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Solid Waste Management Plan <br /> Public Meeting Record <br /> September 29,2010 <br /> A public meeting on the plan was held at the Solid Waste Administrative Building on September <br /> 29 as advertised. It was well attended and 13 Orange County residents spoke. A summary of <br /> their comments along with some limited replies by staff to specific questions noted by Mssrs. <br /> Wilson and Pollock from the Solid Waste Management Department.. <br /> Mr. L. Shackleford: This has been an issue with me for a long long time. I've heard what you <br /> said but I'm not sure I'm in the right meeting. Does this include basic fees and rural curb fees? <br /> That is what I like to address. I have two issues. One is a mandatory fee for a voluntary service <br /> some of which are never used or needed. Secondly for churches and retired persons with small <br /> mobile homes that still applies. The church is not an ordinary business or a home. Where does it <br /> end? Do we have other fees for collecting additional items? I would propose that the churches <br /> become ineligible [for the rural curbside recycling fee] so they wouldn't have to participate in <br /> this program. <br /> Bonnie Hauser: We are trying to do our part as residents. The rural residents because we live in <br /> the country near the land we are a little closer to some of this than folks in town. They have their � <br /> garbage picked up all the time. Last year we did a survey, 881 households in the community <br /> participated in the survey for trash and recycling services. The results were presented to SWAB <br /> and to the Solid Waste Work Group. We didn't see a lot of those results incorporated into the <br /> plan. The main thrust of the survey was that the models that you use in town for waste and <br /> recycling don't naturally translate to the rural community. We would like to see some of that <br /> shift. <br /> A summary of the results of the survey are that people highly value the convenience centers. <br /> They are clean, safe and cost-effective ways to handle the trash and recycling. Eighty-five <br /> percent of the respondents said they recycling regularly and half of them compost. Rura1 <br /> residents are not interested in trash or recycling services. The disinterest was statistically tied to <br /> the length of the driveways and gravel roads. People also object to new fees of any kind. I <br /> noticed in the plan there is still talk about PAYT fees which we hear not only are the rural <br /> residents not interested in but the town residents as well. The survey results contradict the notion <br /> that waste franchise will reduce the use of convenience centers. As you reported less than 25% <br /> of rural residents use curbside trash pickup. There are several vendors small and large that will <br /> pickup our trash and they serve our area well. So why do we need franchises. Even the work <br /> group dispelled this so why is it still in the plan. <br /> Since the survey was issued residents have had experienced with reduced hours at convenience <br /> centers. In general we support the County's recycling goals in principal and in practice but we <br /> do not believe that the plan accurately reflects the problems or the priorities of rural residents. <br /> The actions that you are proposing may not be the ones that will take us to those recycling goals. <br /> I would like to offer help from our group if you like to get more input from us on the plan and <br /> what makes sense for us. We will be there to help. <br /> 62 <br />