Orange County NC Website
The new management model as proposed by the LOG would have the staff be responsible to <br />an eight member board made up of two elected officials from each Board. At a later time, the <br />membership could shift to one elected official and one citizen. Decisions would be made using <br />majority rule with a super-majority being required for certain decisions. The Board would govern the <br />staff at the landfill and the staff would operate as a department of County Government. <br />Mayor Waldorf expressed concern about how the citizens would hold the Board accountable <br />for its decisions. <br />There was a lengthy discussion about assuring that the newly created Board is accountable to <br />the citizens that they will be serving. Elected officials may need to serve on this Board indefinitely. <br />Chair Carey indicated that the need for this Board to address substantial debt must be <br />resolved. <br />Council Member Chilton mentioned that the model being suggested by the LOG could not <br />issue bonds, however, it could issue Certificates of Participation or Special Revenue Bonds. One of <br />the local governments could use its authority to support a solid waste bond. <br />Council Member Franck repeated that one major concern with the current model is that there <br />is no avenue for citizen input. <br />CLARITY OF PROPOSAL. <br />In response to questions and comments from the participants the following information was <br />presented. <br />1) Decisions about staff salary would be the responsibility of the new Board. <br />2) This model would create a totally independent Board <br />3) The Elected Boards would have to decide about funding. Currently the tip fee is the only source of <br />income. There could be a discussion about a municipallcounty tax to generate income. <br />4) The issue of Board stipend would need to be decided. <br />5) Would this function appear on the County's audit and would it be an enterprise fund? <br />There was discussion about the structure of other Boards which handle solid waste in their <br />communities. There are three in North Carolina. The Coastal Region, Albemarle and Tricounty <br />Management Authority. <br />The super-majority vote would be required when the tipping fee is suggested to be increased <br />for more than 10% and when contracting for an obligation in excess of $1 million dollars. <br />Although the 6-2 vote could shut out one unit of government so that their concerns were not <br />addressed, it also would eliminate the problem of one unit of government stopping the process. <br />Chilton indicated that the newly formed organization could dip into reserves to pay debt but <br />would be more likely to turn to the elected officials for additional funding. <br />A discussion of participant's interests followed. Some of those interests are: <br />• elected officials make all of the decisions <br />• accountability between decisions makers and staff <br />• accountability between members of board to other elected boards and to citizens. <br />• fair treatment of residents around the landfill <br />• a mission statement needs to be clearly stated and highly publicized. <br />• a decision making process that is efficient <br />• a structure which empowers reaching consensus wherever possible