Agenda - 05-07-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 1 county's leadership in recycling is so great and he questions the implication of moving to 2 franchise. He does not want to see quality of service and the rate of recycling lost in the 3 shuffle. He said he feels the county manager's proposals and the town's reactions bode poorly 4 for quality of service. 5 Town Manager Roger Stancil said it was the three town managers' opinion that the 6 same level of service would be able to be achieved for less cost, because of density and the 7 ability to integrate the program with pay as you throw and other collections. He said solid waste 8 is a big core service and there are some real ways to gain efficiency. He said he is not 9 advocating for anything at this point. 10 Chair Jacobs referenced the legislative ruling from the State Supreme Court on Lanvale 11 Properties LLC versus Cabarrus County. He said if you read comments from State Legislators 12 further restricting counties, this case is cited as part of the rationale. 13 Council Member Lee Starrow said he gives thumbs up to the pay as you throw option. 14 He said there is something very unsatisfying about a voluntary program, and he feels that the 15 final two options the Manager laid out seem to be the most successful. 16 Chair Jacobs said he agrees with Commissioner Rich and Council Member Jim Ward. 17 He said that it seems that the county and the towns are not planning together and he is 18 disappointed. He asked why the county is not part of the conversation about the transfer 19 station. He questioned why the elected officials are not meeting together to figure out joint 20 solutions rather than waiting to see what other jurisdictions are doing. He asked how a 21 comprehensive system can be achieved if everyone is operating in different realms. He is 22 willing to meet with other elected officials about this. He said the reason solid waste has been 23 so successful is because elected officials in the past made decisions to do solid waste together 24 and set an aggressive goal. He urged his colleagues to plan more together. He said SWAB 25 does not have a charge at this point. He said that a short term charge could be developed to 26 allow meetings and development of a new inter-local agreement. 27 Mayor Kleinschmidt said there is some tension here because this is a transition point in 28 a process that had previously worked so well. He said it is in the interest of all of the towns, 29 which have limited their growth but expanded their numbers, to look at the alternatives to create 30 efficiency. He said it is easier to pick up recycling and solid waste in high density areas. He 31 said, with regard the countywide option, it would be unwise not to know what the opportunity, 32 cost and trade-offs would be when marrying urban and rural service. 33 Chair Jacobs said he is not sure that equal effort is being put into looking at the options. 34 He said he understands that it is reasonable to question assumptions in this transition period, 35 and to look at what is most cost efficient. He does not see the same effort going into 36 investigating how to work together in reaching goals. 37 Mayor Kleinschmidt thanked Frank Clifton for always including this as an option and he 38 said he fully expects the manager and the Board to come up with solutions incorporating the 39 varying densities of the entire county. He said the role of the county is to see the options 40 county-wide, and the town's role is to consider the options that best serve the taxpayers of 41 Chapel Hill. 42 Chair Jacobs said he would just like to make sure both sides get back together before 43 any decisions are made. 44 Commissioner Price pointed out that the term county-wide does not include the entire 45 county when referring to service areas. 46 Mayor Kleinschmidt said he was referring to her responsibilities as a County 47 Commissioner. 48 Commissioner Price said she is looking forward to continuing to work with the towns in 49 coming up with a solution. She said she appreciates Commissioner Pelissier's comment about 50 viewing this as an opportunity.