Agenda - 06-18-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 1 The Board approved a resolution of support, which is incorporated by reference, for a joint 2 application to the North Carolina Department of Transportation to designate a new scenic 3 byway from Chapel Hill to Jordan Lake and authorize the Chair to sign. 4 5 6. Public Hearings 6 7 a. Public Hearing to Consider Operational and Funding Options for Orange 8 County's Solid Waste and Recycling Programs 9 The Board held a public hearing to consider operational and funding options for Orange 10 County's Solid Waste and Recycling Programs. 11 Michael Talbert said eight possible options had been looked at and several of them, 12 including the franchise option, had been eliminated at the April 9th meeting. This changed the 13 purpose of tonight's meeting to a discussion of the three remaining options. He referred to the 14 attachment that outlines these three options, which are: 15 1. A Countywide Solid Waste Management Authority- This would eliminate all 3R fees 16 and would create a countywide authority under general statute 153A and would take two or 17 more units to create such an authority. This could be put in place over the next 12 to 14 18 months. 19 2. A Solid Waste Tax Service District - This would act much like a fire district. The 20 intent would be to keep the existing 3R fee and create a single solid waste tax service district. 21 This district would include the towns and would keep in place the rural curbside service. Much 22 of this could be serviced by county staff and the contracting out of urban curbside could 23 continue. 24 3. Eliminate Rural Curbside Recycling —This would keep the basic 3R fee and would 25 move forward with a system of convenience centers and drop-off sites. This is a significant 26 departure from the current system. 27 Michael Talbert said the recommendation is that the Board receive the Public comment 28 on these three options and then advise the staff. He said there is anticipation of short term 29 solutions between now and 2014. He hopes there will be a long term solution in place for fiscal 30 year 2014-15. 31 Frank Clifton said this issue has been considered very comprehensively and the best 32 option for the county and the towns would be to move toward a Solid Waste Management 33 Authority. He said there are interim steps that could be taken and the most appropriate would 34 be a countywide solid waste tax service district. He said this allows the simplest implementation 35 and allows the most flexibility. He said this could be a combination of a tax and/or continuing 36 the 3R fee. 37 He said there has been discussion of using reserves within the solid waste fund to 38 secure a process for 2013-14. He said this is based on an estimated cost of$1.7 million to 39 continue existing services in the County and the town. He noted that there is no authority to 40 operate in Durham County. 41 He said that the deliberation time for each of the three options makes it important to 42 move forward with the establishment of the tax district in the next several months. He noted 43 that the tax would not need to be levied until the next fiscal year. 44 He said there are many decisions to be made and he feels that the current services can 45 be delivered more efficiently, but this comes at a cost. He said there is also still the issue of the 46 towns and having everyone on the same page. 47 Michael Talbert said the pink sheet is an example of how to fund this program for the 48 next 14 months. He noted that the back of this sheet contains a snapshot of current long term 49 liabilities.