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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNB 5 RECYCLING PROG. 04-20-81DATE: TO: FROH: SUBJECT: April 14, 1981 N~ BUSINESS Inter-Corn NANCY MILLER, ADMINISTRATIVE AIDE JAMES G. ROURKE, CITY ATTORNEY ROBERT L. LAVOIE, DEPUTY CITY ATTORNEY RECYCLING PROGRAM Pursuant to your request this office has reviewed your Inter-Com of April 10, 1981, concerning the establishment of a recycling program at the City of Tustin. You requested that this office render an opinion concerning the legal responsibilities of the Police Department with respect to its confidential docu- ments. As you are probably aware, the City Police Department does maintain records and has access to confidential information con- cerning individual criminal histories. The unintentional release of this information to the public may subject the City to liability. Permitting City documents to leave the Department prior to destruc- tion does expose the City to the risk of unintentional release of information. ' It appears to this office, however, that the determination as tc ~hether the Police Department shold participate in a program for rec~'cling should be made on an administrative basis rather than a !e~a2 basis. There are many sensitive documents generated within the ?ciice De~artmen~ w~' ~ . .... n are confidential for policy rather than le.a~ ~ reasons. This confidentiality is often maintained both with respect to the~_~_r~ .... ~ ~-d with respect to employees within the department. Sach documents run the gamut from initial drafts of repor~ concerning employee disciplinary matters and internal investigations 5o confidential communications between the Police Depa ...... n_ and 5he City Attorney's office subject to the attorney/ client privilege. Police Department participation in this Program would require employee time to segregate documents which will be destroyed through the Department's present procedures and those documents which will participate in the recycling program. An additional consideration is that Police Department records are generally destroyed dailF. Participation in the recycling program would require those documents to sit within the Police Department for substantial periods of time prior to destruction and thus sub- jecting them to exposure within the Department itself. This office suggests that a determintion as to whether the Police Department should participate in a recycling program should be made by the City Administrator and the Chief of Police based upon these policy considerations. In your Inter-Com of April 10 you further inquired whether the funds derived by recycling paper may be used by the Employee Relations Committee. It is our understanding that the recycling efforts will be made by the City staff who will segregate the documents, fill the barrels and move the barrels to a central location for pick-up. It is our further understanding that any funds derived will go into the CityCs general fund. Based upon these factors, it is our opinion that the funds may be used only for proper municipal purposes. The Employee Relations Committee is an informal committee consisting of employees from each of the departments of the City of Tustin. Although the committee was not created by the City Council it has been sanctioned by the City Administrator. The committee has acted as a liaison between the City's departments and the City Administrator's office and provides the City a benefit in the area of general employee relations. It is our opinion that the City Council may approve the expenditure of funds derived from the recycling program pursuant to the recommendations of the Employee Relations Committee when the use of the funds is directed to the purpose of improving employee relations. Examples of such proper uses would be the improvement of the employee lunch area, purchasing awards for the employee awards banquet, and other similar purposes. The City Council should maintain sufficient control on any funds to be expended pursuant to the recommendations of the Employee Relations Committee so as to assure that said funds will not be appropriated for improper purposes. RLL:lw:D:4/14/81 cc: Dan Blankenship Ron Nault C.R. Thayer Attachments -2- DATE: April 10, 1981 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: DAN BLANK~NSHIP, CITY ADMINISTRATOR NANCY hILLER, ADMINISTRATIVE AIDE RECYCLING P [~TSRA~i PURPOSE: TO establish a paper recycling program in the City office builoings in 1~stin ~or the purpose of recovering paper ~osts, personnel costs for shre~oing paper, and making more efficient use of energy and our natural resources. It has been suggested that the City of Tustin should initiate a paper recycling program for the various City office complexes. Ideally, t~is program will be ainmod at recapturing so~e of the current personnel costs for snre~oing confidential documents and records, and also at realizing a retum on the a~ount of paper thrown away every day. The company who has offer~ to recycle our paper is a company calle~ Data Compass. 2~is company is primarily concerned with paper recycling, ana the sale of computer paper. They offer free picK-up an0 0elivery to the puOlic scales o[ Sunset Flutes in Irvine. POLI C~Y: Each ~!cyee will be_ resLoasio±e for nlaking ti%is recycling program worK. CoorCin=--_!cr~ of ~%e ~rc~r~ c~_n De the responsibility of the A~ministrative Aide, along wi+-~ each .....=== =~~ .... =~_~.~. ~= representative to t2ne Employee Relations Committee. It has.~=--~ .... suggess:~ ~=~-- a portion of the money recover~ by this progr~e coul~ De channe!ea to the ~--~]c- =~ ~r~y~_ Relations Con~nittee for their efforts an~ those o~ the e~i2yc-es, wimn L~.e res~ of the money going back into the City's General Fung. PNOC EDU~. 55-gallon fibre barrels (or any other container agre~ upon) will be placed at centralized locations throughout City Hall, the Police Deparhnent, Maintenance Yard and Water Depar~nent. See attachment for suggeste~ locations. · Each employee will De responsible for placing all recyclable paper into the barrels. Types of paper to be recycle~: (staples do not have to be re~pve~) ae Computer paper: This will be store~, separately, in the original boxes, until sUch tin~ as the delivery to the Recycling Center. Colored Ledger: This will include bond paper, letterhead, Xerox ar~ Savin paper, note paper, phone message paper, envelopes, yellow or - white notebook or ~aolet paper, ~ite or colore~ card stock, NCR paper, etc. e e Paper which cannot be placea into the barrels: car~on ~per, newspaper, magazines, lunchbags, gum wrappers, plastic, glass, clotn, alumin~n cans or foil, or any other foreign material. Highly confidential papers in the Police Department will be place~ in a single barrel, located in the shredder room, ann will remain there until such time as delivery to the Recycling Center is scheduled. ~his is sub3ect to the approval of the City Attorney. During the course of business each day, the nay custoaian will check for any overflow of t2]e barrels. If there is overflow, additional Darrels or ~oxes will be set out to supplement the original container. On a weekly Dasis (or as determined by need), the barrels will be collected from the various city buildings by Data Compass an~ will be aeliver~ to the Recycling Center. The barrels in the City Hall complex will be carried to a central collection point at the scheduled picK-up time. The ~arrels locate~ at the Water Department and Maintenance YarG will also be picke~ up by Data Compass. Empty barrels will be left to replace the full c~es. B. Data Compass will deliver the paper to the Recycling Center, iocate~ on Construction Way East in Irvine. (t) The truck will arive onto t2]e scales anG weigh in. Ead~ account is weighe~ separately. (2) T~ barrels will then ~e emptie~ into the appropriate areas at tne Center. (3) ConfiGentia! papers will be place~ in a locked bin until sche~ule~ Gestruction. (4) The truck will th~n De reweigne~ ar~ a check will be issued. A Certificate of Destruction will De issue~ for the ~onfi~ential papers. (6) Accounts are c!eare~ on a ~onthly basis anG a cineck will De sent %c ~ke Ci5~' cf Tustin, along with Certificates of Destruction, if ~e Fin~_nce Departz~ent will relay the Certificate of Destruction to t2~e Police ~arm~en~, upon receipt. ESTi[~T~ ~.STS OF THIS P~qDGRAM: There are no personnel or equipment costs associated with this progr~u otter than the time required ~or one custodian to nDve approximately 8 to 10 oarrels to a central pick-up point. ESTIMATED RECOVERABLE COSTS OF THIS PROGRAM: Personnel costs: Estimated costs for shredding: $4,200 per year Recovering minimun of 50% of costs = ~2,100 per year Computer paper: With an estimated use of 102 Doxes per year, we may be a~le to recover 50 to 75% of this paper. This would be a total of 51 to 76 boxes per year. Estimated weight of a box is 25 lbs. 51 boxes @ 25 ids. = 1,275 lbs. 76 boxes @ 25 lbs. = 1,900 lbs. .64 tons to .95 tons per year @ $120 per ton (current) - $77-114 per year Colored ledger paper: Filling up 6 to 10 55-gallon barrels (or other containers) per week, would equal 312 to 520 barrels per year. Estimated weight of filled barrel = 150 lbs.= 46,800 to 78,000 lbs per yr. 23.4 to 39 tons per year ~ $40 per ton (current) = $936 - 1,560 per year 'fOTAL RECOVERY: $3,113 to $3,774 per year P(IfENTIAL PROFIT (Recovery minus costs) = $3,113 to $3,774 per year ~LTER~ATIVES: If t~.e City Attorney rules against the use of the oestruction service, Data Cc.z/-.~s nas agreed =.m cispcse of our already shredGed paper, Dut we will receive no ~oney freT. it. Since Da~a Compass also Sells computer paper, it might De advantageous ~or the City to check tlnis out. F~. Klein quoted me the following prices for our stock _~a~er: Data Compass/I,000 Current (V~%ier)/1,000 ]-part $ 8.38 $ 8.50 2-part $18.99 $19.48 3-part . $28.99 $29.55 RECOMMENDATIONS: Have the City Attorney review the legality and responsibility of the Police Department in regards to the destructio~ of documents. ~is servioe is offered free of charge. For additional information, see Exhibits 1 and 2. Have the City Attorney rule on whether a portion of the potential n~ney recovered from this program could be channele~ back into the Employee Relations Conmittee. Send this report, along with the ~ity Attorney's findings, to Council for action. Implement the recycling program on a three-month experimental basis ana evaluate the w~rth at the end of that time. A~ministrative Aide NM:~nt ( Paper Recycling Project Page 2 Even if we could only recapture 2/3 of the Police Department shredding costs (because of some highly confidential papers that they wouldn't want to leave the premises), the projected cost savings would be in the neighborhood of $208 per month. This would be an estimated annual savings of $2,496. The company with whom I have spoken is Sunset Fibre Industries of Irvine. This company is primarily concerned with paper recycling, but also handle some aluminum. They offer several recycling programs, free of charge, that might fit our needs and the appropriate one would be determined by the volume of paper we would have available for re- cycling. The options range from 3-yard lockable bins which are emptied by the company, to de~k top recycling boxes for each employee, to sort- ing and delivering our own paper to the Irvine facility. The current prices for recycling paper are listed below. These prices are subject to fluctuations in the market: * Computer paper * White ledger (bond, xerox, etc. with little printing on it) * Colored ledger (includes white paper with a large percentage of printing on it) * Newspaper $120/ton delivered $ 50/ton picked up $ 60/delivered $ 40/ton picked up $ 50/ton delivered S 35/ton delivered The scales are open from 7am to 9pm weekdays and 7am to 1pm on Saturday. No checks are issued after 4pm. 2unset Fibres will also destroy records for free and offer certlfl e if destructic~ fer verification. (See Exhibit A) The problem of security ~as been raise~ by Carol Poe, Records Supervisor, of the Tustin Police Z~rtment. L~- ~ .... ~ucn the destroyed documents are put through a special rachine whic~ :hre~ and bails the paper, some pieces (up to 4" squares) ...... ~,~g around the center's yard. The records are locked in a bi~ ;-=:- ;~ destruction and the company's employees who ultimately ,,a.,~ ~= 7~:~r~ ',.~ould conceivably have access to some confidential informati.~p. Ho>~ever, since most of the employees are non-English speak- ino, there is very little chance that any of the shredded Paper will fall / in{o th~ wrote hands. It is suggested that the City Attorney take this ~ concern under-advisement to determine if the Police Department would be/ fulfillin~ their legal obligations under this program. ($ee-Exhi~i&:J)J/. RECOMMENDATIO~S: Imptemen~ an qxperimental paper recycling program to be evaluated at the end of a three-month period. The program should include, but is not limited to, the following elements: Centrally located fibre barrels should be used for storing the paper prior to recycling. Sunset Fibres will supply these barrels free of charge. EXHIBIT "1" 1 1 k ] DATE: EXHIBIT "2" February 27, 1981 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: Nancy Miller, Administrative Aide C. A. Poe, Records Supervisor Use of Recycling Center I believe that the idea and reasoning behind the recycling of our discarded papers is good. However, I have certain reservations with the Recycling Center that I would like to have cleared up before confidential police papers are taken to the facility. My reservations stem from the lack of security with the papers. A police agency i~ liable for the security, storing and proper destruction of its re- cords. In visiting the Center I noticed that the papers are not shredded in- to very small pieces prior to their bailing, t noticed pieces the approxi- mate size of a four to five inch square. Most of these pieces are bailed, however, some were found to be lying about the complex yard. Also, papers are not secured in the open yard during high winds. The papers are hand,ed by the company's employees, however, none of them )lave any special clear- ances. Even if the papers are dropped off in a secured box, the papers are taken from these for shredding and bailing by the yard employees. Plus, I was advised that once the secured container is left at the Center a key is then left for the employees which would give them access to the papers. This uncontr?ie~ time period can be alleviated by having a police employee or designee ~e~:ain with the ~a~ers until the bailings are completed. However, this may be too time cons~-ing. I have ~een adviz~ =nat ~ost all employees of the Center are reportedly Spanish s2eaking only, which should alleviate their reading of papers. Also, it should be noted that the chances of portions of torn reports getting into improper hands i~ s!igi~t. Therefore, I would like a written determination from the City Attorney's Office as to whether or not the use of this Recy- cling Center would f~!fill' the police department's obligation for proper de- struction and control of police records. And would it mean that we would have to stand by with the papers until they are bailed or whether sending them via the locked containers would be sufficient. If written approval is given by the City Attorney's Office, then I see no major problems with having the police depart~nent participate in this new program. The only other outlay that would have to be checked as to its excessiveness would be the time ex- pended if a police employee m~st stand by with the papers until bailing is completed. C. A. POE Records Supervisor CAP/bib POSSIBLE I/)CATIONS FOR RECYCLING BARP~.r n Con~nunity Building: Finance/Personnel/Administration: CoJ,,~,~unity Develo~,ent/Engineering: Water Department: Maintenance Yard: Cormnunity Services/City Clerk: Computer room: Police Depar tnr, ent: This is a total of 10 barrels. ] located in back of room 1 located in Finance Department 1 in copier room and ] in drafting room I located in convenient area 1 located in main lobby area 1 located near vault ] located near copier machines 1 located in records area ar~ 1 located in Pro~-erty area Since the proposed 55-gallon b~rels hold quite a bit of _raper, this amount should meet our nccds. However, if we decide to use our own boxes or other s~.m!ler c~ntainers, %m could place many more of them arouno for more co~v-a.-.!ence.