Agenda - 09-16-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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13 1 Chair Jacobs said the point of the earlier discussion was to make the commitment to 2 resolve this by this time next year, but there is still an equity question about using the reserves 3 generated by everyone to subsidize only the rural curbside. He said this should be discussed 4 or decided on now. He said if he was an urban taxpayer, he would want to know why he was 5 paying twice. 6 Commissioner Pelissier said she would actually argue that the towns would be paying 7 three times - from the reserves, the general fund for the SWCC, and the recycling fee. She 8 said there was a plan to gradually increase the SWCC fees for the rural population, and this 9 should be done this year to make it more equitable for the towns. 10 Chair Jacobs said the Board needs to come out of this discussion with a list of decision 11 points that staff can bring back as a decision item on what is being funded and how it is being 12 funded. 13 John Roberts said one of the funding items that was discussed would involve a recycling 14 ordinance requiring residents to separate designated materials and increasing the countywide 15 convenience center fee to a facility sustaining fee. He said this would free up $1.8 million of 16 general fund dollars that could then be used to provide curbside recycling countywide. He said 17 there are a lot of details that would need to be worked out, but there are no glaring legal issues. 18 Chair Jacobs asked if these fees are differentiated by rural, multi - family, and urban. 19 John Roberts said yes. 20 Chair Jacobs said when there was a past working group represented by elected officials 21 from all of the municipalities, the entire group recommended the current solid waste 22 convenience center and structure. He said the group agreed there was value in having a 23 SWCC system with two large centers and three smaller satellite centers. He said this was a 24 mutually agreed upon system. 25 Commissioner Price said her concern is that there are people that don't want to be 26 bothered with curbside recycling. She said those people living out in the County are acting as 27 their own pickup service, and they are paying for the gas. She wants to respect the view of 28 those who don't want to pay for a pickup service they will not receive. She hopes the Board 29 would be able to discuss this as part of the whole big picture that includes both the urban and 30 rural areas. 31 Chair Jacobs said a decision just needs to be made for this fiscal year. 32 Commissioner Gordon asked John Roberts if his reference to providing curbside service 33 countywide meant providing this to rural areas. 34 John Roberts said he meant countywide, but no one would be forced to utilize curbside. 35 He said the current routes would be kept, and the service would be expanded into the rural 36 areas to those residents that wanted it. 37 Commissioner Gordon said she thinks this should be financed with fees, and the 38 convenience center fees should be increased, as was the original plan. She said the Board has 39 something close to an agreement with the partners regarding a $59 fee for recycling pickup. 40 She said this means that the County residents have to be charged something. She said the 41 idea of having a SWCC /roadside fee for everyone including the towns might be more than can 42 be accomplished. She thinks this should to be financed by fees for services rendered, and 43 there needs to somehow be a fee that is equitable throughout the County. 44 Commissioner McKee said John Roberts said no one would be forced to do curbside, 45 but he did say they would be required to recycle. He asked what type of enforcement this 46 would involve. 47 John Roberts said the discussion hasn't gotten that far yet. 48 Commissioner McKee said when there is discussion of requirements, it involves 49 enforcement, and he starts to have red flags.