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ordinance includes too long of a waiting period for the review of building permits that involve demolition <br />or deconstruction. The time uncertainty will add to the cost of the projects in Orange County. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked about a threshold for remodeling and other homeowner repairs and <br />renovations that would be exempt. Gayle Wilson said that the threshold was eliminated, but in practice, <br />there would be a limited number of demolition projects that would be subject to the delay. <br />Richard Leber spoke as a member of the C&D task force. He said that the task force felt that <br />recycling today was a goad idea to extend the life of the landfill here in Orange County. Another feeling <br />of the task force was that Orange County residents should be responsible to take care of those items <br />that we can within the County itself and recycle if passible. The third item is that there is a feeling that <br />some items have more economic value than other values. <br />Howard McAdams said that the farmers of Orange County strongly object to the solid waste <br />proposal, which contains the provision to prohibit burning of stumps, brush, and trees from clearing land <br />for agricultural uses. The main objections are that there would be great additional cast to alternative <br />methods of taking care of the trees and brush left from clearing of land for agricultural use. Also, the <br />farmers have no way of passing this additional cost to the people because they are usually not able to <br />set the prices they receive for their products. Developers can pass increased costs along to buyers of <br />their land. There are relatively small amounts of land cleared each year for agricultural use in Orange <br />County. Occasionally situations arise where farmers want to even out a field, reclaim a grownup field, or <br />clean up pastures where trees have fallen from hurricanes or wind storm damages such as we have <br />seen in the past several years. Farmers need to have the ability to continue to burn this debris to make <br />their operations feasible. Increased costs of doing business from new regulations add to the difficulty of <br />maintaining farming profitability. Anything that affects profitability discourages agriculture and makes it <br />harder for those currently in farming to keep farming. He said that tax records would show if land was in <br />land use and it would be easy to distinguish developed land from agricultural land. He also asked that <br />there be exemptions from storm damage burning. <br />Chair Halkiotis asked Karen McAdams, Mr. McAdams' wife, if there is a record of how much land is <br />cleared for agricultural uses and she said that her estimate is about 75 acres. The other uses are very <br />limited. The land clearing would be the largest use. <br />James Horner, a sod farmer in northern Orange County, said that he opposes the burning ban far <br />agricultural use. If he expands his operation, the cost would be too much if he could not burn. <br />Chair Halkiotis said that he would personally not want to do anything that would hurt Mr. Horner's <br />business. He congratulated him on his sod operation. <br />Chair Halkiotis asked about haw often a tub grinder is brought in and Gayle Wilson said that he <br />brings it in about two or three times a year. They wait until they have 2,000 tons of yard waste material. <br />It costs $10.00 a ton to grind the debris. He said that, as a part of the ordinance, the implementation <br />plan recommends that Orange County acquire such a tub grinder. It is possible that an arrangement <br />could be made with legitimate agricultural purposes to operate the grinder at some kind of reduced rate <br />to assist the farmers. He is not sure if it would be legal to do this for farmers and not for developers. <br />Ed Houser, owner of a general contracting business, asked that the County Commissioners <br />consider how they can sort the waste out in a reasonable space so that people could get their work <br />done. He said that there should be roam to sort the waste. <br />Sue Sweezy, from Recycling for Youth, talked about the illegal dumping that is done at the site they <br />maintain for wooden skids. She said that her understanding is that there would be lower tipping fees for <br />those who separate materials and there are also three new positions. She asked for the financial <br />information an the tipping fees and also the new positions. <br />Commissioner Brown asked staff for a list of ways of sorting construction debris onsite. <br />The Board would like to see some creative ideas about allowing burning far agricultural uses. <br />Commissioner Jacobs would also like staff to come back with ideas about establishing a threshold <br />below which renovations would be exempt. <br />Commissioner Brawn would also like the staff to come back with some type of response to the <br />storm damage issue. <br />Commissioner Brown would also like the staff to come back with some of the economic issues of <br />this ordinance. <br />