Recycling 101 And Other Exec Excerpts

Here's excerpts from HoCo exec Ken Ulman's 19-page state of the county speech to the chamber of commerce. The caps are his:

WE INITIATED THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE COUNTY’S FLEET OF VEHICLES TO HYBRIDS WHEREVER POSSIBLE AND WE NOW, IN ONE YEAR’S TIME, HAVE MORE HYBRIDS THAN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN MARYLAND, INCLUDING THE STATE ITSELF. WE ARE DEVELOPING SOLAR AND OTHER ALTERNATIVE ENERGY OPTIONS AT PUBLICLY OWNED FACILITIES. WE ARE ACTIVELY AND STRATEGICALLY PURSUING PRESERVATION AGREEMENTS WITH PROPERTY OWNERS OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE PARCELS, ALREADY RESULTING IN OVER 150 ACRES BEING PRESERVED.

WE ARE CONDUCTING A CARBON FOOTPRINT ANALYSIS AND INVESTIGATING EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO LIMIT OUR CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS TO PREVENT FURTHER HARM TO OUR ATMOSPHERE.

WE ARE ALSO WORKING WITH RESIDENTS TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF RECYCLING, BECAUSE DIVERTING WASTE FROM LANDFILLS IS GOOD FOR OUR PLANET AND OUR POCKETBOOKS.

WE ESTABLISHED A PILOT PROGRAM IN ELKRIDGE, WHERE WE HAVE PROVIDED RESIDENTS WITH LARGE, COVERED CONTAINERS WITH WHEELS THAT MAKE RECYCLING EASIER. ALREADY, IT HAS RESULTED IN AN 18% INCREASE IN RECYCLING, AND WE HOPE TO EXPAND THIS INITIATIVE TO OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTY.

SOME OF YOU MAY THINK THIS IS LEADING IN A LIBERAL, TREE-HUGGER DIRECTION. NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT, BUT LET ME TELL YOU WHY THIS IS SO IMPORTANT FOR THE COUNTY’S BUDGET AS WELL AS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.

WE HAVE A CHALLENGE BEFORE US — IN JUST FIVE YEARS, THE LOW FIXED RATE THAT HOWARD COUNTY PAYS FOR TRASH DISPOSAL WILL EXPIRE, AND THAT RATE WILL INCREASE DRAMATICALLY, BUT WE CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. LET ME EXPLAIN. WHEN YOUR TRASH IS COLLECTED, IT’S TAKEN TO A FACILITY AT ROUTE 1 AND 32 WHERE IT IS TRANSFERRED ONTO A TRAIN AND TAKEN TO VIRGINIA. AT THIS FACILITY, WE ARE CHARGED BY WEIGHT FOR OUR TRASH.

BUT RIGHT UP THE ROAD AT ROUTE 1 AND KIT KAT ROAD, WE HAVE A STATE OF-THE-ART SINGLE-STREAM RECYCLING SORTING FACILITY WHERE THEY PAY US BY WEIGHT FOR OUR RECYCLABLES.

JUST TO RECAP…FOR TRASH, WE PAY THEM; FOR RECYCLING, THEY PAY US. SO CLEARLY, IT IS IN EVERYONE’S BEST INTEREST TO INCREASE OUR RECYCLING AND MINIMIZE OUR TRASH.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT THE COUNTY FUNDS FOUR SEPARATE TELEVISION STUDIOS, EACH WITH ITS OWN FULL STAFF? IT’S TRUE. WE HAVE ONE FOR GTV, ONE FOR THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, ONE FOR HOWARD COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND ONE FOR PUBLIC ACCESS, COSTING COUNTY RESIDENTS OVER 1.5 MILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY, AND THAT NUMBER DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT EQUIPMENT AND SPACE COSTS.

WE HAVE EXAMINED EACH STUDIO AND HAVE ASSEMBLED A CONSOLIDATION PLAN THAT WILL SAVE OVER $500,000 A YEAR WHILE MAINTAINING THE SERVICES THESE STUDIOS PROVIDE. AND BY PARTNERING WITH HCC, WE WILL CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS TO GAIN VALUABLE, REALWORLD EXPERIENCE WITH TELEVISION PRODUCTION.

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TECHNOLOGY IS ANOTHER AREA RIPE FOR EFFICIENCY GAINS. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF OUR TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR, IRA LEVY, WE ARE MAKING A NUMBER OF IMPROVEMENTS THAT WILL LEAD TO SAVINGS OF OVER 2 MILLION DOLLARS THIS YEAR, INCLUDING EMAIL SPAM FILTERS, UPDATED 17 SOFTWARE, REPLACEMENT OF INEFFICIENT COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND STREAMLINING OUR PRINTING OPERATIONS.

WHEN DONE RIGHT, HOWEVER, INVESTMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY ALLOW SAVINGS TO ACCRUE YEAR AFTER YEAR. LOCALLY, WE ARE INVESTING IN A FIBER OPTIC WIDE AREA NETWORK THAT WILL ALLOW US TO OFFER ADDITIONAL WEB SERVICES, BETTER DISASTER RECOVERY AND DATA BACK UP, AND VOICE OVER IP. THAT LAST PART IS MOST IMPORTANT. INSTEAD OF PAYING VERIZON OVER $20 PER MONTH PER PHONE LINE – AND COUNTY GOVERNMENT HAS OVER 4000 PHONE LINES – OUR WIDE AREA NETWORK WILL ALLOW US TO OVERLAY PHONE SERVICE AT A COST OF ONLY $4 PER
MONTH PER EMPLOYEE. THIS CRITICAL COMMUNICATIONS BACKBONE WILL ALLOW US TO BETTER CONTROL THE OPERATIONS OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT AT COSTS THAT ARE DRAMATICALLY LOWER THAN WHAT WE PAY TODAY.