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3~ <br />Page 8 <br />February 7, 2003 <br />all of the major private collection companies operating in this <br />area. However, New Hanover County has been put on notice by the <br />private haulers in that area that their franchising system <br />violates federal flow control requirements, Similarly, <br />Wilmington. is making noises about undoing the system. Before New <br />Hanover County enacted its franchising system it had adopted a <br />"pure" flow control ordinance, That ordinance was challenged in <br />federal court resulting in a consent order the gist of which is <br />New Hanover County has repealed or suspended the enforcement of <br />its flow control ordinance, Solid waste and flow control are <br />ongoing issues in DTew Hanover County. It is my opinion that <br />although this method of franchising may be an attractive <br />response to solid waste system financial problems, it is too <br />risky presently to attempt to implement particularly given the <br />amount of time Orange County has to respond to its solid waste <br />financing needs. <br />There is another franchising model (and variations of this <br />model) which has passed flow control review by the United States <br />Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In both of the <br />cases considering variations of this model that I am aware of, <br />the United States Supreme Court, which created the flow control <br />doctrine, declined review. <br />This model begins with the creation of franchise districts <br />and the awarding of an exclusive franchise to one solid waste <br />collector/hauler in each district. The franchise granted <br />requires the franchisee to operate a recycling program according <br />to the County's specifications and requires that all waste be <br />disposed of in the County's solid waste disposal facilities.. Key <br />to this model is that the County pays the franchisee for' <br />performing this service. The County in turn charges the <br />residents of the County a fee or fees in the same categories as <br />discussed in the Fees for Service section of this letter. Using <br />this model results in no non-users of the County's solid waste <br />system. Therefore, everyone pays fees. <br />Similar to the Hillsborough franchise system, this is a <br />cutting edge approach and not without risk. I also am unable to <br />predict how much time it would ta7ce to implement in Orange <br />