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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-13-2012 - 8cORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: March 13, 2012 Action Agenda Item No. , SUBJECT: Interim Services Planning for Walnut Grove Solid Waste Convenience Center DEPARTMENT: Solid Waste ATTACHMENT(S): 1) Current Aerial Photo of Center 2) Proposed Layout of Interim Center PUBLIC HEARING: (Y /N) No INFORMATION CONTACT: Gayle Wilson, Solid Waste Director 968 -2885 Michael Talbert, Assistant County Manager, 245 -2308 PURPOSE: To receive and authorize staff to proceed with an interim convenience center service plan of services to be provided at the Walnut Grove Church Road Convenience Center during the period of construction. BACKGROUND: During the various discussions regarding the construction upgrade of the Walnut Grove Church Road Solid Waste Convenience Center, the Board has indicated the desire to maintain some level of service at this location during the period of construction. Based on preliminary scheduling the construction phase could extend for a period of three to four months, possibly beginning in May 2012. One objective of the center modernization project is to rebuild the center entirely on property owned by Orange County and to eliminate the need to continue the lease of the adjacent property. Therefore, the interim services concept has been to utilize the leased portion of the current center that will not be subject to construction. The leased property is approximately 0.82 acres in size, with approximately 0.38 acres of the property being developed and used for the existing Convenience Center. Attachment 1 illustrates the property and its current utilization. However, the amount of area on the leased property available for temporary use for providing interim Convenience Center services is, as a practical matter, limited to the 0.38 acres currently used and not easily expandable to the entire 0.82 acres. A septic field, surface water drainage features, two power poles and a telephone junction station prevent easily expanding onto unused portions of the leased property. The two poles could be moved and the septic system and telephone junction boxes worked - around, but there would be expenses for moving the power poles, constructing a stone operating pad and installing additional fencing for achieving a 2 slightly expanded temporary site. It should also be noted that as the County abandons the leased property, the site must be restored, so any additional investments in additional stone, fence, pads, etc. may have to be dismantled. Taking the leased property's limitations into consideration (and the fact that developed /disturbed portions of the site would have to be restored once the lease expires), staff considered a large variety of temporary service alternatives, most of which were discarded due to: 1) the lack of space for waste /recyclable material receptacles; 2) the desire to avoid making temporary investments that would then have additional costs associated with removal; and 3) the inability of residents and service collection vehicles to safely maneuver together in a highly restricted space. Staff also considered expanded hours at Walnut Grove, referral of residents to other County waste facilities and expanded hours at those other facilities, leasing other adjacent or nearby property, limiting interim services at Walnut Grove to only safely functions, and a host of other marginally feasible or infeasible alternatives. Staff believes that the number of users at Walnut Grove creates a level of use intensity that necessitates severe service restrictions on the 0.38 acre area in order to safely utilize the site on an interim basis. It is the opinion of staff that attempting to accommodate a larger range of materials in the confined space would put Solid Waste staff and resident users at risk. Ultimately, staff concluded that the most realistic option is to restrict the interim center to municipal solid waste (garbage), waste oil /antifreeze /oil filters /batteries (these are currently located on the leased property and that space is not available for use for other receptacles) only (Attachment 2) and to refer residents with other materials to the Hampton Pointe Recycling Center or the High Rock Road Solid Waste Convenience Center. Hampton Pointe is located 7.2 miles and High Rock Road is located 9.9 miles from Walnut Grove. Solid waste (or garbage), due to its putrescible nature, can become a public health issue and must be regularly disposed. Storage of recyclable materials, bulky wastes, scrap tires, white goods, etc. do not share that time sensitive need to dispose and would therefore allow longer storage and less frequent disposal. It is anticipated that the hours of operation at the Walnut Grove Church Road Convenience Center will not be changed during this interim services period. This arrangement will certainly not be ideal and will likely be unpopular to some residents, but without a significant investment, a temporary suspension of many of the existing Walnut Grove services will be necessary. For many materials that are generated infrequently such as tires, white goods, electronics, etc., travel to other locations or simply holding those materials until the new Convenience Center is complete should not be a problem. Most inconvenient will be an absence of cardboard, containers, newspaper and mixed paper recycling. It is just not possible to fit services that currently utilize about 0.9 acres (both leased and owned portion of center) of space into an area of 0.38 acres of space. Should the BOCC wish staff to consider expanded hours for the interim site from the current Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, this could be explored. Current estimated project schedule: • Bidding — March 26 to April 30 • Bid award — May 15 • Construction Period — May 29 to September 30 • Completion — October 8 Staff also plans to develop a comprehensive public information and outreach program to inform the public with regards to the construction project, interim services, etc. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There will be negligible financial impact associated with staffs recommendation. Should the BOCC wish to extend center hours, expand the current footprint on the leased property or pursue another course of action, there would likely be additional cost impacts. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board authorize staff to proceed with the interim implementation of convenience center service plan at the Walnut Grove Church Road Convenience Center due to center construction disruptions, including temporarily reducing services to municipal solid waste and waste oil /antifreeze /oil filters /batteries. Ak�aehrnen-F 1 4 a r 4 � ; t : lilt .t s i z , , a• s s, _ �. LerA low ZI 8' i a , r n4achmen+ a NOT TO SCALE � I I \ to W 41 N n � O n Z Z 1 n � - O PM mmmZZ Z vwr— -,J (Ai �v4 C "CTt+Z �� • U) 00 m Oo MM �F. `+ Customers Entrance/Exit Z I M o m S- z A�S� < D o --1�m — Z . p W O>Z C ,A <0 D Z ' j � � E�r �� � (D Z < < Z p p,, cn c[ �t W 7j 4 Alternative Entrance/Exit for Service Trucks 0,6 �\v ! l � y � � �.. - .r.,;. 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