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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19980811APPROVED MAY 18, 1999 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BIMONTHLY WORK SESSION AUGUST 11, 1998 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, August 11, 1998 at 7:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Margaret W. Brown, and Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr., William L. Crowther, Alice M. Gordon, and Stephen Halkiotis COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Assistant County Managers Rod Visser and Albert Kittrell and Clerk of the Board Beverly A. Blythe (all other staff members will be identified appropriately below) NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE KEPT FOR FIVE YEARS. AGENDA 1. PROPOSED PUBLIC HEARING ADVERTISEMENT FOR AUGUST 24, 1998 Planner Emily Cameron reviewed the items for the public hearing scheduled for August 24, 1998. She said that this afternoon she received a letter from the applicant for Lawrence Park Subdivision/Rezoning requesting that both rezoning and subdivision applications be withdrawn at this time and rescheduled for the next public hearing. This withdrawal will provide them the necessary time to work out issues with DOT that have surfaced recently. A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Halkiotis to approve the advertisement for the August 24, 1998 public hearing with the deletion of the Lawrence Park Subdivision/Rezoning request. VOTE: UNANIMOUS 2. SOLID WASTE REPORT: OPTIONS FOR SOLID WASTE OPERATIONS. PLANNING AND FINANCING John Link made this presentation which is incorporated into these minutes by reference. He spoke about and showed on a map the three possible routes to the solid waste transfer station if it were located in the vicinity of the Greene tract. Commissioner Gordon noted that she feels that availability fees will be necessary as a funding mechanism for such a facility. Commissioner Carey asked about the extent of community benefits and it was clarified that they were speaking specifically about the water line. An intern will provide a complete report on the extension of this waterline in about two months. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about the personnel issues expressing a concern about the degree of sensitivity in providing equity in benefits and John Link explained that it is always a sensitive issue when employees are moved from one agency to another. Commissioner Halkiotis asked about private haulers and said that he feels we need to find out exactly how much private haulers are hauling and to what extent they depend upon the Orange County Landfill for disposal of their solid waste. He suggested that they need additional information before they prohibit them from using the Orange County facility. Commissioner Gordon noted that the County's goals are higher than the State's goals and John Link said that the County may reduce these if they want. ATTACHMENT 1 The Board agreed with the "Framework for a Comprehensive Plan for Solid Waste Management in Orange County" as presented in attachment 1 of the agenda packet. ATTACHMENT 2 The Board agreed on the "Goals for the Management of Solid Waste in Orange County" as presented in attachment 2 of the agenda packet. ATTACHMENTS 3 4 5 and 6 - COMMUNITY BENEFITS Chair Brown feels that granting these benefits is an impact from the landfill operation and that LOG funds should be used to pay for these benefits. Commissioner Carey feels that one cent of the sales tax could be appropriated by all entities for this purpose, and if that is not agreeable with the Towns, then use LOG funds. Commissioner Gordon said that she feels the first option would be that this is an impact of the landfill operation. The argument could be used as indicated by the attorneys. Geof Gledhill said that according to all the scientific information they have been able to gather, the landfill operation is not responsible for the water problems in the area surrounding the landfill. There was a consensus to use the one cent sales tax as the primary source to pay for community benefits and use LOG funds as the second option. ATTACHMENTS 7, 8 and 9 - INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT Chair Brown feels we need to review the interlocal agreement before we talk further with the Towns and the Board agreed that we should continue discussions with the Town of Chapel Hill on the "Interlocal Agreement" as presented in attachment 7 of the agenda packet. ATTACHMENTS 10 AND 11 Commissioner Carey feels that it is important to get an indirect cost study done and that LOG funds should be used to pay for this study. Chair Brown said that the LOG is against this study and does not want to pay for it. She asked about moving personnel from the Town to the County and if staff had thought about a facility for this personnel. John Link said that this issue will need to be thoroughly discussed because some of the landfill staff is housed in facilities owned by the Town of Chapel Hill. Commissioner Gordon said that she thought all assets of the LOG would be transferred to the County if they took over the operation of solid waste for Orange County. Gayle Wilson said that the current staff is housed in a facility paid for by the LOG. The facility is located on public works property owned by the Town of Chapel Hill. The Board agreed that the date the County will take over operations would be October 1, 1999. Commissioner Gordon made reference to page 5 of the overheads which listed organizational considerations if the County takes the lead role. She asked Personnel Director Elaine Holmes how she determined substantially equivalent for employee pay and benefits and she said that they looked at the job description of each employee and duties and responsibilities and how that would fall on our salary schedule They reduced each benefit to a dollar value and the difference would be an adjustment to their salary. The benefits would not be identical to those that they are now receiving from the Town of Chapel Hill, but their salary would be adjusted by the difference in benefits. John Link said that they would not be pursuing layoffs. He perceives that the functions will change and what they want to do is to assure folks that they will be trained and reassigned. Commissioner Carey emphasized that he would want them to be treated fairly. The County Commissioners agreed with the organizational considerations as listed in overhead #13 as attached to these minutes. With reference to overhead #15, the Board agreed that they will use eminent domain only as a last resort. With reference to overhead #16 on page 6, Chair Brown said that the last item listed "volume based fees/pay-per-throw" seems to hurt those who can't pay for this service. She does not feel that this should be an option in an effort to achieve waste reduction goals. Commissioner Gordon said that she feels that this list is an appropriate list to achieve waste reduction goals, but that this is something that still needs to be worked out and everyone agreed. With reference to overhead #17on the BOCC/Towns formalizing their decision not to seek a new MSW site search, the Board agreed not to seek a new MSW site in Orange County for now. Commissioner Gordon said that she feels we need to site a transfer station soon and start saving funds to build it later as necessary and the County Commissioners agreed. With reference to overhead #18 on C & D disposal and attachment 16 which is a memo from Wilbert McAdoo to John Link about C&D Waste Management Practices, Chair Brown said that some areas do not offer C&D collection or they ship it out. She thinks that part of this is to recognize that there is a multitude of options and siting this is not the absolute thing to do. Commissioner Gordon asked about the criteria to have a successful site for C&D, MRF, and a transfer station and if it is better to site them all together or separate. Gayle Wilson said that the minimum acreage for all three services would be 75 to 80 acres. The C&D facility would take up a lot of the space. Commissioner Halkiotis said that every MRF he has visited was on a small piece of land. He feels we could use much less than 75 acres. Chair Brown said that she would like to see the C&D issue broaden its scope. She asked if we could restructure the C&D site to extend the life of this facility. She feels there are other options to a C&D site. She would like to see the County adopt an ordinance requiring developers to have a plan for disposing of their C&D waste. Commissioner Halkiotis said that the reality is that it generates $500,000 a year and we don't have a replacement for this. We are providing a service to our citizens but most of this comes from big trucks involved with construction projects. Commissioner Carey feels we need to go ahead and site a C&D facility and if we don't use it, it is okay Commissioner Gordon asked if we could put a cap on the cost and asked what would happen if we don't use it. Commissioner Carey said that it could be decided later - it would need to be used for a public purpose. This would give us flexibility to use it for other things. He feels there should be a limit to what we pay for a C&D site. Commissioner Gordon asked how we are going to make a decision on what will be located together and if they will be located together or scattered. Chair Brown said that staff is going to come up with examples of how combined sites are being used around the country. She feels a combined facility could be very attractive and give a new perspective of what we are trying to create here. Commissioner Carey feels we should let staff study the issue and present a plan for public input because it is important to minimize the impact on the public. Chair Brown said that the LOG is having a consultant work on a plan for a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). The LOG is not headed in the direction of siting all three on one site. John Link suggested that he convey to the towns that the County Commissioners see a need to locate property to site these facilities according to some timetable and have the County staff and the LOG staff look at other examples across the country where these facilities have been colocated. The County Commissioners agreed that the County wants to take a comprehensive approach for solid waste management in Orange County. With reference to overhead #19 on the Greene Tract, Chair Brown made reference to information that she distributed in which she suggested a compromise on the use of the Greene Tract. Specifically, sixty acres of the Greene Tract shall be set aside for use by the County in future solid waste management activities. The balance of the Greene Tract shall remain under the ownership of the current owners, who shall determine its future use. She feels that this should be their first proposal. The second proposal would be that suggested by Chapel Hill and the third proposal would be a counteroffer. Commissioner Gordon said that she feels the counterproposal should be cost effective to encourage Chapel Hill to rezone the 60 acres appropriately and to begin the process immediately. With reference to overheads #21, 22, 23 and 24 and #3 and 4 on Chair Brown's proposal for financing, the Board agreed with all the information as stated. Chair Brown made reference to her information she distributed. The Board discussed each of the ten points as listed below: 1. County will assume solid waste management responsibility October 1, 1999, to include current and future operations. The Board agreed with #1. 2. County will accept transfer of all Chapel Hill solid waste management personnel who are on staff as of September 30, 1998. The Board agreed with #2. 3. County shall approve the 1999/2000 solid waste management operating budget. The Board approved #3. 4. As part of financing mechanism, all boards should endorse implementation of a "Chapel Hill - Carrboro- Orange County Solid Waste Availability Fee" for all county residents. This was approved above. 5. Solid waste operations shall continue to operate as an enterprise fund to the extent possible after the County assumes responsibility; but the County shall have the option of implementing other fees, and shall not be required to use general funds for solid waste management activities. This was approved above. 6. All parties will sign the Interlocal Agreement after it has been revised to incorporate modifications. This will be brought back because the agreement needs a lot of revisions based on what everyone agrees to. 7. Sixty acres of the Greene Tract shall be set aside for use by the County in future solid waste management activities. The balance of the Greene Tract shall remain under the ownership of the current owners, who shall determine its future use. The Board decided above that this would be their first option. 8. Local governments shall continue to work, through the LOG, to site a transfer station and work to develop options for materials recovery and construction & demolition disposal. The Board said that they approved looking for sites. This language will be added to overhead #18 on page 6. 9. Until the County assumes responsibility, the LOG shall continue to direct solid waste management, as in the past, including operating by consensus. The Board agreed, 10. Each government shall appoint two representatives to a Solid Waste Management Advisory Commission, pursuant to the Interlocal Agreement, which shall replace the LOG and begin meeting after adoption of the 1999/2000 budget. The Board agreed clarifying that there would be two from each jurisdiction for a total of eight members. It was agreed that John Link would draft a letter to each of the towns to communicate the Board action this evening. He will ask them to respond within two months. ADJOURNMENT With no further items for discussion, a motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to adjourn the meeting. The next regular meeting will be held on August 18, 1998 at 7:30 p.m. in the Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk Margaret W. Brown, Chair