Minutes 09-06-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Jacobs said that the work group tried to take goals from before, goals from the Commission for the Environment, and moving up to a higher visibility some of the issues that have been discussed for years, such as the homestead exemption. He made reference to the recycling of electronic waste and said that Orange County is subsidizing this 90%. In other places there is a fee when the equipment is purchased that helps pay for this. Chair Pelissier made reference to item #8 and said that there was some discussion that this could be dealt with more effectively by engaging the fire departments. Michael Talbert said that staff contacted White Cross Fire Department, which has a temporary permit to continue to do what it does, but there is no guarantee at any one point that the State would not change the rules. There is not a permanent permit to continue to dispose of the waste. Chair Pelissier said that she brought this forward to the Environmental Steering Committee, and it was suggested that there might be more success if the Fire Chiefs Association lobbied on this. She would like to encourage other parties to get involved in this. Chair Pelissier said that another goal of the steering committee was to enhance river basin and monitoring of streamline rule-making. This was intended to address the fact that the way all the rules have been made up do not require the monitoring directly of all of the water bodies. A motion was made by Chair Pelissier, seconded by Commissioner Hemminger to add this item into the list of goals: Enhance river basin monitoring and streamline rule-making. Commissioner Jacobs said that they did not look at the NCACC goals, but only the Orange County specific goals. VOTE: UNANIMOUS A motion was made by Commissioner McKee, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to approve a Resolution Detailing Orange County's Recommendations Regarding Goals for Inclusion in the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) 2013-14 Legislative Goals Package and authorize the Chair to sign. VOTE: UNANIMOUS Commissioner McKee asked that a letter be written from Chair Pelissier to the Chief's Council in reference to Orange County's support of item #8 in the resolution: 8) Support actions to change North Carolina Division of Water Quality (DWQ) wastewater system classification rules which currently classify a spray irrigation system such as one utilized by volunteer fire departments as "commercial". When the flow generated by the system is domestic quality/non-industrial process wastewater, the system should be held to the same monitoring and testing standards as a residential wastewater system under DWQ jurisdiction. In the alternative, volunteer fire departments should be excluded entirely from the "commercial" classification. The annual inspections and testing costs associated with a "commercial" designation for a spray irrigation system serving a volunteer fire department can be several thousands of dollars. Accounting for the type of flow actually treated by a system rather than assigning a blanket "commercial" designation would significantly reduce volunteer fire departments' annual costs across the state. 8. Reports-NONE 9. County Manaqer's Report