Minutes 01-23-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Board reviewed and considered authorizing a plan for creation and implementation of a Solid Waste Collection and Disposal District for recycling in unincorporated Orange County and provided direction to staff. Gayle Wilson said the Board of County Commissioners has explored various options of replacing the 3-r fee over the past year. He said this was precipitated by the elimination of the rural 3-r fee previously assessed for rural curbside recycling services. He noted that this fee was $38 per household. He said in December the Board had expressed interest in the establishment of a service district to replace the lost 3-r funding. He said the Board had also acknowledged that the time to act on this was limited. Gayle Wilson said the Board requested that staff return with an implementation plan for proceeding toward the establishment of a service district. He said this requires a public hearing; notices to be sent to all property owners within the proposed district; a report including information on the proposed district to be filed in the clerk's office; the conducting of a public hearing; and ultimately a final decision by the Board. He said these steps must all be taken in a deliberate and timely manner if the Board wishes that the district be established and effective by July 1, 2014. He reviewed a map of the district, which was compiled to include the original 13,750 residents that are currently eligible for the service and previously paid the 3-r fee. He said additional parcels have been added to comply with the requirement in the statute that the parcels that comprise the district be contiguous. He said additional parcels that contain more densely populated areas, suitable for expansion, have also been included. He said the district also includes parcels and roadways that link these denser areas to the existing service area to create functional collection routes. Gayle Wilson said the district includes sufficient service points to allow for maximizing the efficiency of existing staff and equipment to allow for the addition of approximately 2,000 additional service points. He said the proposed district contains about 8,000 additional parcels from the existing service area. He said the current area was converted to single stream collection last year, and efficiency was gained in this transition. He said this efficiency will be further enhanced by new collection vehicles and roll carts. He said 1,715 tons were collected from the existing service area last fiscal year. He said phase 1 of the implementation plan consists of cart distribution and initiation of service to the existing service area by November of 2014. He said phase 2 would be to distribute carts and provide service to the newly added areas no later than the fall of 2015. Gayle Wilson said the preliminary cost estimates for the district are $630,000 or 1.5 cents per $100 of property value. He reviewed the manager recommendations outlined in the abstract. Michael Talbert reminded the Board of the past meetings leading to the consideration of district, while using solid waste fund reserve balances for the current fiscal year. He said there are many ways to pay for this, including: franchise, general fund taxing authority, or contracting with a third party to provide a similar service. Commissioner Gordon asked that the district be shown on a map of the entire County. She referred to pages 10 and 11 and said it should be clear that this is a recycling service. Michael Talbert said the district is primarily for the purpose of recycling, but the statute authorizes a Solid Waste Service district, so it needs to be called that. He said recyclable material is solid waste that has been removed from the solid waste stream for recycling purposes. Commissioner Price asked about the solid waste that is not recycled. Gayle Wilson said nothing is being proposed related to garbage as a part of this district at this time.