Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
Minutes - Regular Meeting <br /> Solid Waste Advisory Board <br /> December 3 , 2009 <br /> Approved January 11, 2010 <br /> from unstaffed sites to staffed sites and there was a huge uproar that there would be a <br /> lot of illegal dumping, people would never get used to staffed sites, why are you <br /> getting rid of the unstaffed sites and so on . Fifteen years later they are a stalwart <br /> element of county services . It is interesting to note over a period of time that services <br /> evolve and people ' s reactions to what services are provided evolve . Now your survey <br /> points out how much people embrace the solid waste convenience centers . Well it <br /> wasn' t always like that when they first came into being. <br /> Hauser states that to qualify when we walked in the room the big target on our back <br /> should be " Oh they are going to come whine about something about the rural <br /> community . " Services that work in Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough are <br /> different and what works in the rural community is different. It is our opinion that <br /> the rural county doesn' t always get a voice and very often we are an afterthought of <br /> services that are given to urban residents . The only reason we are doing this is to see <br /> if we can amplify the voice of the rural resident so that we don' t get saddled with <br /> services that don' t fit. I think people are happy to pay for good services and the right <br /> services but they want services that fit their lifestyle and culture . <br /> Sassaman states that I think a lot of work went into this report and there is an awful <br /> lot of data . Knowing that OCV is trying to represent the rural portion of the county, I <br /> think it needs to be understood that a significant portion of Orange County residents <br /> were excluded from the survey, which is unfortunate . We talk about the people that <br /> live in the unincorporated vs . those that live in the incorporated areas, those of us that <br /> live in the incorporated areas are just as much citizens of Orange County as anyone <br /> else that lives in Orange County . The report would have been a lot stronger if it had <br /> included all the residents of the county or represented all the areas . <br /> I value the convenience centers . I count on them even though I have drop off centers <br /> near my home and curbside . The convenience centers and the sheds are really a <br /> flagship operation for this county . A lot of people that I know that live in the town <br /> agree with me . I would like to say something about accidents and risks . Risk is rarely <br /> evident until someone dies . I have seen situations at the convenience centers that <br /> make me shudder . Sometime, someone is going to get seriously hurt. They are not <br /> risk free . <br /> Wilson states that to follow up on the safety comment, most people aren' t aware of the <br /> number of near misses . Close oversight by the attendants prevent accidents . It would <br /> have been interesting to ask the question and gotten an answer from those people <br /> who periodically use a burn barrel or have close neighbors who do . There were no <br /> surprises, it' s already been noted that people don' t want to pay fees or any more <br /> money for anything . <br /> 8 <br />