Minutes 10-11-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Frank Clifton said that the Town of Chapel Hill is doing its own solid waste study about what to do about its trash when the landfill closes. He said that the County does not know if the towns have any ideas about what they will do when the landfill closes. Mayor Chilton said that there has been only minimal contact on the elected official level with the Town of Chapel Hill. He said that the Town wants to continue with the recycling. He does not anticipate major changes in the way the Town of Carrboro does things. He said that the staff feels obligated to the taxpayers to look at other options besides going to the Durham transfer station because of the expense. Commissioner Hemminger said that the Durham transfer station is a temporary, short- term strategy. She does not want to see recycling go down. Mayor Chilton said that, based upon the reading of the interlocal agreement that the agreement calls for any party that is going to withdraw to give formal written notice to other governments involved in the agreement. He said that the way he reads it is that one of the implications of this is if the County no longer provides a landfill for the Towns to use, then the Towns are entitled to a certain amount of notice in terms of the agreement. He said that there has never been a formal notice from the County of the intention to discontinue providing this service. He said that he believes there is a considerable extra cost to the citizens of Carrboro because of the County's decision. Chair Pelissier said that the landfill is going to close and it was just a matter of a difference in timing. Mayor Chilton said that the agreement calls for a certain amount of notice. He said that the Town has not received a formal notice about not continuing to provide this service to the Town of Carrboro. Orange County Staff Attorney Sahana Ayers said that the interlocal agreement does not address the end of the life closure of the landfill itself. She does not think that the County has the responsibility to give notice about something that is not in the interlocal agreement. Mayor Chilton said that this is a viewpoint that he expected the County Attorney to take, but his responsibility is to the taxpayers of Carrboro and he reads the document differently. In answer to a question about the Solid Waste Advisory Board, Commissioner Yuhasz said that the SWAB has not met for the last two meeting times because without there being a decision about Chapel Hill moving forward, there is very little to discuss. Alderman O'Donnell said that she stood behind Mayor Chilton in that there should be a conversation about this soon regarding the Solid Waste Interlocal Agreement; a scheduled meeting. Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board of County Commissioners was not unanimous and he wished that these meetings were used to find a positive way to move forward. He said that with all of these issues, they need to find common ground. He is an advocate of trying to find combined services for citizens. He asked Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson to talk about the waste reduction. Gayle Wilson said that Orange County is at about 55% waste reduction and the disruption in solid waste disposal may cause a blip, but he hopes not. They are continuing to move forward toward the final goal. Commissioner Yuhasz said that regardless of what solid waste solution is decided upon, there needs to be a central collection place in Orange County, or it needs to be transferred to some other location. 5. Historic Roqers Road Neiqhborhood Michael Talbert said that in 1972 the landfill was opened by the Town of Chapel Hill and in 1999 Orange County assumed ownership and operation of the Orange County Landfill