Minutes 03-21-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Jacobs said that there have been several questions from Carrboro regarding when the Solid Waste Advisory Board would begin meeting again. He said that the response always stated this would happen when there was a new inter-local agreement. He said that if there is to be an entity working on solid waste issues on behalf of the three municipalities in the County, there needs to be a framework for operation. Chair Jacobs said it is not clear how the SWAB can continue to meet without an agreement. He said it would be good to find out what all the different entities envision in order to move forward. Frank Clifton said there are a lot of undecided issues and it really does not make sense for a group to meet without a clear charge. He said hopefully in the coming months boundaries can be resolved and the charge can be re-established. He said that the actual charge needs to come from the elected officials, not staff. He said he senses some frustration that the elected boards and jurisdictions have not been able to come together on some of the issues. Town Manager Roger Stancil said the county manager has been keeping the town informed about the Board of County Commissioners' actions. He said the garbage disposal is being moved to Durham County and this is being coordinated with county staff. He said there have been conversations with Carrboro about mutual work in the collection of commercial garbage and the efficiencies to be gained by working together. He said that once this works, the discussion can be applied to residential garbage. b) Town of Chapel Hill's Solid Waste Plans Town Manager Roger Stancil there are preparations for a potential transfer station on town owned property. He said an RFP is being looked at for getting bids from private entities to do a turnkey provisional transfer service; and there is also consideration of a town-owned and operated transfer station in partnership with Carrboro. He said, with the decision of the county to change its recycling model, the three managers think it may be good to put out an RFP for recycling services within the towns. He feels that, with the housing density, there would be savings for the towns to operate recycling in the urban areas and for the county to continue that in the rural areas. He said the direction is that the three towns put out an RFP to get more information. c) Franchise and Recycling Options Chair Jacobs said the county has not decided anything about recycling yet and will have a discussion at their April 9th meeting. Town Manager Roger Stancil said Frank Clifton has kept them informed and he just wants to be ready to act. Frank Clifton gave some general background information. He said the Board of County Commissioners has only taken actions as required by state statute in order to keep all options open. Frank Clifton said, prior to 2004, recycling was funded out of landfill fees. In 2004 the county implemented a fee to cover countywide recycling services. This was followed, in 2011 with a solid waste fee to support those who use convenience centers. He referenced rulings last year by the Supreme Court that local governments have no authority not granted by legislature. He said unless there are changes to the rules in the legislature, there will need to be a new methodology to fund recycling.