Agenda - 09-01-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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9 1 o The increase in hours for the current positions has a total County cost of$2,896, which 2 is entirely personnel services. 3 o The 2 new 0.75 FTE positions have a total County cost of$26,574, including $2,110 4 in operating expenses and one-time start-up costs. 5 The FY15-16 Manager Recommended Budget includes a decrease of$41,083 in the 6 Vehicle Supplies account. This decrease is due to the reduced cost of fuel and the replacement 7 of older vehicles with new vehicles that get better miles-per-gallon. 8 ■ The FY15-16 Manager Recommended Budget includes a decrease of$28,114 in the 9 Landfill Fees account. This decrease is due to an increase in the proper separation of materials 10 and due to the fact that there have been no inclement weather events with significant vegetative 11 waste. 12 ■ Continuation of the SWCC Improvements Project by completing Phase II of the Solid Waste 13 Convenience Center Improvements at the Eubanks Road Center. 14 ■ The General Fund contribution to Sanitation in the FY15-16 Manager Recommended 15 Budget is $1,718,018; this is a decrease of$138,525 from FY14-15. 16 17 Commissioner Jacobs asked if there is a status update regarding the landfill gas 18 harvesting. 19 Gayle Wilson said revenue is received from the University of North Carolina, and for 20 next year about $60,000 is anticipated. He said these funds stay in the solid waste budget. 21 Commissioner Jacobs said he has always been concerned about paying someone from 22 Goldston to pick up food waste in order to compost it. He asked if it would be possible to 23 collect and compost food in house in Orange County. 24 Gayle Wilson said in order to compost, the food must be mixed with mulch. He said 25 mulch is a great source of revenue for the County and diverting some of it towards composting 26 would be an economic loss. He said there would also need to be a location available to do the 27 composting. He said that composting appears to be a fairly high priority with the Solid Waste 28 Advisory Group (SWAG) and when directed he will move forward on this issue. He said food 29 waste is being collected from a variety of commercial establishments. He says residential food 30 waste is expensive to collect as it must be done twice a week. He said there are a lot of public 31 health issues related with it. He said it can be done, but is expensive. He said a first step may 32 be to increase the number of commercial entities that participate in the collection process 33 before moving onto residential collection. 34 Commissioner Rich said if food waste is being collected from restaurants where is it 35 going. 36 Gayle Wilson said it is collected and composted by Brooks Contracting in Chatham 37 County and is then bought back by Orange County at a discounted rate and sold at the 38 Eubanks Road facility. 39 Commissioner Rich said the Commission for the Environment was very interested in this 40 concept and she would like to see this initiative move forward. 41 Commissioner Pelissier echoed interest in this concept. She asked if there are 42 opportunities to recycle plastic used by farmers. 43 Gayle Wilson said he does not know much about this topic but can research it. 44 Chair McKee said he believed a House bill just passed that allowed open burning of this 45 plastic. 46 Gayle Wilson said when the newly renovated Eubanks Solid Waste Convenience Center 47 (SWCC) opens it will be easier to gauge the possibility of collecting food waste. 48 Commissioner Price asked if the new collection fee was $103 or $107. 49 Gayle Wilson said the fee fluctuated up from $103 to $107, as the 2015-2016 budget 50 took shape. He said the fee of$103 was based on the 2014-2015 budget.