Orange County NC Website
renting, and the owners will just up the rent to cover the fee. She said there is a lot that <br /> Chapel Hill could do with $212,000 to help its residents. <br /> Town Council Member Palmer said it would be important to have people in place to <br /> explain the fees to residents. She said she is hoping that this ends up as one fee, but she <br /> understands the difficulty of explaining the taxes and fees to residents, some of whom are <br /> struggling. She suggested a trial period with monitoring. <br /> Alderman Chaney said she agreed that this program is a system, and it is not a la <br /> carte. She said residents can choose whether or not to access the system. She said it is also <br /> foundational to the solid waste program in reducing the waste stream, and because of this she <br /> is less inclined to agree that it makes sense to pay proportionally. She said it is important to <br /> send a message about the value of reducing the waste stream. She said she does not want <br /> to ask people to pay more for the services that they do not have, when those same people <br /> have been subsidizing those services by others by virtue of the fact that they have not had <br /> them. She said there have been investments in the towns before the rural areas, and this <br /> investment has included the wear and tear on rural resident's cars as they travel to the <br /> convenience centers, and it has been on their time and the neglect on the waste stream in <br /> rural areas. She said the towns are just going to return that investment. <br /> Alderman Chaney said the fee is going to be lower under either one of these options, <br /> and single family properties will pay lower fees, so a lot of people will already see savings. <br /> She said both plans put a higher burden on the commercial sector, and to some degree, the <br /> multi-family sector, which is somewhat troubling. However, she said these are also the sectors <br /> with the highest burden on the system. She said single fee system allows a reduction in stress <br /> on some users, and sends a clear message to others that the goal is increasing service and <br /> better meeting needs. She said she is not opposed to a pilot program, but she thinks this pilot <br /> should be the single fee system, and it should be for three years, to allow for more data. She <br /> said the data should be about real cost, and if fuel cost is going to be considered, the fuel cost <br /> for residents using the SWCC should be considered. <br /> Commissioner Price said she agreed with Alderman Chaney. She noted that option 1 <br /> will mean that rural residents will pay $24 more for a service they will not get for three years, <br /> and this is unfair. <br /> Commissioner porosin said the two tiered system is inherently divisive. He said this is <br /> a place where a one-size-fits-all would work. He said he is not sure a pilot program is needed, <br /> but if it is, it would need to go longer than a year. He said everyone feels there is some <br /> service they are subsidizing but not using. He said a single fee makes sense, and this is <br /> where it should start. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said the County does subsidize 700 households, and this could <br /> be looked at as just the start. He said one component that is not quantified is the educational <br /> component, and this could be built upon. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said there are a lot of issues involved in the solid waste <br /> enterprise that could do with more analysis. He does not understand the necessity of a pilot <br /> program, but he thinks there should be a requirement to scrutinize all of the numbers and <br /> assumptions. He said Orange County will be upgrading and re-opening the Eubanks SWCC <br /> next year, and the number of users from the towns will increase over time. He said the smart <br /> thing to do is to take a comprehensive look at this as it goes along, and there may be a need <br /> for reasonable changes to some of these components. He said these are the numbers and <br /> data that have to be used right now. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs said there are many other weighty issues, but recycling is <br /> something that everyone agrees is a high value for the community. He said nothing has to be <br /> decided tonight, but it will be important next week for the respective boards to have given <br /> some indication of where they want this to go. <br />