foundation, working on the forming a committee in 2022 to keep the conversations going and improve DEI at CSWD
Discussion on bringing a 3% COLA increase to the Board for approval effective January 1^st. Inflation is highest in 30 years. Not budgeted but believe we can offer this and still be under budget in FY 22. This would lower the impact of a possible 6% increase in July for the FY 23 budget
Open enrollment meeting was held last night – deadline for changes are 12/10/2021
Ad Hoc & Exec Board packets being mailed Thursday – meetings next Tuesday & Wednesday
Richmond DOC – last day on 12/30. CSWD will use January to remove items. Has come to agreement with Casella on items that will stay.

11.10.2021

Nov Board Meeting – discussion on waterline on Redmond Road, and FY 21 Capital review
Dec Board Meeting – will wrap up ODF’s JDA and terminate committee
Ad Hoc Committee meeting last night – discussion on benefits, compensatory time, looking at work week hours and how to reduce for those regularly working 45+ hours.
- CPI – discussion on high CPI – 5.4%. How can we provide relief now?
- Increased program costs may require a revisit of the solid waste management fee – was $17.61/ton 30-years ago. Is currently $27.00/ton. Noted that if we change it, the solid waste management ordinance would need to be updated and that should be done in January – so the new swm fee is effective July 1^st.
- Revisiting of strategic plan – looking at other municipal plans and revamping in a different way – truly create a living document that is used and not shelved. A recommecondation to hire a consultant to help with this work.
Admin Building – reviewing our encroachment with VELCO, please finish the survey, 1.75 million, energy costs should be considered. Flexibility on how people work best

11.3.2021

Exec Board meeting cancelled. AD Hoc Meeting scheduled on 11/9 – packet going out this week.
Admin Building on track – Tim created Survey Monkey that will be sent out to Admin staff – data will be used to help influence the design process for programming and layouts, site selection process is completed, the preferred site is closest to compost on left side
PGA project done – finalizing last steps with the State to wrap this up.
GMC – leaves are coming in slowly, soil going out slowly – end of the season for GMC
Rover season has ended – staff will look at estimating the value of the Rover – it’s labor intensive. We’ll be looking at this for next season to determine if we continue and when.
DEI Training on Tues, Nov 9 and Wed, Nov 10. Will not be recorded so those that cannot attend will need to take at another time. This will be an ongoing conversation with staff.
Michele – update on Media – American’s Recycles Day & Compost Products hitting multiple media outlets
Nola – approval process should be fixed in NetSuite – Sarah appreciation for the work that goes into payroll. Thank Laura for the work she does putting it together. New system on the way to lessen that burden.
Sarah – would like to move our weekly managers meeting to from every week to every other week. Suggested to be 1^st and 3^rd Wednesday and to have an agenda.
Nancy – Jon & Nancy are working on the solid waste management fee rate for next years budget.
DOC Retreat – CSWD’s Charter does not require that we have facilities. This was challenged at the meeting by board member. However, CSWD’s Charter empowers CSWD with many opportunities but does NOT require that we operate a facility.

10.27.2021

Hinesburg DOC booth had some damage – repair is happening now. Sarah noted how few accidents we have and are thankful of the excellent safety record we have.
Upgrading cameras at facilities
Board meeting – looking at purchasing a new scale for GMC
Rover Season is now over – Williston was on 10/23 – just over 100 cars (low). Williston DOC did have a line for most of the day – about 15-minute wait times. Rover was very busy for Richmond, Essex, Milton very busy! Will work with Alise to target those for the next Rover season.
Casella will be taking over the Richmond Drop-Off Center – details are being worked out.
Finance Committee Meeting: goal was to talk about allocations and finalize reserve accounts. Discussion and result is that allocations don’t need to be done externally or for budgeting. FY 23 will look like FY 22. The committee discussed how to handle O&C. Will split programs out (outreach & communications). We will be consistent with the process moving forward. The reserve conversation will be discussed further at the next meeting.
Exec Board – discussion on MOU with Burlington, further discussion at 10/27/2021 Board meeting
DOC Retreat – Beginning of the conversation, should be the beginning of a 12-month conversation with the entire board.
United Way Campaign is happening this week. Encouraging all to give (even if small amount) to help members of our community in need. Becky is doing an amazing job and has worked hard on the campaign!

10.13.2021

Discussion on the MOU with the City of Burlington
Discussion on purchasing land for DOC’s rather than town leases
Depot project is just about done. Looks good.
PGA embankment project in progress
New Compactor going in at South Burlington – positive comments from Essex’s compactor
Working out Job Descriptions for DOC positions – Operations and Admin Lead – Goal to have them done by the end of the month.
Looking at new time-tracking and payroll software – Centis and Novatime. Will start the beginning of the new year.
NetSuite Training will be made available to anyone that wants to attend.

10.6.2021

Not using WeightPay for new POS System – we will stay with existing POS system and will draw a roadmap for future needs before going out to bid for a new vendor
New GMC scale ordered from Farnham Scale. Not committed to purchase. Needs board approval but we’re in the queue if it ends up being what we need.
Environmental Depot Project – should be done in next couple of weeks – concrete floor is in
Rover in Hinesburg this weekend.
Landfill bank stabilization project – need to stabilize the bank and seed it. Selected a contractor, who will start on October 11, 2021.
NOAV settlement from MRF Glass settlement – AG’s office approved 3^rd and final supplemental project: Green UP Vermont will receive $80,000 soliciting interested parties and schools that see a lot of traffic to pay for refillable water stations throughout Vermont. Need to stabilize the bank and seed it. Selected a contractor, who will start on October 11, 2021.
City of Burlington is requesting public comment for Flynn Avenue project, which would include the City purchasing the land from CSWD with the potential for a new DOC.
Server migration project – moving SQL – might affect report locations because or renaming
NetSuite discussion and how it is going for everyone. J. Estey shout out to Toni for making it go so smooth and working so hard.
Nola will schedule a NetSuite meeting that anyone can attend to answer questions and learn more about the system.

9.29.2021

Sarah – Review of Ad Hoc Committee meeting – support for staying with the current Pay Grade Schedule but looking at alternatives to provide flexibility and looking at alternative ways to incentivize employees. S. Reeves will send out info with All Staff Call for Thursday.
Josh E. – Depot project moving along – cement is poured, middle of October will be moving Paint back into the Depot
Josh T- Demoed remote-control lawnmower for GMC and Landfill work.
Hired Chris Rongo as Maintenance Operator – Roll-Off/Food Scraps Driver this week.
Upcoming discussion on meetings: Exec Board 10/18, Full Board 10/25, DOC Retreat 10/30, Finance Committee, 10/26.

9.22.2021

Finance Committee met – primarily discussed well laid out plans for reserve accounts. The next finance committee meeting will be about allocations, so those will be determined before the FY 23 Budget process.
Alise – revisiting the effectiveness of Front Porch Forum ads. Will look at analytics for our website
Beth – Outreach Team – kicked butt this week – so much engagement with the community. MRF Tours and sharing of events on social media.
Josh T – Richmond update – Selectboard working on communication plan for closure of Richmond DOC. Selectboard members are hearing from the community. CSWD is working on a plan of what we might sell to Casella.
Admin Building – selected consultant for the construction of the Administration Building
Depot Project – underway – slab has been poured.
Josh E. – Saturday Rover was biggest collection ever in Essex. Over 200 customers and 9,000 pounds of waste. Thank you to DOC staff with line tender at the top of the hill. Some of the customers said they did know about the Depot but they didn’t want to make the appointment. Alise – are we giving each person that comes through the Rover a flyer about making an appointment at the Depot. A lot of discussion about why people are going to the Rover and appointment adverse.
Nola – Audit has some internal control questionnaire with very specific details that Nola will be asking managers to develop some procedures and possibly policies. If there are any contracts, procedures and policies PLEASE drop it in the contract folder and Policies and Procedures folder.
Sarah – Finance Committee discussed use of Amazon expenses without more thought about more local options.

9.15.2021

Exec Board meeting – MRF Contract discussion in Executive Session
Ad Hoc Committee meeting – 4-5 meetings schedule to review and look at moving to a market based pay system and to review the rich benefit package that is offered
GMC – Scale was down. Jon D. fixed bridge and it’s working again.
Admin Office – right of way application for new admin office received, looking at options and design
Env Depot – project is underway (moves Latex Paint back to the Depot)
Finance – FY 20 Audit is complete. /Committee meeting on 9/21 will discuss reserve accounts
Front Porch Forum – starting to see comments from Underhill and Jericho residents unhappy with the Richmond DOC going to Casella
NetSuite – Nola is finishing up with the procedures will train on approving invoices and using purchase orders.

9.8.2021

Welcome Beth Parent as the new Community Engagement & Outreach Manager
Discussed Sarah’s e-mail and that we’re all doing the best we can, but we are tired! Thanked everyone for doing their best. Brainstorming ideas to help get through tough times. Check in with your staff and asking how they are doing.
Richmond Town voted to go with Casella to operate a Drop-Off Center. Mike Casella would like to talk with us about purchasing some of our equipment. E-mail went to the Board and our Staff. Will take over in January 2022. Discussion on whether Casella’s DOC will be for Richmond residents only, as requested by the town, or if they will open it up to all Chittenden County residents. This facility will need to be included in our Solid Waste Implementation Plan. A discussion was held on if we’d like to thank the Richmond DOC customers for their support over the years and offer a customer appreciation day.
DOC Retreat – potential date of Saturday October 23^rd, or October 30^th – discuss how things are changing (Richmond) will know more about Burlington DOC after September board meeting, discussion on what we want these DOCs to provide. We owe it to Chittenden County residents to provide these services. We offer the affordability alternative to our residents. Are we in the right locations? Are we serving the population? Do we need to add more DOC’s? Tiered services? Burlington has said that even with consolidated collection there is support for a DOC as an alternative.
Casella has purchased Grow Compost. VPIRG article on Casella being a monopoly.

Discussion on MRF Contract with Casella coming up.
Internal committee next week for Richmond for end date of lease and what we want it to look like
ODF Scale is not working – contractor coming in to get us through, sending them to All Cycle, will fix and will bypass the kiosk, will have a working scale.
Environmental Depot – paid ad on Front Porch Forum – test to see if FPF’s worth price tag that comes with it.
Finance – process of getting purchasers into NetSuite, how to process purchase order, and approve PO and a bill. Revised credit card store, account procedure, new vendor set up will be the responsibility of the purchaser, procurement of procedures and schedule a time to review.
Ad Hoc Committee created by Board to review Salary & Benefits. Public meeting held on 9/14 at 5:00 p.m. via Zoom and in-person. Will send out packets to all staff, post online, and ask for staff input and comments along the way.

9.1.2021

Finance –
- First day in NetSuite – be kind to the team as we learn and train
- We closed out the FY 21 Books – made more than expected, individual profit & loss statements, how we close and how allocate everything. Need to strengthen the reserve policy. How do we take things in and take things out. QuickBooks license until December.
Operations
- – 4 local interested parties in Administration
- Environmental Depot project – project completion from 10/15/2021
- Richmond DOC – waiting on RFP results on 9/7
- Close Loop – will fund the 0% interest loans up to $5 million – get more information on state of robotics in MRF’s and if makes more sense to add sooner rather than later, will design the MRF accordingly.
- Burlington MOU – expires in October 2021 (was extended). Council will give more direction on 9/13 so he can update our board on the 9/22.
Environmental Depot
- Rover is starting next weekend in Milton, 6 events in 8 weeks.
- Latex Paint Recycler – looking for someone again
Solid Waste District Managers Meeting – bottle bill issue and EPR for packaging (which will include paper and packaging) looking at other states for guidance (Maine/Oregon) and to Canada for a model that might work in Vermont, anticipate more activity in the future
resident sent concerns to the VT Daily Chronicle and the Other Paper taking national viewpoint recycling is in big trouble, costing us more than it is to that, responded to that. Will run this week. Michele will be on WVMT from 8:30-9:00. Casella will also be talking about Consolidated Collection.
Board – September agenda – include Richmond DOC update, MOU with Burlington, Community Clean Up Fund,
VT Digger article on a monopoly of Casella, FPF has a lot of activity about consolidated collection.
Server – replacing server. Enhanced managed service with SimpleRoute. Instructions coming on contacting them for help.

8.25. 2021

Covid discussion, including not holding large group meetings, considering remote training with new vendors, and meeting via Teams when possible. Discussed providing tours and guidelines for tours.
New Admin Office – Operations pre-bid meeting and go over to the site on Friday. Occupy new admin building in late November of 2022.
MRF – 2 RFP’s being developed: 1) financial analysis and how we’ll pay for it and 2) a construction analysis
Depot project in the next two weeks – approval tonight. Applied for ANR grant, fullboat $100,000 for the grant. We’ll be a couple weeks out. Will use PGA on that project. Looking for DEC for approval.
Landfill embankment project will start in the next two weeks. Will use topsoil from compost to cap it.
Jen H. pilot film project getting underway.
Outreach looking at tours and see how we can change it up so that we can get specific and set goals for our tours. Looking at script on that. Going well.
Jon – IT Procurement and software as a service and hardware. Informal guidance to include him in these conversations in the beginning.
Nola – Final draft of the FY 21 Audit. Some deficiencies in the audit. Internal controls related to DOC’s and updating the procedures.

8.18.2021

Discussed goals for FY 22 – including improving communication, discussion on DEI training, Achieving Zero Waste in Operations, being a leader in Vermont in customer satisfaction, enhancing customer service both internally and externally. It was noted to send out the Strategic Plan to Managers for review
Discussion on ½ day Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training on Nov 9 and 10^th. Will confirm and send information out to staff
Discussion on COVID, masks, and CDC guidance
Discussed safety issues as a result of the death of a Casella employee and the dangers of our industry
Mentioned new hires that are starting on 8/23/2021 (Becky Johnston) and 9/7/2021 (Beth Parent).
Finance- mentioned we would be changing software from TSheets to another application, request for those to review the NetSuite Training and complete that
Admin Office RFP is going out – project to be complete by the end of November 2022.

8.11.2021 – Meeting Cancelled

8.4.2021 – Meeting Cancelled

7.28.2021

Richmond DOC discussion – opportunity to examine the services we provide
Finance Committee
- – will form an Ad Hoc Committee (to include other interested board members) to discuss next steps with regard to Salaries and benefits.
- -will start work on the FY 22 Budget and will work on allocations
New Admin building – RFP for civil site assessment anticipated going out in the next week or two.
ODF – Phase II – new entrance and water line extension is pushed back to spring of 2022
- Eventual goal is to bring wood waste and food scraps back to ODF at the same time and not until Phase II is complete. Lee said that food scraps line at Williston is working well.
Jon – IT – will be sending out instructions to staff on new and improved managed service from SimpleRoute, for routine IT needs. Staff will contact SimpleRoute first for assistance with basic IT needs. This trial period will help to inform us on whether we can rely on the service or need dedicated staff.
Sarah – goal setting – What do we want to accomplish as a manager group, and as a District?

7.21.2021 – meeting cancelled

7.14.2021

Discussion on Salary & Benefits – going to the Finance Committee
Update on positions – setting up interviews for Community Engagement & Outreach Manager and Human Resources & Administrative Assistant position. IT Specialist position on hold for now. May consider managed service plan temporarily. On-call DOC Operators were interviewed and will be hired in the next week or so.
New Admin Office – fast tracking with the hopes of being complete and ready to move in December 2022
DOC – Essex new and improved compactors. Maintenance did a great job in building these. South Burlington DOC is next on the list.
Richmond DOC bid – CSWD will bid on project
Mattress Recycling – Discussion of making sure that we are following our procurement process when selecting any new vendor that we work with
ODF- dry year, currently out of compost and have been hauling water
Rover schedule – working out Rover schedule to return for Mid-October to Mid-November
Finance – NetSuite should be up and ready to go by September

7.7.2021 – meeting cancelled

6.30.2021

Salary & Benefits discussion – going to finance committee in July
Vanguard MOU extension was approved by the Board (through September 2021)
Richmond DOC – issued RFP for service – date to submit end of July. CSWD will bid.
MRF – next steps and discussion with Leahy’s office on possible funding
ODF – Trommel Screen demo
Discussion on carrying over time off and the need to reduce that liability from an internal controls standpoint
Finance – end of year financials – please get in as soon as possible.

6/23/2021

IIC Questions regarding why items are priced the way that they are. Further information will be discussed at the All Staff Call on 6/24.
Nola sent capital asset list to Tim and Tim will be requesting serial numbers for items that are now included for NetSuite.
NetSuite update is likely to roll out September 2021. Staff will be asking for information, including vendor information with short notice, so please try to respond as quickly as possible.
Nancy noted that until we have a finalized policy on confidentiality and defining Trade secrets any data related to the depack facility is confidential. Sarah will have that data and will share on a need-to-know basis only.
Board meeting tonight – A hybrid of in-person and Zoom is now available. Tonight’s meeting at the Admin office
Discussion on finalizing shared office space and storage areas.

6/16/2021

ODF- Contamination policy discussed – coming forward
Discussion on marketing CSWD as the composter of choice
Discussion on selling Compost bins and the logistics of Outreach doing sales
In-Person meetings now mandatory again as an option. CSWD’s June Board meeting will be held at the Admin office with most board members joining remotely
Dan noted that Casella is bringing ODF less food waste.

6/9/2021

6/2/2021

5/26/2021

Board meeting tonight. The Board will be asked to approve the VanGuard Ground lease, resolution includes reasons to enter into this project.
June Board meeting will include the MRF project and asking the Board to move forward with the project. We are looking at MRF funding options, whether it be a bond, or other options that are available. Tours can resume again in July. Important to get Legislators to see the MRF.
FY 22 Budget passes – 10 votes were received. .
Discussion on Capital Projects.
Admin Office – reopening discussion
All facilities – removed plexiglass at the DOC’s. Will wait for South Burlington and Burlington until the state removes the mask mandate. Will likely be removed in the next week or so.
June 1^st – Williston DOC tire rate by to raising from $225 to $200/ton for July 1^st. Tire sign,
CEBA – Training – NetSuite – Nola mentioned that e-mails should be coming in for training

5.19.2021

De-packaging and ground lease development will go to the board for the May meeting. Working out the details with VanGuard on operations.
Discussion on legislative concerns about compost depackaging and the slurry that would have micro-plastics and then being land-applied. ANR is looking at regulating microplastics at Compost. It was noted that there is likely more plastics currently in compost than will be with a de-packaging facility.
Discussion on MRF Project moving onto the June agenda and asking the board to approve the MRF Project.
FY 22 Budget presentations – As of meeting nine yes votes.
Sarah met with the Town of Williston last night on Capital Projects updates in Williston
Sarah noted the All Staff Call – via Zoom call, next Tuesday, May 25^th at 3:45 p.m.
ODF – Phase II – new scale house and new approach. Getting ready implement our contamination policy. Josh E & Jeannine are doing load checks to see what’s coming in. Would like to do another load check in the fall.
NetSuite – review of the documents by management to be setting ourselves up for success
Nola – Schedule Q1-Q3 review if have not done that yet.
Jon – RFP for a new server going out Monday.
Town of Richmond put out RFP to operate a Solid Waste Transfer Station. The RFP did not make the ReUse Zone mandatory. Capital plan improvements are on-hold until we have further information about this RFP.
Josh E. – We received ANR infrastructure grant for Environmental Depot upgrade, which will allow us to move paint back into building.
Solid Waste Management ordinance – comments due back by June 11, 2021.

5.12.2021

Discussion on FY 22 Budget presentations to cities/towns.
Discussion on Green House Gas emission considerations for capital projects, specifically the MRF and the Administration Building
Admin Office clean-out – please clean out at your convenience to make space for offices
Josh Estey – working on reviewing any possible changes that might occur as vaccine population increases
Jon D. – hopeful to have less expensive and faster Internet service at multiple sites thru Comcast
Discussion on in-person board meetings and hybrid person
Dan – Compost sales – GMC will meet budgeted sales number on 5/12/2021. GMC Have been able to work with garden centers to continue to provide compost to them and stretch out the available product and last as long as possible.
Lee – DOC’s – Setting up POS system to begin accepting tires again on 5/17/2021 – same pricing at all DOC’s.
Josh Estey – hired new Latex Paint Recycler Matt Lucia.

5.5.2021

Executive Board meeting changed to Monday, May 10, 2021 (from May 17th)
Joint Development Review meeting moved from 5/6 to 5/13 due to select board meeting conflicts
Discussion on returning to in-person board meetings and the logistics of doing that
Financial reports on FY 21 will be available soon
GMC – currently restricting sales , sold everything allocated for this budget year for compost and are within one week of meeting budget projected revenue for material sales.
Proposed FY 22 Budget Update – Sarah met with Bolton & Huntington on Monday 5/3/2021. Both towns approved the budget.

4.28.2021

Sarah – Discussion on presenting the FY 22 Budget to the Board this evening. Confidence in the FY 22 Budget expenses and revenues, even under COVID. Tasking the Board with focusing on upcoming capital projects.
Josh T – GMC Contamination Policy will be discussed during tonight’s meeting.
Jon – rolling out e-mails for the remaining staff and then their own accounts for computers. This will occur at the end of next week with some user education.
Jon – Also will rollout Board e-mails in the beginning of the fiscal year.
Josh T – Update on the new Administrative Office Building project – timeframe is that as soon as our FY 22 Budget passes (mid-May) we have $55,000 to do an analysis and will start that work in July, followed by conceptual plan. January 2022 would be the complete study and construction staring in June 2022. Anticipated move in date of October 2022. Further conversations will be held with the admin staff this summer about desired work space.
Josh Estey- Spent yesterday with VLCT’s Loss Control Specialist doing site visits. Josh reiterated his continued high praise for all of our locations and for the staff and the work that they do. Josh will be speaking more about this on the all staff call.

4.14.2021

Admin Office clean out – setting up a week or so in May with staggered schedule to clean up, clean out, recycle, and throw what can go. Tyler noted that it’s possible that Operations move to 860 Redmond (6-8 offices in that space could be done for a small fit up charge)
Nola reviewed the emergency check process and noted that checks are cut ever 15 days so if it’s not an emergency, it will go in the next run.
Nola reviewed the liability on the books for vacation and comp and requested that managers look at their time and their staffs and begin to schedule time off.
Josh Tyler – requested a review of authorized credit card users and limits to see if shifting can be done for those that are continually running into limit issues.
Sarah said that she and Jen H. have been talking to ANR and legislative delegates regarding upcoming capital projects and the desire to not be the “regional” answer for the MRF, Compost, and Hazardous Waste, but be the organization solely responsible for the capital costs.
Josh Tyler – would like to look at the ODF contamination policy and have something developed as early as this July.
DOC’s will begin accepting tires on May 17^th (all DOC’s except Hinesburg and Burlington)
GMC – hours are likely changing from 8:00-3:30 in the next month or so. Working on a smooth roll out of new hours.

4.7.2021

Gallagher Flynn presentation on the consultant work to review and analyze the current salaries and benefits as compared to available market date for organizations of similar size, location, and industry. The salary analysis will include a review of job descriptions, and current pay grade assignments and ranges, resulting in a recommendation of any applicable adjustments. The results of the study will be shared with all staff and will go to the Board for review and possible approval.
A reminder that the Safety Training videos are up and employees need to complete by the end of the month.
The finance committee met to review the capital budget and the roll-up of the FY 22 Proposed Budget. The budget will go to the Board for approval in April, and then out to the Towns in May and early June. Discussion on the new finance software and the ability to improve the budget process.
DOC hours are back to the “new normal” with expanded hours. Marketing has been doing radio and print ads to notify customers of the changes. The Recycle Like You Live Here campaign is gearing up for a reboot and will start soon.

3.30.2021

DOCs – New “normal” for DOC hours starting on Monday, April 5, 2021. A revised schedule will be sent out to staff.
Josh T – Considering taking tires at all DOC’s to reduce traffic at Williston. Working out the logistics of how to do that, so might be the end of April before we roll that out.
ODF – still on pace for de-packaging facility with VanGuard with possible groundbreaking in January 2022. Continue to work on a contamination policy. Roll-out of no longer accepting compostable products at GMC.
ODF – contacting haulers to discuss closing ½ hour early, once they receive feedback, that we might enact that within a month.
Admin Building – Finance Committee was comfortable with the proposal to get staff back under two roofs on Redmond Road until a new Admin building is built. We are fast-tracking an Admin building with hopes of starting building in July 2022 and completion by November 2022, but a lot to work out between now and then.
Safety Training – J. Estey said a one-hour video training is required for this year’s training. An e-mail will go out with a request to complete in the next month.
Jen – working on SEP proposals for NOAV for glass
Jen – Legislation – CSWD is stepping out of the bottle bill arena and debate. It is not in our best interest to debate the bottle bill at this time.
Michele – Communications to all staff on new hours for facilities will go out soon.
Alise – May & June will be the “Recycle like you live here” campaign reboot, which will run on radio, television, and print.
Jon – A new Zoom webinar account created for staff that hold webinars
Amy – staffing update, new Latex Paint Recycler and Maintenance Food Scraps Driver hired. Will send information out to all staff.
Nancy – Update on the Burlington Consolidated Collection – Several City Council members are supportive of the public option for consolidated collection.
Nola – The FY 22 Budget revised roll-up with adjustments is being put together. Send her any changes that were made to the budget.
Nola – Laura sent out an e-mail on the requirement to update TSheets. Please read and discuss with your staff the need to be aware and make the change.

3.24.2021

Finance Committee discussion – review budget information
Admin Office Space – discussion on possible options
Vaccination discussion – vaccination procedures will be sent to staff next week

3.17.2021

New Financial Software Demo – normal meeting not held

3.10.2021

Reviewed Finance Committee meeting revised schedule for the remainder of the FY 22 Budget process. Meetings to be held on 3/23, 3/30, and 4/6. The budget will go to the Board for approval in April.
Josh Tyler said that effective Monday, April 5^th we will have the “new normal” hours at the DOC’s which will return South Burlington and Essex to their normal work days but the hours will remain from 8 to 3:30. Discussed the advertising campaign of the re-opening of additional days.
Discussion on moving forward with credit cards at the DOC’s.
Finance is looking at NetSuite (financial software) and WeighPay (POS systems) and will be doing a demo on Wednesday, March 17. This software change is proposed in the FY 22 Budget.
ODF is discussing changing their hours from 8 to 4 to 8 to 3:30 to allow staff to perform maintenance without customers/traffic.
Discussion was held on contamination at ODF and how to stop that upstream before it gets to the facility or into the compost process. A contamination policy is being developed that will help with this effort.
Josh E said that he’s working on the safety training for the year, which will be 4 fifteen minute videos posted on our YouTube channel and will require employees to certify they have watched.

3.3.2021

Meeting cancelled

2.24.2021

Reviewed finance committee meeting. Staff to include additional information on proposed new positions and to do further investigation on lease options for the Admin Office.
Nola is working on an internal transfer form to move monies from one line item to another, which will need to go through Sarah and should not be used on a regular basis, but rather for unusual circumstances.
Discussion on Project Management software – Click Up. Several staff will demo and do a trial run to see if it would work within the scope of what we’re trying to do – Software Open Air was also discussed. A

2.17.2021

Drop-Off Center Customer – continued concern and steps/procedure for his ability to use facilities
Board packet discussion on mailing for Thursday
ODF Contract negotiations discussion
ODF contamination policy discussion and future development of policy
Food Scraps Bypass lane at Williston DOC – soft roll out to public by weekend. Officially starting Monday, Feb 22
VLCT PACIF Safety Grant – Josh Estey requested that suggestions go through him for vetting prior to submittal. Grant has changed to calendar year submission and we do want to spend and be reimbursed in the same fiscal year.

2.10.2021

Drop-Off Center customer concern and No Trespass Warning issued- discussion on next steps
Operations is discussing a bypass lane for food scraps only at the Williston DOC
Finance Committee Budget meeting discussions – assumptions meeting to be scheduled
Discussion on Administrative Budget to include leasing office space so all staff can return full-time in one building
Project Planning Software discussion
Joint Development Review Committee meeting on Saturday 2/13, Executive Board meeting on 2/16, and full board the following week on 2/24.

2.3.2021

Discussion on customer unwilling to wear mask and next steps for staff
Discussion on next phase of credit card roll out at DOC’s – Williston is next inline
Discussion on Supplement Environmental Projects required to be paid for projects to benefit the public.

1.28.2021

FY 22 Budget Discussion – schedule has been developed, capital will go first, a revised scheduled will be sent out to the Finance Committee.
Administrative Office – discussion on rental space costs versus discussion on a new build, if over two fiscal years no bonding needed.
Acknowledgement considerations for working through COVID for almost a year, even negative milestones should be recognized. Staff has remained healthy and worked extremely hard to stay that way.
Working on the possibility of open up DOC’s to old days (not hours) for April 5, 2021.
EPR bills – HHW and packaging/printed products have been introduced this week in the legislature.

1.21.2021

FY 22 Budget Discussion – including possibility of providing roll-up first and working backwards
Sarah will schedule revenue and assumptions meeting so that we can develop budgets and be on the same page

1.13.2021

Administrative Office Space – possible temporary leasing option considerations for FY 22 Budget
Finance Committee Meeting tonight at 5:00 p.m.

1.6.2021

Construction phase of ODF is complete and will kick-off new and more robust composting process with the windrow turner/ Lunch & Learn will be scheduled to show new processes
NOAV – discussion on Supplemental Environmental Projects process
Jen- working on Extended Producer Responsibility in the Legislature for packaging and for HHW
FY 22 Budget Process – timeline coming soon of upcoming meetings. Finance Committee meeting scheduled for 1/13/21. Nola is looking at budgeting software for future budgets.
All facilities now set up to now be on CSWD’s VPN. Williston DOC is set up with hardware to start taking credit cards and is ready to begin using after appropriate training is provided.
Discussion on online payment options and next steps for implementation – send Jon D & Nola requests
Reminder that Wellness Meetings are held on the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. (and maybe some pop-ups in between). The 1/12/2021 meeting will be held on Mindfulness & Meditation.
Reminder that out-of-state contractors coming in to provide service need to follow state guidelines and if it is not essential should be delayed until they are able to follow state guidelines.

12.30.2020

Discussion on the negotiated settlement of the Notice of Alleged Violation issued to CSWD by ANR
FY 22 Budget Meetings have been scheduled with managers for review of new input pages and process
DOC Traffic following holiday closures

12.23.2020- cancelled

12.16.2020

Holiday closure logistics discussion
Williston DOC – long lines – food waste discussion
Burlington DOC – facility operation
Personnel Policy – clean up and changes, will go to staff for review/comment in January
Employee Committee- expected start date first week of January
Staff Intranet page – include minutes, possible form for anonymous near misses, safety concerns
Media alert going out for holiday closure schedule
Credit card readers coming to Williston & Milton DOC soon

12.9.2020

Discussion on additional holiday pay
Wellness meeting review
Discussion of forming employee committee to respond to employee suggestions and/or complaints