Mono County Grand Jury
• 2019-2020
• Agency Response
Response to:
Grand Jury Final Report 2019
Development and approval of integrated Solid Waste Program and Services to be implemented.*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 8 findings
F1
Page 1
The Grand Jury finds that Town and its exclusive franchisee Mammoth Disposal consider an upgraded transfer station, at the current Mammoth Disposal owned site in Mammoth, will be adequate to meet the needs of the Town once Benton Crossing Landfill closes.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Page 3
We recommend that the Town view the Mammoth Disposal transfer station as Phase One of their plan with Phase Two being a larger site which can accommodate the processing of industrial waste, green waste, and other programs which can be used to reduce landfill usage and reduce costs. Timeline:
F2
Page 1
Through our investigation the Grand Jury concurs with interviewees that the County-owned Pumice Valley site near Mono Lake is the most likely site for a biomass reactor and associated waste programs.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Page 3
The Grand Jury recommends that Town and Mono County partner to make necessary improvements to the Pumice Valley site for it to be a viable location for a biomass reactor, associated waste programs, and recycling operations. Timeline: Completed no later than January 1, 2023.
F3
Page 1
The Grand Jury finds that State of California rural county exemptions for recycling and the amount of organic waste going to landfills are subject to change.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Page 4
The Grand Jury recommends that Town and Mono County develop a plan for complying with the amounts of recycling and organic waste going to landfills in the likely event that State of California rural exemptions are changed by July 1, 2020. Timeline: No later than July 1, 2020.
F4
Page 1
Rural jurisdictions in California face unique challenges in dealing with solid waste mandates coming from the State. For instance, Mono County and Town could increase their state diversion goal compliance numbers if transformation of recyclables such as paper, cardboard, or organic waste into beneficial product such as biochar could be accepted in State mandates.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Page 4
The Grand Jury recommends that Mono County and Town continue to work with other rural jurisdictions to expand the State's understanding of the challenges that rural areas face in achieving current mandated diversion and recycling goals. Timeline: Ongoing.
F5
Page 2
Comments made by certain members of the Mono County Board of Supervisors and Council members at public meetings demonstrate a lack of urgency and in some cases, a lack of knowledge surrounding the issue of Solid Waste. Decisions, or lack thereof, made in the next few months may affect solid waste policy for many years to come.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Page 4
The Grand Jury recommends that both the Mono County Board of Supervisors and the Council meet with appropriate Mono County and Town staff on the issues pertaining to solid waste in order to educate themselves about the situation imposed by the closing of the Benton Crossing Landfill, in order to make informed decisions for their constituents. Timeline:
F6
Page 2
There is little information regarding the issue of the closing of the Benton Crossing Landfill and what that will mean to the citizens and visitors of Mono County.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
Page 4
The Grand Jury recommends that both the Mono County Board of Supervisors and the Council and their staff develop a plan for mass communication to their constituents and visitors about the upcoming closure of the Benton Crossing Landfill and what steps they (Mono County Board of Supervisors and Council) are taking to manage that situation. Timeline: October 31, 2019.
F7
Page 2
There is little or no information about recycling programs within Mono County and the Town, what is or is not recyclable, ways to control solid waste, etc.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
Page 5
The Grand Jury recommends that the Town and Mono County work together with local Departments of Public Works, the [Solid Waste] Task Force, lodging and like associations, Chambers of Commerce and Non-governmental Organizations throughout Mono County to develop programs to educate the public, especially visitors, about what we can all do to increase recycling and minimize solid waste. Timeline: January 1, 2020.
F8
Page 2
Task Force meetings are posted to the Mono County website. However, when members of the Grand Jury signed up to subscribe to email updates through the link, nothing was ever received. Grand Jury members were also unable to find minutes of previous meetings and supporting documents listed as being posted on the site. Response to Findings
Related Recommendations (1)
R8
Page 5
The Grand Jury recommends that Mono County staff support the Task Force website so that Mono County residents can be better informed about Task Force meetings and be able to engage in the process of creating solid waste policies. Timeline: October 1, 2019.
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.