Travis County Commssioners Court
May 6, 2003
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Item 6
[Please stand by for change in captioners]
>>
>> (audio difficulties).
>> I would say we have a number of technical persons that they had recommended, dr. Neal carmen with the sierra club. One correction my counsel has advised me to make is that he would not be officially part of the group, but provide counsel on the side. That would be tom knuckles. And e.p.a., I really don't -- I don't think we're going to get somebody actively on that work group. I have an e-mail out to them, and it's been there sitting several days without a response, asking if they would perhaps from a distance give us have input by e-mails on proposals. I feel good that since we've got tceq on board, the director appointed patty ray, the division director there as a regional director as the point of contact for that. She's agreed to do that. Has no problem with it. Applied materials has provided someone who has worked with us before on other committees. He's a certified industrial hygienist, great candidate for this. I already indicate that had john rogers would be their primary contact or ray shull as alternate contact. Keith jacobs, their operations manager, would sit on it. And of course the consultant would be a major part of that group. And that's kind of what it's shaped up to look like. It looks good to me. It doesn't seem to have too many problems at this point.
>> john, can you tell me approximately who the consultant -- what time frame would it be to get this person on board?
>> we're hoping it will work by may 21st?
>> by may 21st?
>> yes, sir.
>> okay. Let me jot that down.
>> the deadline for proposals is when?
>> may 12th.
>> when do you hope to share with the Commissioners court an evaluation of the proposals?
>> I suppose that Tuesday after the 21st we could do that, if that works for y'all, the 27th perhaps.
>> are you able to negotiate with the firm or do you want us to go ahead and proceed with -- if it's that quick, if we come back to court and get authorization, it will add a week.
>> I think it depends on the number of proposals you get. The more you get I think it will -- you ought to do it before you get with us, a short list of two or three.
>> let me give you some input on that. We -- given all of the ahead of time research that I was doing, I discussed these issues with a number of firms that, you know, had a fairly good list of folks that it went out to that was targeted to people with this expertise and I did get input from the constituents and they added a couple to that list. There are about seven that it went out to. We've only had one decline after they looked at it, so it looks like we'll have at least a half dozen or -- I would say four to six to be certain to compare between.
>> and I guess my question is do you want us to go ahead and rank and evaluate them and negotiate a contract, or do you want us to come back with a list and you give us approval to negotiate?
>> in my view, if you get a small number, if you only receive a small number or a small number is clearly better than the rest, I say go ahead and commence negotiations, but I don't know that I would come to court with a contract. I would come to court with a proposal.
>> okay.
>> and let us look at that and see if we agree. And in my view there's a little difference. I just think that you ought to come open to the possibility that Commissioners court will have some input and may want to change some things, but I don't know that i'd postpone working toward it. Clearly there is a best proposal and you can iron out specifics sufficient to put in a proposal, come down and make a proposal and give us an opportunity to respond to that. So get as much done as possible, short of actually having a negotiation conversation. Is everybody okay with that? You're basically saying six or less.
>> that's what it appears to be right now. We haven't had anybody else come who has heard about it and asked. Like I have been telling everybody, it's a pretty defined group of folks, and that group of six include some that are out of state, a couple.
>> at this time do you expect any assistance from the e.p.a.?
>> I wouldn't hold my breath. I'm working on that, but I don't have any certainty as of now.
>> but do we have a specific thing that we think they are best at doing that we can ask them for?
>> I'm sorry. You may have been asking me sort of two questions in one there. In other words, do we have the commitment to the work group. That was my answer. No, not yet. The answer as far as actually a potential contractor, I think that that's very much a possibility. They work with -- there's sort of a public-private venture that they do on these types of studies with a firm called arrest adaist. It was -- arcadist. It was one of the firms that this case was set to. I think after phase 1 if it's determined that that specific expertise that they could bring to the table is appropriate to pursue, that would again be on the table for phase 2 during the analysis and monitoring portion.
>> okay. Questions, comments under item number 6? A, b or c? You don't need any action from us on 6 today, do you?
>> let me add one thing I just forgot about when I heard trek make a noise back there. [ laughter ] I did get an e-mail this morning from joyce thorson who indicated that she and perhaps others would recommend postponing of the actual monitoring phase until the fail due to the dryer, hotter conditions that we have right now. My take on this situation right now is that doesn't affect phase 1 necessarily, it just -- it certainly could affect the monitoring phases.
>> okay.
>> john, folks who want copies of the rfq that went out, where can they get those?
>> they need to go ahead and deal with cyd grimes' office. They keep a good record of who picks them up and so forth. We could distribute them today.
>> that's the purchasing department for those who don't know ms. Grimes. And that number is.
>> 854-9700.
>> 854-9700. Ms. English?
>> good morning. My name is trek english, and what -- are we still just dealing with phase 1, I guess, for this odor thing?
>> let me answer that real quick. Yes. In terms of deliverables, this dollar amount of 15,000 would be targeted in that area. However, in terms of the request for services, our goal was to get a complete packet out there that contemplated phases 2 and 3. In other words, we want somebody, whatever contractor comes up were to be qualified to do the whole study, to stay and ride this horse through.
>> so I take the answer to be that right now we're focusing on phase 1, but we would like to get a person on board who can perform phases 2 and 3 if we like the person's work, able to reach agreement on 2 and 3 basically?
>> correct.
>> so phase 1 is now estimated at around $15,000?
>> that was the maximum set for -- not to exceed by the court.
>> okay. So if you don't mind, could you give an outline of the phase 1 again? Do you have just one main goal?
>> the primary goal is to go ahead and get the detailed scope of work set in place for a more complete set of analytical sampling. That would be achieved after the consultant gathers existing baseline data, perhaps does, you know, a little bit of on-site inspection of the different facilities, you know, talks to them about management practices, gathers enough information to make an educated scope of work.
>> okay. Thank you. At this point I will -- I don't know when is the best time to do the study. I just would like to give the court this article that -- and I was going to mail it to you, but you may have already seen it. It was in the san antonio newspaper and it's entitled (indiscernible) air around landfills. I thought you might get a kick out of it.
>> if I'm going to get a kick out of it, I want to read it. [ laughter ]
>> we'd be happy to provide the contract to you.
>> [ inaudible ].
>> the scope of work, i've directed 1 h third bullet, let me read it to you real quick, ensuring the sampling regime is conducted during periods involving representative landfilling practices and waste streams and problematic conditions. In other words, this expert that we get on board will make sure that our sampling period is effective. In other words, that it's done at the right time and the right conditions.
>> and you said something about that there were seven companies that were bidding? Could you give us an idea on that? Would that be -- [inaudible - no mic].
>> I can give you a list that's upstairs if you want to. I have no problem with giving that information.
>> okay. I would like that if you don't mind.
>> these are the companies that have expressed an interest.
>> that's right.
>> what other proposals are under the consideration by the deadline, the proposal by the deadline.
>> okay. Thank you. That's all.
>> anything further under item 6, either 6 a, b or c?
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 6, 2003 7:52 PM