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might be different from the State's guidelines. If the ultimate product were not agreeable to the City, there are provisions allowing a member to opt-out. Councilmember McGovern asked if there exists the capacity or ability to handle the organic waste collected as part of phase two, assuming each agency were to opt-in. Mr. Bocian said that they have been working to secure an appropriate site to process the waste but is not clear on whether anything has been resolved. Councilmember Sullivan noted that he serves on the board of Stopwaste.org and said that one of the highest priorities in the county is to secure an in-county organics processing site. Gary Wolf, Stopwaste.org, said he is very pleased with the staff recommendation and would welcome Pleasanton to join the other fourteen member agency partners in this ordinance. With respect to comments and questions regarding self-haulers, he explained that the ordinance requires them to either separate the listed covered materials, which are high-value recyclables, when delivering to the transfer station, utilize a transfer station that has the capacity to sort itself at no additional charge, or to pay a 10% penalty to send those materials to the landfill. He stressed that it is simply a discouragement to the burying of high value materials, but that it is very much an "or" requirement. With respect to Stopwaste.org's ability to change the ordinance in the future, he explained that the ordinance does contain a dispute resolution clause that would first require a member agency to sit down with Stopwaste.org and work to reach a resolution. Following that, any member has the ability to back out with thirty days notice. He also noted that the ordinance took over a year and considerable environmental work to develop and that no changes would be simple or likely to occur in the near future. Councilmember McGovern requested clarification on the benchmark fee. Mr. Wolf explained that a survey of 900 single-family carts in the last fiscal year revealed that 40% of what residents are placing into their refuse carts could have been eliminated through recycling or compost programs. The benchmark fee, which is between $1.81 and $21.72 annually depending on the amount of waste produced, allows Stopwaste.org to measure, year by year and community by community, how their progress compares to the goal of 10% waste by 2020. He stated that the fee does not have a sunset date but does contain a mechanism for ending if the governing board decides it is no longer need. He explained that if in any year they spend less than the revenue generated by the fee, the savings would be used to reduce the fee the following year. Councilmember McGovern repeated her question regarding an organics site. Mr. Wolf stated that Waste Management does have a location at Altamont Landfill and has applied for permits, which if approved would be the county's first composting facility. Several other companies are also interested in opening facilities in the county, with particular interest in the newer completely enclosed facilities that allow both energy capture (valued at around $50 per ton) and the production of soil amendments. Councilmember McGovern reported that through her work on the Community Monitoring Committee for the landfill she learned that they are interested in operating a composting facility City Council Minutes Page 4 of 12 October 2, 2012