Explanation
Background: In 1993, The City leased the Solid Waste Reduction Facility to the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, ("SWACO"). In 1995, the Facility ceased to operate as a power plant. Since that time the facility has operated as a waste transfer site and is currently being re-developed as a site for green business, all pursuant to several modifications of the Transfer Agreement and Lease Agreement between the City and SWACO which controls the relationship between the parties. This proposed Eighth Modification authorizes 1) the lease of mineral rights at the site, subject to city approval of each specific lease; 2) extension to the City by SWACO of a $580,000 grant to fund certain environmental services by city employees; and 3) an expansion of the drop-off recycling program administered by SWACO with defined financial participation by the City at a $25/ton level representing a savings over the cost of disposal at SWACO's landfill.
Fiscal Impact: Enactment of this ordinance will financially benefit the City by allowing a $580,000 SWACO grant to fund environmental services by the City. One half of this grant will result in reduction of SWACO's lease obligations to the City as did funding of the predecessor Environmental Stewardship Office at SWACO. Expansion of the drop-off recycling program has the potential to reduce city costs for landfill disposal.
Emergency Justification: Adoption of this ordinance as an emergency will promote the immediate preservation of the public peace, property, health, or safety, and provide for an emergency in the daily operation of a municipal department, by enabling timely and immediate receipt of the grant, accelerating the process for increased recycling and a reduction in waste disposal costs, and allowing expeditious re-development of the Solid Waste Reduction Facility site.
Title
To authorize the Director of Public Utilities to execute the Eighth Modification to the Transfer Agreement and modification to the Lease Agreement for the Solid Waste Reduction Facility between the City of Columbus and the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio, and to declare an emergency.
Body
WHEREAS, SWACO and the City entered into the Transfer Agreement and other associated documents, which, among other things, transferred possession of the City's Solid Waste Reduction Facility (the "Facility") and satellite "shredder" stations (the "Transfer Stations") to SWACO, as lessee of the Facility, and imposed certain obligations, including lease payments upon SWACO; and
WHEREAS, The City operated the Facility as a Waste-to-Energy Facility for eleven (11) years, and SWACO operated the Facility as a Waste-to-Energy Facility for approximately one (1) year; and
WHEREAS, Due to certain federal court decisions, SWACO declined to continue operating the Facility as a Waste-To-Energy Facility, and SWACO converted the Morse Road and Georgesville Road Shredder Stations into municipal solid waste transfer stations, and opened a transfer facility at closed Waste-To-Energy Facility; and
WHEREAS, Subsequent to the closure of the Facility the City and SWACO entered into two separate nationwide campaigns to lease or sell the Waste-To-Energy Facility but were ultimately unable to secure a tenant for or buyer for the entire facility; and
WHEREAS, SWACO and the City determined that significant long-term savings would accrue to the parties by demolishing the main structures and stacks at the Facility, and causing the redevelopment of much of the site for use as a "Green Business Park"; and
WHEREAS, subject to the later consent of the City to the terms and conditions of the sublease, SWACO shall be permitted under the lease agreement for the Solid Waste Reduction Facility to sublease a portion of the premises for mining of limestone, aggregate and other minerals; and
WHEREAS, SWACO and the City further wish to extend their green business marketing and development efforts by entering into an agreement for an Eighth Modification which would provide the City with a $580,000 grant from SWACO through at least August 2009 so that certain environmental services might be provided by city employees in order to realize the parties' goals; and
WHEREAS, In ordered to reduce expenditures by the City for solid waste disposal, the parties agree that SWACO will increase the size of its Residential Drop Box Program, and the City will reimburse SWACO for certain costs associated with that expansion, and
WHEREAS, an emergency exits in the usual daily operation of the Department of Public Utilities in that it is immediately necessary to authorize the Eighth Modification to the Transfer Agreement and Lease Agreement for the Solid Waste Facility in order to allow prompt receipt of the grant, expeditious re-development of the site, and expansion of the drop-off recycling program with associated savings, thereby preserving the public health, peace, safety and welfare, now therefore
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
Section 1. That the Director of the Department of Public Utilities be and hereby is authorized to execute the Eighth Modification to the Transfer Agreement and to modify the Lease Agreement for the Solid Waste Reduction Facility between the City and the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio in such form as on file with the City Clerk at the time of passage of this ordinance.
Section 2. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, the ordinance is declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force and after its passage and approval by the Mayor or ten days after its passing if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.