Agenda - 06-07-2011 - 5h - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: June 7, 2011 Action Agenda Item No. 5 - h SUBJECT: Acceptance of State Grants for Baler and Roll-off Containers to Haul Shin les DEPARTMENT: Solid Waste Management PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): Staff Grant Proposal to NC Division of Environmental Assistance and Outreach Letter of Grant Award from NCDEAO INFORMATION CONTACT: Gayle Wilson, Solid Waste Management Director, 968-2885 Michael Talbert, Interim Assistant Manager, 245-2153 PURPOSE: To accept a matching grant for $29,968 from the State of North Carolina Division of Environmental Assistance and Outreach (NCDEAO) to purchase a baler ($18,000) to improve recycling efficiency and to purchase three roll-off containers ($11,968) to haul tear-off roofing shingles to a recycling market. BACKGROUND: Orange County Solid Waste Management has applied for and been awarded a grant from NCDAEO for FY 2011-12 that has two distinct components. Part of the grant would finance acquisition of a more efficient, stronger semi-automated baler that will enable staff to more quickly and safely bale rigid plastics, computer plastics and perhaps other materials. This would replace the 37-year-old manual baler that is now leased from SONOCO, the buyer of the County's paper. The current baler is quite time-consuming and slow to operate. It has a relatively weak compressive ram, thus bales are lighter than they could be, requiring more frequent trips to market with lower payloads. Lightweight bales of rigid plastic cannot make the minimum weight required for overseas containers or even for efficient long haul trucking, thus limiting the County to one or perhaps two in-state markets. Funds for a replacement baler and related site improvements are included in the Manager's recommended FY 2011/12 budget. The proposed new baler will have an in-feed conveyer belt to carry material up to the mouth of baler, creating a much safer working environment than the current manually fed system. The new baler would also run automatically, eliminating the need for employees to spend time operating the machine manually. The greater strength makes denser bales more quickly with simpler, safer operation. The proposed new baler also has a shear that creates cleaner bales, eliminating the current problem of the baler jamming with excess material.