Minutes 01-23-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Price asked about the reference on page 2 to services provided to the elderly or disabled. Gayle Wilson said special service is provided for bin pickup for elderly or disabled residents unable to take it to the curb. Commissioner Dorosin said the summary gave a projected tax rate of 1.5 cents per $100 of property value. He asked if there has been any analysis of the values of the property in the proposed district to arrive at that number. Gayle Wilson said yes, this analysis was done. He noted that the total valuation of the district is shown at the bottom of the map, and this number is $4,452,893,165. Commissioner Dorosin asked Michael Talbert, if the Board wanted to fund this out of their general fund, what $630,000 would mean in taxable value for the whole county. Michael Talbert said this would equal .3 cent (1/3 of a penny). Commissioner Dorosin noted that the report shows the 2011-12 program cost was $506,000 for the program, and now the projected cost would be $630,000. Michael Talbert said in 2011-12 things were moving toward single stream, but trucks and bins were not purchased then. Commissioner McKee referred to the pre-existing rural curbside area where there were 13,700 customers, and 57 percent used curbside recycling service. He said this meant that about 6000 residents were paying the 3-r fee and not using the service. Gayle Wilson said that is correct. He said the 57 percent was calculated by the set out rate. He said there may be more participating at any one time, but only 57 percent set out bins on a given day. Commissioner McKee said the point was that there were thousands of people paying the 3-r fee while not using the service and opting to still take their recycling to the Solid Waste Convenience Center (SWCC). He noted that the curbside collection amount was 1,715 tons, and the convenience center collected 2,300 tons, though some of that were urban and other materials. He said this means there were still over a thousand tons coming into the convenience centers countywide. He said his point is that a lot of people on the curbside route were still taking their recycling to the SWCC and not using the curbside service. He said Orange County residents have been good about working toward the 61 percent goal. Commissioner McKee referred to the pre-existing set up with curbside. He asked if the exempt properties were paying the curbside fee. He said the proposed tax district will have 631 exempt properties that will not pay the tax although they will potentially still continue to receive the service. Gayle Wilson said this is correct. Commissioner Pelissier asked if there is comparable data for the towns. Gayle Wilson said there are surveys, and when the transition is made to roll carts that information will be provided in detail; but he can't recall it now. Commissioner Pelissier said it would be interesting to know the comparison. Chair Jacobs asked Gayle Wilson to repeat the information regarding the fact that people will not exclusively have to use the roll out carts. Gayle Wilson said due to the varied topography, the County will have to make accommodations for some homes. Chair Jacobs asked if there is any data on the effectiveness of an "opt-in" recycling program. Gayle Wilson said there is considerable data. He said the `opt in-opt out' situation that exists in 12-13 counties results in poor participation. He said Alamance County has an opt-in program and the participation rate is in the single digits. Chair Jacobs asked if it is possible to create a service district that includes the municipalities and the areas of the County that would receive curbside recycling.