Orange County NC Website
could be increments on top of that for additional services. The fees would go into effect <br />July 1, 2004. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked how these fees compared with other counties for similar <br />services. Gayle Wilson said that most counties have an availability fee. The County is <br />taking an additional step towards making the fee more equitable and dividing up the <br />level of services received. Other counties charge one lump fee. Chatham County has <br />an $81 annual availability fee and an additional $34 for unincorporated areas. Wake <br />County has an annual fee of $20 and they have discussed raising this. Durham County <br />has a $65 annual fee. The City of Wilmington has a $229 annual fee that includes trash <br />collection. Cumberland County charges $48 annually. He said that it depends on what <br />you fund as it relates to fees charged. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that it is important to give the rationale to the citizens before <br />laying out the fees. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that part of the education is that recycling has a cost <br />implication. He applauds the idea of having fees differentiated by level of service. Part <br />of this is thinking of recycling as a utility. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that the other thing is that Orange County has an ethic to try <br />and reduce waste. Unfortunately, as waste is reduced, there are fewer resources. She <br />does think that it is important to provide these services. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board had talked about having a graph to show the <br />reduction of tipping fees and the fees that were supporting solid waste and another one <br />that showed the cost of the service of providing recycling and other collection services. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked haw long the County has been recycling electronics and <br />Gayle Wilson said for almost 2 years. Commissioner Jacobs suggested writing a letter <br />to the editor of the Raleigh News and Observer, which wrote the other day that Wake <br />County has just instituted the first electronic recycling program in the State by a county. <br />John Link said that he could do this. <br />Jahn Link said that the staff would revise the solid waste plan and come back in January <br />with a schedule of fees to propose to the Board. <br />4. Boards and Commissions <br />Chair Brown said that Commissioner Carey had suggested that each Commissioner pick <br />two boards and then do a round robin approach starting with the least senior member of <br />the Board. <br />Commissioner Jacobs suggested that each Commissioner choose one board and then <br />do a round robin. <br />Commissioner Halkiatis said that he does not like any of these processes. He thinks <br />that the County Commissioners should serve on boards that they feel they bring certain <br />strengths to. He is also not in support of the seniority suggestion by Commissioner <br />Carey. He thinks the Board should consider sunsetting some of these groups. He does <br />not understand why it is so necessary to spread themselves so thin. <br />