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Diana McDuffee asked if once we get a transfer station, would the County still count on <br /> profitability. Gayle Wilson said that the more tons you have, the less it would cost per ton, so if the <br /> County had a transfer station we could eliminate the ban on out-of-county dumping. There would not be <br /> a capacity issue. We want to maximize the reduction of waste. <br /> Diana McDuffee said that there is a contradiction of wanting more garbage and wanting to <br /> reduce the amount of garbage. <br /> Mayor Foy said that Chapel Hill does want to talk about the entire solid waste issue. The <br /> problem they see with wanting more garbage but simultaneously wanting to promote recycling, and also <br /> the difficulty with pay-as-you throw, is that if they institute a pay-as-you-throw system they will generate <br /> too much recycling for their system to handle. This is why they want to bring this up so they can figure <br /> out what to do. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that the County is working toward making those decisions. We are still <br /> working on implementing our C&D ordinance, which will make a significant dent in some of the waste <br /> stream. <br /> Commissioner Gordon asked Mayor Foy about the focus of the concern of the commercial <br /> collection. <br /> Mayor Foy said that they did not plan to get out of the business of providing waste collection <br /> this year, but possibly institute a fee. If a fee is instituted, then some of the volume would probably go <br /> somewhere else. It would be helpful to institute a fee. <br /> John Link said that the LOG spent two years talking about alternative financing for landfill <br /> operations. There are fundamental questions that need to be answered. <br /> Diana McDuffee said that Carrboro has never considered that they would have to <br /> competitively price a fee for waste collection. <br /> Mayor Foy said that his staff said that a private hauler could haul everything away, but Chapel <br /> Hill requires separating out different materials. Someone might choose to go to a private hauler even if <br /> the price were lower in the town. <br /> Cal Horton said that diverting materials from the landfill would divert those dollars from the <br /> town. <br /> There was consensus to ask staffs to delineate the issues and the alternatives in order to <br /> have some basis of discussion. <br /> C. Other Significant Provisions of interlocal Agreement <br /> There was no discussion on this item. The information was included in the packet and is <br /> incorporated herein by reference. <br /> 4. MENTAL HEALTH REORGANIZATION <br /> Mental Health Director Tom Maynard said that a lot of people need mental health services. <br /> Orange-Person-Chatham Mental Health has done a good job providing services. All of this is going to <br /> change because we are changing the way the system is being run. There have been complaints about <br /> mental health services in our state for a long time. A number of adverse incidents such as people that <br /> have died, State hospitals have lost patients, etc., have prompted the legislature to ask questions. Also, <br /> families have been complaining that services are not adequate and that local programs are not <br /> accountable enough and they are not doing enough. There have been a number of studies done over <br /> the years, but they have been put on a shelf. What is different this time is that the studies that were <br />