Staff recommends that Council authorize the City Manager to accept the Recycling Resources Economic Opportunity (RREO) Program Grant Award, authorize the City Manager to execute all documents necessary to secure the grant, reallocate $20,000 in the CIP for the rental of the equipment towards the purchase of a crusher, and authorize staff to purchase the crusher.

The City of Alamosa operates an open yard near the Sanitation Shop on Old Airport Road that is dedicated to the storage of waste material such as asphalt, concrete, and pit run material removed from various municipal construction projects. Currently there are approximately 201,600 tons of asphalt waste and 157,500 tons of concrete waste being stored in our yard, in addition to dirt and fill spoils. This yard has so far kept this material out of the landfill. Space in the yard is filling up, and the City does not currently have any disposal process for these materials. The removal of these construction spoils would incur a financial burden to Alamosa citizens, because hauling this waste to the regional landfill would be substantially more expensive than the City yard.

In early 2021, Staff applied for a Recycling Resources Economic Opportunity (RREO) Program Grant in order to purchase a crusher to reduce the spoil piles into a usable product for construction projects. The grant application was unsuccessful, but it was placed on a second tier list for funding in the event more funding materialized. Since the grant was not funded, Staff budgeted $20,000 in 2022 to rent a crusher in order to work on reducing the material piles.

 In early December, the City was contacted that the proposal was funded, and that the purchase of the crusher had to be completed and delivered by June, 2022. Staff has identified the equipment it would like to purchase with the grant funding and is requesting that the City's $20,000 be reallocated from renting the crusher to matching the grant for purchasing a crusher.

Reallocating this money is a sound investment for the public. While renting a crusher would help to remove some of the material, it was not a permanent solution. As the City reconstructs more streets with the passage of the Street Sales Tax, the spoil piles will continue to grow. Purchasing a crusher is the only long-term solution to keeping the piles down, keeping construction costs lower, reusing these materials, and preventing this material from going to the landfill. The grant award makes purchasing a crusher feasible.