Agenda - 01-26-2012 - 4 - Laserfiche WebLink

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� 60 acres has been conveyed to Orange County for solid waste management pu rposes. The County and Towns are entering the fourth year (FY 2011/12) of a five-year payback plan ta 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 Was�e 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 Chapet Hill, Carrboro and Orange County. The Solid Waste Enterprise Fund retains 60 acres as a valuable asset that could be utilized to hefp satis#y the future closure and post closure liability. _County rinancial Staff is in the process _of analyzing the re.serves within the Solid Waste Ent�rp-rise �und available for closure/post closure costs of the MSW landfill, along with any commitments to Rogers/�ubanks 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 fife of the MSW landfill AND increases in fhe tipping fees charged at the landfill. As of June 30, 2011 the total Solid Waste Fund reserves are $12,541,905 which includes funds needed for closure costs and post elosure costs of bott�the MSW ($7,941,275) and t�he Constraction and Demolition (C&D) landfill ($4,025,326). Other current and long term (iabi(ities, including capital lease and debt _obligations, post employee health care o6ligations, and compensated absences al( have to be taken into account to calculate available reserves. The Sofid Waste enterprise fund, without the considering the sale of any assets, is $4,073,276 short of ineeting all long-term liabilities as of June 30, 2011 (Attachment 11). A Reminder — Once the MSW landfill ceases operation, "no" revenue stream associated with househoid 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 an�final decision. The current landfill agreerraent (Attachment 2) does not require any future liability for the Towns with regards to the landfill once it closes. The County under current iaw is required to maintain `full' resportsibility for the landfill's environmental impacts for a period of not less than thirly 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 environmer�#al standards that could change pending new science or evaluations that might occur within the thirty year post c{osure time frame. IMPORTANT TO THESE DISCUSSIONS --While the County is restricted in how it may use Solid Waste Enterprise Funds to address the RogerslEubanks Road community mitigation issues (sewer, in particular), that same limitation does not apply to the Towns.