Standing Committee — Minutes

SEVEN MILE CREEK LANDFILL STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES MAY 8, 2025 Members Present: John Ailie, Kathy Campbell, Joe Knight, Lane Berg, Jon Johnson, Matt Steinbach, Richard Arnold Others Present: Mark Vinall, John Blackmon, Phil Schumacher Call To Order: Meeting called to order at 1:06 p.m. by John Ailie Election of Officers: Motion made by Joe Knight and seconded by Jon Johnson to nominate John Ailie, Town of Seymour Chairperson, as Chair of the 7 Mile Creek Landfill Standing Committee. Approved by unanimous vote. Motion made by Joe Knight and Jon Johnson to install Kathy Campbell as Secretary. Motion approved by unanimous vote. Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve Minutes from January 30, 2025 by Joe Knight and seconded by Richard Arnold. Motion approved by unanimous vote. Public Comment: None Landfill Data Presentation and Summary : Presented by GFL Representative, Mark Vinall ● Reports are placed in the 7 Mile Creek google site each quarter for committee members to review. John Ailie will contact Jessica about transferring management of the google drive to him. Richard requested that he be able to review the reports at the Town Hall because of difficulty retrieving them on his computer. John Blackmon and Mark will facilitate this change. ● Tonnage is down for Quarter 1 because of seasonal impact and less in comparison to Q1 2024 due to loss of an account. ● Less leachate was generated in Sector 1 compared to 2024; More Leachate reported in Sector 2 due to the addition of the new cell. ● High winds caused the Tipper to be shut down for portions of the day four times in February and March. Plastic litter had to be removed from trees on the residential neighbor’s property to the east. There were no dust or odor complaints during Q1. ● Private wells were tested in October. Copies of the test results were sent to residents, office of the Town Hall and are available on the google drive. ● Regulatory reports were filed with the WDNR for license renewal, air quality and permits, construction plans, leachate collected, etc. Biopile (petroleum contaminated soil) is not collected at this landfill. No EPA regulatory changes have occurred. A WDNR hydrogeologist annually inspects the landfill operations. ● The Penalty Rider Bond amount decreased due to closure of one cell. ● GFL allows 5,000 yards of space for organic waste. Waste Management does dispose of compostable material at this site. ● The geo-membrane is scheduled for repair in May. ● A Renewables Project is in the planning stage that would convert methane to electricity or compressed natural gas. This would eliminate flaring the methane gas. ● John Blackmon will send out a letter next week to the residents of the 7 Mile Creek Neighborhood regarding the redrilling of 3 wells. ● A trash study was conducted last fall at the request of the City of Eau Claire. The report is available online and compares cost and trash systems in “peer communities”. The City Council is considering the results and ways to reduce/divert waste and address additional concerns of the public. Discussion and Action Items: Property Protection Letter to Eligible Residents: GFL John Blackmon has completed a letter to eligible residents summarizing the Property Protection Plan. It will be mailed this month. 2024 Sociological Payment and Process Report: Mark provided a report of the residents that received the sociological payment for 2024. This report was compared with the “Real Estate Assessment Roll” from EC County and the updated list from the 2022 Agreement. There was only one discrepancy and Mark will check his records and report back to the committee if further review is needed. Kathy will contact Roxie at Planning and Development to request the Roll be provided in time to review at the October Standing Committee meeting.. Legal Interpretation & Clarification from Atty. Helquist and Atty. Speerschneider: Jessica contacted Atty. Helquist who conferred with Atty. Speerschneider for an interpretation of the contract regarding the eligibility for the sociological payment upon death, estates’ rights and partial year occupancy. No information has been received as of this date on this matter.. Payments were made by GFL in 2024 to representatives of two deceased property owners. Standing Committee Fund Balance: The 2022 Agreement requires GFL to pay “...direct costs incurred by the Standing Committee and Affected Municipalities to monitor the Operator’s responsibilities under this Agreement… not to exceed $5000 per calendar year.” The 2016 Agreement stated that “... the Operator shall pay to the Standing Committee the amount of $1000 per year…” Michael Korbol, the City of Eau Claire Budget Analyst, will compile information regarding the status of the Standing Committee Fund and inform the Chair when it’s available. Phil prepares a quarterly report to the Committee at an annual expense of $800 which is paid from this fund to the Eau Claire City/County Health Department. The committee values this report; however, due to the improved reporting currently provided by GFL, a quarterly report may not be as necessary. Joe made a motion and seconded by Lane to reduce the frequency of the Health Department on-site report to the Committee to twice per year, for the second and fourth quarter. Approved unanimously. Host Fee/ACH: The host fee is sent monthly to the City of Eau Claire who administers and disburses the funds to the county and township in accordance with the Agreement. The township has been receiving their percentage of the host fee in a more timely manner since the transfer has been occurring electronically. Other Business: Richard has not yet contacted Michelle Skinner to inquire about a PFAS baseline for Lake Altoona. Lane informed the group that the PFAS in city wells will be removed by the end of the year, using funds from a class action suit. The PFAS levels in these wells are currently below the level set by DNR standards. If PFAS levels in the wells at the landfill are too high, GFL could join the class action suit to fund removal. Agenda Items for Next Meeting: Legal Interpretation of eligibility for sociological payments: Atty. Helquist and Atty. Speerschneider Google Drive management transfer: John Ailie Standing Committee Fund Balance: John Ailie and Michael Korbol, City of Eau Claire Budget Analyst Health Dept. Report for 2nd Quarter: Phil Property Protection Letter & Well Drilling Notice: GFL Next Meeting Date: August 14, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. at the Seymour Town Hall Adjourn: Motion to adjourn at 2:36 p.m. by Matt Steinbach and seconded by Richard Arnold. Approved unanimously. Respectfully submitted by, Kathy Campbell, Secretary