Agenda - 05-15-2012 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

4 1 2 Attachment 2-a — January 23, 2012 Chapel Hill Town Council Agenda Materials — Information 3 Report on Landfill Related Items 4 5 6 Roger Stancil said that everything is in the agenda packet and Chapel Hill has hired its 7 consultant to look at options now that Orange County is closing the landfill. They hope to get 8 recommendations to the Town Council in June. He said that staff sees this as an opportunity to 9 look at the entire process from collection at home. One sustainable solution for the future is the 10 waste to energy option. This will take time, however. 11 Chair Pelissier said that she hoped that Chapel Hill and Orange County could collaborate 12 on waste to energy options. 13 Commissioner Hemminger said that Orange County went ahead with the single-stream 14 recycling and she asked if this would affect Chapel Hill's plans. 15 Roger Stancil said that because they are looking at everything they did not want to put 16 anyone in a position to stop or start the process. He was aware that Orange County has moved 17 forward with single-stream recycling. 18 Roger Stancil said that they were all speculating about the distance to Durham and with 19 the trial run, they now have actual real times to work with and to see about their residential 20 trucks on the interstates. He said that the estimate for additional costs is about $500,000- 21 700,000 to transfer Chapel Hill's trash to Durham. 22 Commissioner Hemminger said that she is hopeful that a better solution will be found than 23 transferring trash to Durham. 24 Commissioner Jacobs asked if Chapel Hill was reviewing the 61% trash reduction goal. 25 Roger Stancil said that they are looking at efficient operations and they are not giving up on the 26 goal. 27 Council Member Czajkowski asked if it was anticipated that the County will continue to 28 handle recycling collection after the landfill is closed. 29 Frank Clifton said that this is the County's plan and it will be single-stream recycling. 30 There is a contract service to do this. 31 Commissioner Jacobs said that it seemed there is a philosophical premise that they have 32 used for their solid waste assumptions. He would like a better understanding of how the County 33 can stick with the 61% reduction alone or if everyone should be focused on this. He said that 34 they may need to have a different set of assumptions. 35 Commissioner Yuhasz said that the commitment to that 61% waste reduction is still there 36 for the County and he would assume that it is with the municipalities also, but does not know in 37 the long run if the County can reach that goal on its own. Until it is known how the County is 38 going to be moving forward, it is difficult to say if the assumptions will remain the same. 39 Council Member Ward said that he is Chapel Hill's representative on the SWAB and no 40 one has mentioned changing this goal. He said that they all realize that Chapel Hill is doing its 41 due diligence with the consultant's report. 42 Chair Pelissier made reference to the memo from North Carolina League of Municipalities 43 about annexation. She has received questions recently about annexation and provisions of 44 water and sewer. This was on page 23 in the packet. She thinks it would be good for everyone 45 to have information about what that really means. 46 Roger Stancil said that the annexation laws have changed so much, but for Chapel Hill 47 annexation is no longer an option since the authority to grow has been taken from them by the 48 changes at the General Assembly. 49 Council Member Rich said that this is ambiguous and the water system is run by OWASA.