Minutes 04-15-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Bonnie Hauser thanked the Board for listening to the public comment and opposition to this service district tax. She said the problem is not the tax, but the service model. She said the County needs to find a fair and effective way to provide a choice of curbside or convenience center services to the community. She said part of the solution could lie with the towns, especially for suburban communities in the ETJ, and that is why the towns need to be part of the discussion. She said the curbside tax discussion did not address the growing concern over the County's convenience center and recycling fees, which have tripled over the last few years. She said, even with the increase, the fees do not cover the cost of County services, which rely on sizeable subsidies from the general fund. She asked the Board to consider finding a simple way to fund rural curbside recycling for the short term. She asked the Board to start a work group of professionals and citizens to explore services, costs and fees for trash and recycling services. She would like to see the program enhanced with composting and other services. She said fees should be simplified to be made transparent. She asked for exploration of ways to fund services without subsidies from the general fund. She asked for a halt on capital spending for convenience centers and roll carts until a plan for the future is made. Chair Jacobs said the Board appreciated the level of public comment through emails and public hearings. He said the Board has worked hard to create avenues for exchange of information through the hiring of a public affairs officer, email, website improvements, and the future move to a cable ready meeting room in Hillsborough. Chair Jacobs said the Board did listen, and it did make a difference in how the Commissioners looked at the proposal. He said the Board saw an unwavering commitment to recycling in the County. Chair Jacobs said neither option before the Board is viable at this point, and there are better next steps to take. Commissioner Dorosin said it is clear to him that a one size fits all solution is not going to work, due to the different levels of density and rural components of the County. He said some neighborhoods are densely populated, and curbside recycling makes a lot of sense; however a lot of folks live in the rural areas with long driveways and no curbs. He said it does not make sense to try and squeeze either of these square pegs into round holes. He said the context has changed since the Board originally looked at this issue, and there is now better collaboration with the towns. He said this change creates an opportunity to re-visit all of the options for the broader picture of solid waste. He said there is an opportunity to step back for a moment and come up with a comprehensive plan that addresses the differing demands of the different communities in the County. Chair Jacobs noted that the Board has a work session on May 13th where they will discuss a draft solid waste inter-local agreement, and this conversation can be continued then. Commissioner Rich agreed with the previous comments, and she feels that it is important to include their partners in this conversation. She said the idea of going into the general fund means the people in the towns are paying twice for recycling. She would like to continue this conversation at a work session. Commissioner Pelissier said there may be more to discuss, but the fact that the towns decided to continue the fees next year indicates that there is already a partnership, and there was an expectation that the County would not draw from the general fund. She said the County has not done a good job of painting the big picture of countywide recycling. She said many individuals felt it was unfair to base this tax on property tax; however the County is already paying for a large percentage of recycling at the convenience centers through the general fund, which is property tax. She said there is already an inequitable system, and it will be aggravated if the Board does not make a decision. She said the Board needs to look at all