Agenda - 02-19-2002 - 9a - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 • Most farms are likely already utilizing private sector to perform landclearing activities thereby simply expanding existing business relationships. • Private sector does not presently have stockpiling of landscape debris and grinding operations locations since a rezoning to Agricultural Service (AS) is required. Rezonings of this type have met strong opposition in the past from the neighborhood. • If materials are ground on-site and left for farmer to utilize in the future, some risk of fire exists due to heat generation within the static pile of mulch. • On an intermittent basis, it is likely the private sector would be cost-competitive with any fee- based(unsubsidized) local government provided grinding or hauling operations. The private sector typically is structured for highly mobile, variable sized projects, that can be scheduled around any number of ongoing regional landclearing activities. Their staffing and equipment is predicated on these types of operations. • A local government capability for such intermittent operations among the agriculture community would entail more costs for equipment/staffing due to the limited/irregular need presented by the agriculture community for this type of operation and the investment required to develop this capability. The Solid Waste Management Department would have to over-staff to maintain this capability due to ongoing requirements of our permanent facility. Cost: Note-Staff has had some difficulty in obtaining reliable cost estimates for private sector operations. Costs are typically site-specific and vary widely depending on individual business workloads/obligations,and other local market and site variables. We have made cost estimates below, based on contacts with two local landclearing companies that provide services for farms. These estimates do not include the costs of landclearing; only estimates of managing the debris afterward. • Having materials ground into mulch on-site and either left for the farmer's future use or hauled away would entail some level of cost. However, the usable mulch would have some value, at least to some farmers, as a soil amendment. Static piles of mulch create a potential fire hazard. • Tipping fees at private landfills in adjacent counties vary. Farmers'state that they frequently have difficulty locating legally permitted landclearing debris landfills/stump dumps. It is tempting to utilize a number of non permitted dump locations. • If no reasonably priced,permitted local non-burning—non-grinding options available a ban on burning could encourage illegal dumping. • Staff believes that one of the likely least cost options for farmers, aside from burning, is hauling landclearing debris to a private landfill. Orange County's construction and demolition landfill fees are prohibitive for landclearing and inert debris (LCID) due to the value of permitted C&D capacity versus that of permitted LCID capacity. Orange County Solid Waste Management does not operate a LCID landfill, nor does it presently maintain any management capability for managing these type wastes. There are no permitted LCID landfills in Orange County. Even with the acquisition of the equipment related to the RRM Ordinance, the Eubanks Road site does not have space to manage/recycle even modest volumes of landclearing debris. • Staff estimates that a publicly owned LCID recycling facility, as an alternative to landfilling, could be operated at a cost similar to an LCID landfill, without use of disposal and suggests that the BOCC consider development of such a local recycling capacity. Staff believes such a 4