Agenda - 01-22-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 23 an issue the Board of County Commissioners would need to deal with and decide. He said staff is ready to implement and proceed or stand by and wait for further direction. Commissioner Jacobs asked if the manager has any guidance. Bonnie Hammersley said staff's assumption was that the group would come to some sort of agreement, and the goal was not to slow down the process as there are residents who are eager for this. She said if it is the will of the Board not to move forward, they will comply with that. Commissioner Jacobs said the members on the SWAG have more information and a sense of where this may go. He said the rest of the Board is not privy to this, and the goal is to get there with presenting the options for funding recycling. He said he is comfortable with doing whatever the Board of County Commissioners wants to do. Commissioner Rich said the group is heading in this direction anyway, and there are close to 7000 residents that want this service now. She noted that recycling is already being picked up in different bins. She is in favor of this proposal. Commissioner Rich noted that the carts in Wilmington N.C. are pink. Commissioner Pelissier agreed with Commissioner Rich. She said the cost of the carts is separate from the funding of the entire recycling program. She said this has already been done for the urban area, and now it needs to be done for the rural area. She is in support of moving ahead with this. Commissioner Dorosin asked Commissioner Jacobs and Commissioner Rich to give the Board a 5 minute summary of the progress of the SWAG to reassure them of where things are going and how their colleagues are communicating. Commissioner Rich said the group is getting close to being on the same page as far as funding recycling. She said the funding options were presented at their last meeting, and everyone is leaning between one or two options. She said there was also a letter from the General Assembly regarding the ability to charge for recycling, and it is not considered a fee. John Roberts said the new language adopted by the General Assembly states that Counties can use fees and revenue generated from existing facilities for other solid waste programs. He believes that this means something, and the common sense reading is that as long as the County uses the revenues generated by existing facilities for other solid waste programs, it is abiding by this statutory language. Commissioner Jacobs said, based on that opinion, there were a few things that are different. He said one difference is that undeveloped properties will not be assessed as part of an availability fee. John Roberts said that is correct; fees cannot be assessed against undeveloped properties. He said the new language expanded on existing language, which only applies to developed properties. He said this is because undeveloped properties do not generate municipal solid waste. Commissioner Jacobs said there is a trade -off between different imperatives and equities. He said some people on the SWAG felt that there should be no general fund revenues in this; and then there were some Board members who felt general funds were the most equitable way, so it was a trade off. He said four different funding possibilities were presented, and then all of the staffs were sent off to discuss this and then come back with the trade offs. For example, he said there was discussion about whether there was still a need for drop off bins, and data was presented to show that these were still valuable. He said he is comfortable, but he wants to make sure their colleagues are not being left out. Commissioner Rich said it is encouraging that UNC and UNC Healthcare are at the table and seem interested in partnering with the governmental entities.