Minutes 02-02-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Speaker 3: Bonnie Hauser The workgroup report questions/discusses whether or not to fund convenience centers from the general fund seems misplaced. There have been repeated suggestions from the workgroup and SWAB that the funding issue be addressed by elected officials but the topic never gets dropped. - In our view, the general fund fits the role of convenience centers and is encouraging important fiscal scrutiny over solid waste spending and services o Rural residents view convenience centers like schools, libraries, parks and other services that are essential to the quality of life for all citizens. They confirmed this in our survey. This may be a principle to discuss with the Assembly of Governments o As a general fund expenditure item, convenience centers seem to get greater executive scrutiny which is essential as the county faces broad fiscal challenges combined with the loss of landfill revenue o This funding should continue to encourage fiscal controls, such as last year's cut to convenience center schedules. Hopefully, meaningful additional cost controls will be motivated by general fund constraints - There are fiscal challenges — but it is not an issue for the workgroup o We are pleased that the county is looking at alternative disposal sites — such as the Person County Landfill - which is reasonably close and has a tipping fee of $35 or less —that's 30-40% less than the county landfill. In 2009, tipping fees were 1/3 (or$600,000) of the convenience center budget. The savings would be significant and not impact services or county jobs. o As Norma mentioned, we've been told that there are service problems at Walnut Grove which should be investigated. However, we've been asked to suggest that the center may be overstaffed. So maybe the option is to restore the 6-day schedule but cut the number of people on a shift. o Then there's the consultants. The workgroup has 2 staff consultants at every meeting and has engaged several specialists including Olver. The specialists are done — but certainly the staff consultants can be replaced by county staff. - Please don't forget waste reduction through composting and recycling —we've said this before — but with the landfill closing, the county and the towns can save a lot of money if we increase recycling and composting — at the collection point. This is an important topic and its outcome will shape our long-term solid waste plan. If our survey is right, the rural community is doing its fair share — and will continue to do better as the county brings dual and single stream recycling into the convenience centers. So right now, the general fund is doing its job to force constraint on the county's solid waste operations. Plus there are many opportunities to further reduce costs without impacting service. Please keep these controls in place and send an important message to the county and its citizens that these costs will be tightly managed for everyone's benefit." Susan Walser was with Orange County Voice and she reviewed some comments. She said that Orange County Voice has been sitting in on many of the SWAB meetings and work group meetings. She said there seems to be a disconnect as to what has been discussed in the work group and what is in the report. She said that there are four solid waste departments in the County— Orange County, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough — and two of them are