Agenda - 10-04-2011 - 8a - Laserfiche WebLink

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60 acres has been conveyed to Orange County for solid waste management purposes. The County and Towns are entering the fourth year (FY 2011/12) of a five-year payback plan to reimburse the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund for 104 acres of the Greene Tract. The 104 acres of the Greene Tract are no longer considered a Solid Waste asset, and there has been considerable discussion concerning the best use of that acreage. The final use of this jointly owned asset will be determinEd collectively by Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County. The Solid Waste Enterprise Fund retains 60 acres as a valuable asset that could be utilized to help satisfy the future closure and post closure liability. County -Financial Staff is in the process _of analyzing the reserves within the Solid Waste Enterprise -Fund available for closure/post closure costs of the MSW landfill, along with any commitments to Rogers/Eubanks Road mitigation efforts detailed above and ultimate responsibilities for the C&D closure and post closure expenses. Reserve funding does exist within the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund. It is not sufficient to address all of the items defined above "without" and- extension in the life of the MSW landfill AND increases in the tipping fees charged at the landfill. As of June 30, 2011 the total Solid Waste Fund reserves are $12,941,905 which includes funds needed for closure costs and post closure costs of both. the MSW ($7,941,275) and t11e Construction and Demolition (C&D) landfill ($4,025,326). Other current and long term liabilities, including capital lease and debt -obligations, post employee health care obligations, and compensated absences all have to be taken into account to calculate available reserves. The Solid Waste enterprise fund, without the considering the sale of any assets, is $4,073,276 short of meeting all long-term liabilities as of June 30, 2011 (Attachment 11). A Reminder -Once the MSW landfill ceases operation, "no" revenue stream associated with household solid waste disposal will exist. There is no provision for a County operated solid waste collection point (transfer station) in Orange County, and municipal solid waste will be transported elsewhere by the Towns, County and others involved in waste collection. The County would cease to be directly involved with MSW disposal activities except its own waste stream. The summation under FINANCIAL IMPACT below provides various considerations that need to be acknowledged in any final decision. The current landfill agreement (Attachment 2) does not require any future liability for the Towns with regards to the landfill once it closes. The County under current law is required to maintain `full' responsibility for the landfill's environmental impacts for a period of not less than thirty years after closure. (If problems were to occur in later years, as long as the County owns the landfill site, it would retain any financial obligations associated with that effort.) All financial estimates of post-closure costs are- based upon current federal and state environmental standards that could change pending new science or evaluations that might occur within the thirty year post closure time frame. IMPORTANT TO THESE DISCUSSIONS -- While the County is restricted in how it may use Solid Waste Enterprise Funds to address the Rogers/Eubanks Road community mitigation issues (sewer, in particular), that same limitation does not apply to the Towns.