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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 08-03-1995 - IX-C t 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Action Agenda Item No -� ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: August 3, 1995 SUBJECT: Saddle Club Road Solid Waste Convenience Center Construction Bids ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT Purchasing & Central Svcs PUBLIC HEARING YES NO X Public Works County Manager -------------------------------- ------------------------------- ATTACHMENT(S) INFORMATION CONTACT Bid Tabulation Pam Jones, ext 2650 Wilbert McAdoo, ext 2625 Paul Thames, ext 2300 TELEPHONE NUMBER Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 Mebane 227-2031 Durham 688-7331 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PURPOSE: To consider awarding or rejecting bids for construction of the planned Saddle Club Road Solid Waste Convenience Center. BACKGROUND: At the June 26 regular meeting, the Board of Commissioners decided to postpone action to award or reject bids for construction of the planned Solid Waste Convenience Center on Saddle Club Road in Cheeks Township. Bids were received from four companies on June 13, 1995. The bids ranged from a low of $151,290 to a high of $259,000. The low bidder was Burlington Mechanical. Bid quotations are valid for 60 days from the date received. If the low bid is awarded, the total capital project costs for developing and implementing the Saddle Club Road site are estimated at $211,290. This cost would be about $60,000 higher than estimated in the 1995-2000 Capital Improvement Plan, and would leave insufficient funding to develop a second solid waste convenience center in 1995-96. Given the unfavorable construction market, and potential changes in local strategies for solid waste handling since the Saddle Club Road plans were initiated, it appears that the County's best course of action at this time is to reject the proposed construction bids. At a joint meeting with the Landfill Owners' Group on June 20, 1995, the Citizen Solid Waste Advisory Committee that is working with the LOG and Weston, Inc. transmitted recommendations on which combinations of solid waste collection, processing, and disposal options should be more closely evaluated by Weston as part of the countywide Integrated Solid Waste Management Study. One of the collection options that Weston has been directed to study is universal curbside collection, which if implemented, would likely lead to weekly at-the-street collection of household waste and recyclables throughout the unincorporated portions of Orange County, as well. as in municipal service areas. 2 While it is far from certain that such a collection approach will ultimately be implemented in Orange County, the possibility that it could be pursued raises new implications for the viability of solid waste convenience centers. If universal curbside collection were implemented, convenience centers would no longer be practical. If some approach short of universal curbside is pursued, leaving the option for maintaining several convenience centers in rural Orange County, there will also be a question as to whether they would be sustainable if volume based disposal fees for household waste are implemented instead of the current financing system supported by ad valorem taxes. If a "pay per throw" system is ultimately implemented in Orange County, we will face a challenge in enforcing the Solid Waste Ordinance to ensure that residents dispose of their solid waste only in ways that are consistent with the provisions of the ordinance (e.g. , not through burning or illegal dumping) . Weston is currently slated to present its findings to the Citizen Solid Waste Advisory Committee and the LOG during the fall of 1995. Timing of implementation of any of the waste reduction, collection, processing, and disposal options that are being studied by Weston will be dependent on discussion and agreement among the governing boards of the LOG member governments. The County has entered into a lease agreement with Mr. Carl Walters for the use of the 8 acre Saddle Club Road site. In early 1994, Mr. Walters indicated his desire to terminate the County's existing lease for the High Rock Road interim solid waste collection site, located on another parcel he owns, by December 31, 1994 . Mr. Walters subsequently agreed to allow the County to continue High Rock Road operations pending development and implementation of the Saddle Club Road convenience center. County staff has explained the problems with the high bids for the Saddle Club Road site, and Mr. Walters has agreed to the County's request to further continue operations at High Rock Road pending re-evaluation of the construction market and outcomes of the Weston study late in 1995. RECOMMNDATION: The Manager recommends that the Board reject all bids for the Saddle Club Road Solid Waste Convenience Center construction; further, that the County continue to maintain current operations at High Rock Road for a period of at least six months pending the results of the Weston report and re-evaluation of the construction market, assuming continued approval of the landlord. 3 Fri z W Q H � z w Q V a OA d RZ 96o z OW aQ � W dz z �a _ O y A