Northwest Hills Council of Governments (NHCOG)

07/10/2025

Present: Chairman Dan Jerram, Vice Chairman Mike Criss, Secretary Patrick Roy, Treasurer Tom Weik, and Executive Director Rob Phillips along with various representatives from member towns and affiliated organizations.

Executive Director’s Report:
Rob Phillips summarized his activities from June to July, noting limited meetings due to personal time off, and highlighted two state-supported positions that were removed when House Bill 5002 was vetoed by the governor: “Because of the governor’s veto, those are now off the table…so we don’t have to worry about that right now because it’s off the table. It’s kind of a disappointment because those positions were going to be funded out of the RPIA account.” He also mentioned reconvening the legislative committee in light of possible special or spring sessions.

HHW Event Recap:
The HHW collection on June 21 at the Falls Village Town Garage hosted around 300 vehicles. Phillips noted, “We had our new vendor working with us, MXI.” Some issues arose: “They didn’t lay down any of the plastic mill sheeting...I did see some remnants of spills...They could probably do better there.” An incident with elemental mercury involved a costly removal which the vendor initially refused: “It is $700 a pound...I informed them they can come to the next event and they'll have to accept it.” Feedback was otherwise positive, though several attendees mistakenly went to the wrong site due to a confusing address:

MSW Update and Legal Counsel:
Rob Phillips and the board discussed the region’s evolving solid waste management, especially following the transition of waste operations authority to the Northwest Regional Resources Authority (NRRA) after the dissolution of MIRA. Phillips explained lingering questions about legal expenditures: “We have money set aside in our budget that was approved, about $25,000 for MSW technical and legal resources. The question now is what do we want to do as a board as far as continuing forward with that?” The consensus was that staff should continue supporting NRRA efforts: “I think that if there’s a clear understanding for the full board...it’s not just those legal services but the commitment also to the in-kind contribution.

PWEC Asset Replacement:
Rob Phillips and Erik Shortell outlined plans to replace or sell underutilized or aging public works equipment, such as straw blowers and asphalt recyclers. “We tried to see if there’s interest within our region before we go outside,” said Phillips. Towns will have 30 days to make offers on equipment.

National Opioid Settlement Update:
Leo Ghio briefed the council on the opioid response fund, noting “the RFF will continue for another two years...current balance is $68,094, about half of what we’ve collected to date.” He encouraged towns to respond to upcoming settlement participation requests and detailed how economies of scale had been a noted success at the state level.”