Orange County NC Website
10 <br /> 1 Frank Clifton said there are a lot of undecided issues and it really does not make sense <br /> 2 for a group to meet without a clear charge. He said hopefully in the coming months boundaries <br /> 3 can be resolved and the charge can be re-established. He said that the actual charge needs to <br /> 4 come from the elected officials, not staff. He said he senses some frustration that the elected <br /> 5 boards and jurisdictions have not been able to come together on some of the issues. <br /> 6 Town Manager Roger Stancil said the county manager has been keeping the town <br /> 7 informed about the Board of County Commissioners' actions. <br /> 8 He said the garbage disposal is being moved to Durham County and this is being <br /> 9 coordinated with county staff. He said there have been conversations with Carrboro about <br /> 10 mutual work in the collection of commercial garbage and the efficiencies to be gained by <br /> 11 working together. He said that once this works, the discussion can be applied to residential <br /> 12 garbage. <br /> 13 <br /> 14 b) Town of Chapel Hill's Solid Waste Plans <br /> 15 <br /> 16 Town Manager Roger Stancil there are preparations for a potential transfer station on <br /> 17 town owned property. He said an RFP is being looked at for getting bids from private entities to <br /> 18 do a turnkey provisional transfer service; and there is also consideration of a town-owned and <br /> 19 operated transfer station in partnership with Carrboro. <br /> 20 He said, with the decision of the county to change its recycling model, the three <br /> 21 managers think it may be good to put out an RFP for recycling services within the towns. He <br /> 22 feels that, with the housing density, there would be savings for the towns to operate recycling in <br /> 23 the urban areas and for the county to continue that in the rural areas. <br /> 24 He said the direction is that the three towns put out an RFP to get more information. <br /> 25 <br /> 26 c) Franchise and Recycling Options <br /> 27 <br /> 28 Chair Jacobs said the county has not decided anything about recycling yet and will have <br /> 29 a discussion at their April 9th meeting. <br /> 30 Town Manager Roger Stancil said Frank Clifton has kept them informed and he just <br /> 31 wants to be ready to act. <br /> 32 Frank Clifton gave some general background information. He said the Board of County <br /> 33 Commissioners has only taken actions as required by state statute in order to keep all options <br /> 34 open. <br /> 35 Frank Clifton said, prior to 2004, recycling was funded out of landfill fees. In 2004 the <br /> 36 county implemented a fee to cover countywide recycling services. This was followed, in 2011 <br /> 37 with a solid waste fee to support those who use convenience centers. He referenced rulings <br /> 38 last year by the Supreme Court that local governments have no authority not granted by <br /> 39 legislature. He said unless there are changes to the rules in the legislature, there will need to <br /> 40 be a new methodology to fund recycling. <br /> 41 Frank Clifton said one option to consider is the franchise process, which would be a <br /> 42 voluntary, fee based system with the potential for multiple vendors. He said if a decision was <br /> 43 made for the county to afford recycling, there are enough reserves set aside for equipment and <br /> 44 operation within the existing program to cover this upcoming fiscal year. He said there are no <br /> 45 funds to extend it beyond that year, and work would need to begin early to set up for transition <br /> 46 to the vendor, franchise system. <br /> 47 Frank Clifton gave the following other options: 1) The county could do away with <br /> 48 curbside recycling, which is certainly not a popular option. 2) The county could establish a <br /> 49 volunteer program where people can buy in or out. This has potential for abuse and sharing of <br /> 50 service, and the county will get the recycling, but may not get the full revenue to pay for it. 3) <br />