Agenda - 10-20-2009 - 4a - Laserfiche WebLink

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15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Myra Dotson asked the County Commissioners to please not extend curbside recycling to rural residents. She said that this should be deferred until the Solid Waste Working Group plan is complete. She quoted some of the recommendation: "expansion of existing curbside recycling into a portion of the area previously served by the Bradshaw Quarry Road Center. Staff is prepared to initiate this expansion by the end of 2009 at no additional cost or budget impact, if desired resources could be included in the FY 2010-11 budget that would allow for the remaining portion of the Bradshaw Quarry SWCC service area to be added to curbside recycling." She said that what this statement does not say is that the next year the Solid Waste Department will add a mandatory recycling fee of $38 to each household whether or not they use the service. She asked the County Commissioners to please not allow the County to charge for services or add new fees to this community until the work group plans are done. If a fee is added, then the fee should be used to fund the continual operation of the Bradshaw Quarry Convenience Center in some sort of capacity. She said that residents are willing to work closely with the County to find a solution that is budget neutral and works for everyone. She said that rural residents would like to be heard and constructive citizen input is the basis for good government. Susan Walser spoke for Orange County Voice. She said that the Solid Waste Work Group Plan is an unvetted plan and any suggestion to reduce the total number of convenience centers is premature. She said that ideas that are being discussed in this planning process have been used to justify the closing of the Bradshaw Quarry Convenience Center. She said that services such as curbside recycling and vendor franchises to provide curbside trash collection may not work for rural residents. She said that there are many questions that need to be answered before the plan can be finished, including whether October 20th was enough time to get input from rural residents to find out what is really needed in the rural part of the County. She said that eliminating Bradshaw Quarry now is premature and jumps the gun on important information from the Solid Waste Working Group. She asked that the center be kept open a couple of days a week at least for the next year until the plan is done and the County has finalized a plan for funding solid waste services. Norma White said that she is a resident of the Schley community and she has a 15-mile round trip to the nearest solid waste convenience center. She does not mind that drive and would rather do that than to worry about curbside collection because she has a long gravel driveway. She said that she is here to support the Bradshaw Quarry Convenience Center. She said that Orange County Voice is a voice in the rural community and they care for the residents. She said that her SWCC has had reduced hours, but it is better than nothing where she lives in northeast Orange County. Gabriella Tal is from northeast Orange County and is also with Orange County Voice. She said that if the Bradshaw Quarry Convenience Center is closed, it will be irreversible. She asked the County Commissioners to please find a way to keep it open, and if not, then at least find a way to keep the facility intact until the Board hears more from the Solid Waste Working Group. She said that this is an important facility in their area. Kathleen Hoffman spoke on behalf of users of Bradshaw Quarry Convenience Center and also for Orange County Voice. She said that asking the Board to reconsider closing this center is an enormous request given the complexity of the budget and its multiple impacts. She believes that this initial decision was based on misinformation, and that is why they are asking the Board to reconsider. She said that the residents have tried to bring forward solutions that are beneficial to all rural residents. She said that the residents are very willing to accept a reduction in service to two or three days a week. The cost of the County keeping the center open two to three days a week is only about $25,000 this year, which is much less than the costs that will be inflicted on the residents of the community if it were closed. She asked that the County Commissioners make the following motion: "To keep Bradshaw Quarry