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they prefer the fee approach. Their reservations have more to do with expanded recycling <br />services. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked for Chair Jacobs' and Commissioner Brown's analysis of the <br />meeting with Chapel Hill officials. Commissioner Brown said that Chapel Hill knew the fee was <br />needed. She thinks that the Town of Chapel Hill wants to see an increase in their recyclables, <br />specifically mixed paper. There are issues with mixed paper, and she thinks they should be <br />explained to Chapel Hill. <br />Chair Jacobs said that Chapel Hill also brought up pay as you throw. One view of Chapel Hill <br />was to not enact any fees until the policies and procedures were sufficient. There were differing <br />opinions, but there was recognition that a fee was needed. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked for clarification on the mixed paper issue and Gayle Wilson <br />explained that the revenue is less than the casts to provide the service. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that the bottom line is that if you do not educate people, they do <br />not understand what they are getting. He has heard a lot of comments against this fee. He said <br />that the County has not done a good job of telling people what it costs to deal with solid waste. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked about the statement on page 2, "removing anticipated Greene <br />Tract revenue contribution from budgeted revenue." Rod Visser said that they had <br />contemplated that they might propose that the County begin to pay back the County's portion of <br />the Greene Tract and have the Towns join in next year. Given the budget economics this year, <br />it is not something that they could go forward with. There is a draft proposal and the general <br />idea is to propose a payback over a three to five-year period to give the Towns enough lead- <br />time. Commissioner Gordon suggested not waiting too long. She thinks that next year we need <br />to come up with a proposal. <br />Chair Jacobs suggested sending out a letter this fall and a reminder in the spring. <br />Commissioner Gordon agreed with Commissioner Halkiotis about education and suggested <br />showing people what it means if this $3 million in services is cut, and also how much money is <br />saved by extending the life of the current landfill. <br />Commissioner Carey spoke in favor of financing solid waste through an enterprise fund. Rod <br />Visser said that Chapel Hill does something similar. <br />Commissioner Carey said that they should consider using some of the fund balance -maybe <br />$SQO,Q00 from the fund balance and ahalf-cent on the tax rate or some other combination. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the private waste haulers and if they were taking a <br />complete mixed waste stream and if they were taking it out of the County. Gayle Wilson said <br />that a number of them have arrangements with other transfer stations or have their own transfer <br />stations. He has noticed a couple of new companies in the last few months - C&D and <br />garbage. A large percentage of this is going out of the County. <br />Commissioner Brown said that they also have to recognize that this is a fee that is so much less <br />than surrounding counties and provides many more services. She thinks it is important to have <br />some method to address personal financial issues and waive the fee for people on extremely <br />fixed incomes. <br />