At its February 13 regular meeting, the Greenbelt City Council received multiple presentations, including one on a federal compost and food waste grant received by the city and a recirculating car wash pilot program. Council accepted a donation to CARES and several committee reports and presented one proclamation. School Board Representative Jonathan Briggs’s presentation was deferred, as he was unable to attend.
Composting Grant
Sustainability Coordinator Luisa Robles gave a presentation on the $266,754 composting grant the city has received from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The grant will fund a two-year pilot program for curbside collection of food scraps, which are estimated to account for at least 24 percent of the weight of materials taken to landfills.
The city will partner with several community entities, including Trinity Assembly of God, which will provide the composting site; the Greenbelt Community Garden Club and Three Sisters Gardens and Food Forest (sponsored by Chesapeake Education, Arts and Research Society), which will accept compost and incorporate it into soil; and a composting and hauling vendor who will establish the composting facility and collect the food scraps.
As required by the USDA, Greenbelt and its Green Team will recruit residents to participate, with preference given to those with low or fixed income, and those in apartments or with small yards. Public Works will bring brown mulch from the pile on Northway and deliver the finished compost.
Robles identified several benefits of the program, including diverting food waste from landfills, demonstrating food waste composting at a small/medium scale, increased local compost production, improved soil health, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved equity by focusing on low-income households and apartment dwellers. It will also reduce city landfill tipping costs and help reduce the dirty mulch pile on Northway. Participation will be 400 households.
After the grant ends, it would cost $110,400 per year to service 400 residents. If it continued with vendor collection, the service would cost households $32 per month, paid to the vendor. If the city decided to take on the collection, it could incorporate the cost into the fee for refuse and recycling or move to a “pay as you throw” model where customers would be billed based upon the volume of food waste collected.
The vendor is to start preparing the site this month with collection to begin within six months, Robles said. Councilmember Kristen Weaver noted that this program will include things such as meat scraps and bones that could not be put in backyard compost piles.
Greenbelt Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability Chair John Lippert voiced concern about the plan to issue a request for proposals (RFP) for the composting vendor. The vendor identified for the pilot already has an agreement with Trinity to host the site (within city limits), and the RFP process could delay the pilot.
Car Wash
Peter May of the University of Maryland Department of Environmental Science and Technology gave a presentation on a proposed recirculating car wash pilot program that has received a grant from the State of Maryland Industrial Partnerships. In conjunction with Stanley Auto Spa, May and his colleagues would establish a self-service car wash in Greenbelt that would capture, filter and reuse the water from the car wash. In addition, a solar awning would enable the system to operate without access to a water source or electricity, while taking up just two parking spaces. Working with city staff, May identified the best location as in the Roosevelt Center parking lot near the Aquatic & Fitness Center. The pilot will run through July, although the city could decide to continue to operate it after the pilot ends.
The station will include soap, wax and rinse. There will be a fee. In addition to powering the station, solar panels will also collect and divert rainwater into the system. May assured council that the only water that would leave the station would be that dissipating off the cars (e.g., from the roof). If there were any overflow, that water would first be filtered through the system. There is a holding tank to collect any solids.
Councilmember Rodney Roberts objected to using two spaces in the back lot. Interim City Manager Timothy George said that the location is close to the grass. The station is small enough that it will fit within the parking space without infringing on the adjacent space.
Council took no position on the project at this meeting.
Donations
Jennifer Pompi of the Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt Democratic Club presented council with a contribution to CARES in honor of the late Tawanna Gaines. Pompi noted that at both the local and state level, Gaines had supported CARES.
Council, on a 3-1 vote, agreed to donate $100 toward the cost of the Greenbelt Middle Schoolʼs Student Government Association President attending the Maryland Association of Student Councils Convention in Ocean City, Maryland.
Consent Agenda
Council accepted reports responding to council referrals on possible election changes (term limits and noncitizen voting) and extending collective bargaining to city employees outside of the Police Department.