Minutes - 19960930 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Metadata

Thumbnails

Annotations

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