HomeMy WebLinkAboutSWAG agenda 0926141
Agenda
Solid Waste Advisory Group
September 26, 2014 - 6:00 p.m.
Solid Waste Operations Center
1. Call to Order — Chair
2. Public Comments — Chair
3. Approve Meeting Summary from September 12, 2014 —Chair
Attached
4. Update on Recent Technical Corrections Legislation — Annette Moore,
County Staff Attorney
5. Annual Tipping Fee Notification Date Staff Proposal — Attached*
6. Consolidation of Staff Interlocal Agreement Outline with Draft Interlocal
Agreement (including SWAG revisions per Sept. 12 meeting) — Attached*
7. Future Meetings with UNC -CH and UNC Heathcare - Chair
8. Assembly of Governments Meeting Topics - Chair
9. Next Meeting — Chair
10. Other
11. Adjourn (8:00) — Chair
*Towns & County Staff Memorandum to be distributed Monday ( #5 & #6)*
Sandwiches and fixings will be provided.
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Memorandum
To: Solid Waste Advisory Group
From: Gayle Wilson, County Solid Waste Director
Date: September 19, 2014
Subject: September 26 SWAG Meeting Agenda
Several questions arose at the September 12 SWAG meeting. Three of them are addressed below:
1) Why is the County treated differently for termination (Section II.C.) with regard to "without
Penalty or cost "?
County Attorney response: "Because the county has the burden of providing the services and has all the
risk and exposure associated with solid waste ".
Additional discussion or information can be provided by the attorney as requested.
2) Request for update on landfill gas recovery status and opportunities to expand gas recovery.
The landfill gas recovery system is owned and operated by UNC Chapel Hill through an agreement
between UNC —CH and the County. Part of the University's ongoing operations on landfill property, in
addition to the physical collection system infrastructure, includes well field balancing and monitoring on
a monthly basis, and a weekly inspection of the blower /flare station. While County solid waste staff is
capable of providing information related to this project, UNC —CH Energy Services staff should perhaps
more appropriately be consulted /involved for any substantive discussion of this system's status, the
potential to expand gas recovery or potential alternative uses of gas currently flared.
3) A question arose regarding level of use (quantity of materials) following roll cart implementation
within the Towns and who is using the 24 -hour recycling drop -off sites and that a survey might
be necessary to determine where users of the sites reside (in town, another county, etc.).
County staff has no recent data regarding residence of site users and a survey would be required to
ascertain this information, assuming users were willing to provide that "place of residence" information.
Regarding tonnages, cardboard is not segregated by site and is collected by front - loading trucks that co-
mingles the material with cardboard from other service locations, so site /program specific data is not
available. For the other materials we do collect data by site and can provide average monthly tonnage
per site vs. average first quarter tonnage by site by early October. Perhaps this information can be
provided to the SWAG at an October meeting.
4) Transfer Station Tour
Staff has confirmed that the Greensboro Waste Transfer Station (WTS) is open for business and available
for a tour. On September 15 a staff visit to the facility did not observe any odors traveling to or from the
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facility or on -site except standing in the access doorway. Petroleum -like odors were observed from the
surrounding area petroleum storage facilities. Odor detection can vary by temperature, barometric
pressure, wind speed and direction, type and quantity of waste recently received and overall
maintenance, housekeeping and operation of facility.
Staff has further contacted Republic Waste Services who operate a WTS on Bishop Road in Greensboro
and they are available for a tour if desired. This facility is not a fully enclosed WTS like the Greensboro
facility. It opened in January 2009, was designed for about 1,200 tons /day and waste loading is
performed by a different method than Greensboro. This design can be scaled in size to local needs.
I have also requested from DENR — Waste Management Division any information on newer state of the
art WTS's that may be more appropriately size for our local waste quantities that is within a reasonable
driving distance from Chapel Hill. No response yet.
I am ready to proceed to arrange a tour of the City of Greensboro and /or Bishop Road WTS upon
request.
Memorandum
To: Solid Waste Advisory Group
W
From: Solid Waste and Public Works Staff of Orange County and the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel
Hill and Hillsborough
Subject: Staff Follow -up from September 12 SWAG Meeting
Date: September 22, 2014
At the September 12 SWAG meeting staff was requested to provide the following
information /recommendations:
• Provide suggestions regarding annual recycling fee and tipping fee notification timeline, and
• Combine Staff Interlocal Agreement Outline and Draft Interlocal Agreement (ILA revised per
SWAG edits)
Annual Tip Fee Notification Dates
There are two general categories of fees that have different budget preparation trajectories and
timelines. Tipping fees paid directly by facility users such as the Construction & Demolition disposal,
vegetative waste disposal and mattress recycling /disposal can be calculated more directly based on
year -to -date and historical data, including any preliminary estimates provided by the Towns on
anticipated future year usage. It is likely that reliable future budget year estimates for these fees could
be provided to the Towns by March 1 if necessary.
If the current 3 -R Fee recycling program funding mechanism is continued in the same fashion as
currently (directly assessing property owners through inclusion of the fees with the annual tax bill) there
are billing database management procedures and requirements that to a degree dictate the timing of
firm fee recommendations. These include incorporating all the splits /merges, new construction or
demolition, property ownership exchanges, updated commercial establishment and mobile home park
unit count updates, etc. that occurred during the previous year into the billing database. Fee estimation
calculations also include obtaining certificates of occupancy data from each of the three towns and
obtaining PIN data from Durham County on the portion of Chapel Hill in Durham County in order to
refine the calculation. These steps are necessary in order to determine accurate service cost estimates.
The number of units must accurately represent the unit billing divisor to calculate a per -unit billing unit
count. Field verifications are frequently required. For example, from a fee - setting perspective, it can
matter whether the total cost of a service is divided by 18,000 or 18,450. It is also a useful baseline from
which to calculate program performance metrics. These tasks are in addition to actually projecting the
coming year's expenditures and revenues for the various recycling programs.
There is considerable uncertainty presently on what type of recycling fees may ultimately be adopted by
the towns and county so determining the fee recommendation schedule at this point is difficult and
seems slightly out of sequence. The towns initially agreed to allow the county to charge recycling fees
within the towns, however that preliminary understanding could change as the county continues to
explore funding options. For instance, will the district tax concept or general fund financing of recycling
services be further considered? Or will availability fees or other types of fees be chosen? Or could it be
17
some mix of funding mechanisms? Additionally, since the SWAG's stated preference and intentions are
that the towns and county staffs collaborate on fee recommendations, that collaborative process is at
present untested and may possibly extend the fee determination process. Therefore, it is difficult to say
what notification dates will be feasible to any degree of certainty. If a fee recommendation date is
mandated that necessitates a staff fee recommendation based on incomplete data, it will be necessary
to provide a conservative fee projection that may be greater than otherwise required.
The dates contained in the staff interlocal agreement outline [i.e., April 1 — Solid Waste Director
recommendation (advisory) and May 1 — County Manager recommendation to the BOCC] are therefore
suggested, pending final funding method determinations.
Merge of Staff Interlocal Agreement Outline and Draft Interlocal Agreement
The SWAG requested that Town and County staffs consolidate the two Draft Interlocal Agreement
documents discussed at the September 12 meeting into a single document and to also provide the
original Draft Interlocal Agreement for comparison. Staff was also to incorporate edits to the Draft
Interlocal Agreement made at the meeting by the SWAG.
Process
The following describes the staff approach to the document merging process:
• SWAG edits are incorporated into the Draft Interlocal Agreement in GREEN and, as requested,
do not include a tracking of the changes.
• Replaced language is simply deleted.
• Staff tried to use verbatim wording from SWAG to the extent possible.
• UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare was added as instructed; however, it may not be relevant/
applicable in certain sections of the draft agreement.
• Some additional wording adjustments may be necessary.
• Outline language is in RED and was inserted as bullets into apparent appropriate section within
Draft Interlocal Agreement
• Where Outline wording is identical or essentially identical (i.e., duplicative) to existing
Draft Interlocal Agreement language, it was not included or merged.
• In some cases, existing Draft language may be preferable by staff as opposed to Outline
language.
• Staff has not incorporated the Outline language into the body of the Draft Interlocal
Agreement; it is only illustrated in the appropriate section of the document.
Key Issues
Staff notes a few key issues for consideration by the SWAG:
• UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare — Multiple ILA Section References
Incorporating UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare into the existing draft agreement presents some
language and format challenges for the following reasons:
• neither entity currently receives county recycling services;
• each maintains their own internal comprehensive grounds keeping /landscaping
services;
• both use private waste hauling and disposal facilities; and
• they generally manage their own solid waste affairs.
It appears the draft agreement assumes joint service and facility usage by the parties of the
agreement, or at least availability of usage of county services and facilities that doesn't currently
apply to either UNC -CH or UNC - Healthcare. Nor are we aware that discussions have occurred
that would explore collaborating in or combining of these services, which would be a major and
lengthy assessment if or when UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare wished to consider it. While your
staffs are eager to participate in any investigation of future cooperative opportunities such as a
local transfer station, it may not be practical and timely to substantively address these matters
in the current interlocal agreement development timeframe or format. How UNC -CH and UNC -
Healthcare are incorporated into the interlocal agreement will require additional discussion.
• Reference to Debt —Sections I.B. and V.D.
As part of further refinement of the interlocal agreement document, a much more complete
definition or understanding of debt will be required in order for the SWAG to more thoroughly
evaluate the provisions on termination.
Level of Program Details in Agreement — Section IV.E.
Staff is uncertain as to the level of existing program detail that should be included in the ILA.
There is some concern regarding a formal amendment process being required for minor
program adjustments. Perhaps detail with regard to existing programs at the time of the
agreement's execution could be included in an Appendix. Alternatively, staff could provide Staff
Outline level or even additional detail to the draft agreement as desired by the SWAG.
Financial — Section V
As previously indicated by staff, the suggested top priority regarding the development of the
interlocal agreement should be the determination of a funding mechanism for recycling
programs. Until this is completed, the financial provisions in the draft agreement are tentative,
unreliable and incomplete. Significant effort should be applied to resolve the recycling funding
mechanism so that the financial section can be established and supporting language such as the
fee notification and approval process can be finalized.
Ongoing Advisory Board /Committee — Section VI.G.
Staff believes an advisory board /committee will be very important in order to obtain broad and
informed input into the process of evaluating various solid waste management subjects for
elected officials and staff consideration. At the previous two meetings of the SWAG, several
issues have arisen that might appropriately be referred to an advisory board /committee for
examination and comment.
Memorandum
To: Solid Waste Advisory Group
W
From: Solid Waste and Public Works Staff of Orange County and the Towns of Carrboro, Chapel
Hill and Hillsborough
Subject: Staff Follow -up from September 12 SWAG Meeting
Date: September 22, 2014
At the September 12 SWAG meeting staff was requested to provide the following
information /recommendations:
• Provide suggestions regarding annual recycling fee and tipping fee notification timeline, and
• Combine Staff Interlocal Agreement Outline and Draft Interlocal Agreement (ILA revised per
SWAG edits)
Annual Tip Fee Notification Dates
There are two general categories of fees that have different budget preparation trajectories and
timelines. Tipping fees paid directly by facility users such as the Construction & Demolition disposal,
vegetative waste disposal and mattress recycling /disposal can be calculated more directly based on
year -to -date and historical data, including any preliminary estimates provided by the Towns on
anticipated future year usage. It is likely that reliable future budget year estimates for these fees could
be provided to the Towns by March 1 if necessary.
If the current 3 -R Fee recycling program funding mechanism is continued in the same fashion as
currently (directly assessing property owners through inclusion of the fees with the annual tax bill) there
are billing database management procedures and requirements that to a degree dictate the timing of
firm fee recommendations. These include incorporating all the splits /merges, new construction or
demolition, property ownership exchanges, updated commercial establishment and mobile home park
unit count updates, etc. that occurred during the previous year into the billing database. Fee estimation
calculations also include obtaining certificates of occupancy data from each of the three towns and
obtaining PIN data from Durham County on the portion of Chapel Hill in Durham County in order to
refine the calculation. These steps are necessary in order to determine accurate service cost estimates.
The number of units must accurately represent the unit billing divisor to calculate a per -unit billing unit
count. Field verifications are frequently required. For example, from a fee - setting perspective, it can
matter whether the total cost of a service is divided by 18,000 or 18,450. It is also a useful baseline from
which to calculate program performance metrics. These tasks are in addition to actually projecting the
coming year's expenditures and revenues for the various recycling programs.
There is considerable uncertainty presently on what type of recycling fees may ultimately be adopted by
the towns and county so determining the fee recommendation schedule at this point is difficult and
seems slightly out of sequence. The towns initially agreed to allow the county to charge recycling fees
within the towns, however that preliminary understanding could change as the county continues to
explore funding options. For instance, will the district tax concept or general fund financing of recycling
services be further considered? Or will availability fees or other types of fees be chosen? Or could it be
17
some mix of funding mechanisms? Additionally, since the SWAG's stated preference and intentions are
that the towns and county staffs collaborate on fee recommendations, that collaborative process is at
present untested and may possibly extend the fee determination process. Therefore, it is difficult to say
what notification dates will be feasible to any degree of certainty. If a fee recommendation date is
mandated that necessitates a staff fee recommendation based on incomplete data, it will be necessary
to provide a conservative fee projection that may be greater than otherwise required.
The dates contained in the staff interlocal agreement outline [i.e., April 1 — Solid Waste Director
recommendation (advisory) and May 1 — County Manager recommendation to the BOCC] are therefore
suggested, pending final funding method determinations.
Merge of Staff Interlocal Agreement Outline and Draft Interlocal Agreement
The SWAG requested that Town and County staffs consolidate the two Draft Interlocal Agreement
documents discussed at the September 12 meeting into a single document and to also provide the
original Draft Interlocal Agreement for comparison. Staff was also to incorporate edits to the Draft
Interlocal Agreement made at the meeting by the SWAG.
Process
The following describes the staff approach to the document merging process:
• SWAG edits are incorporated into the Draft Interlocal Agreement in GREEN and, as requested,
do not include a tracking of the changes.
• Replaced language is simply deleted.
• Staff tried to use verbatim wording from SWAG to the extent possible.
• UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare was added as instructed; however, it may not be relevant/
applicable in certain sections of the draft agreement.
• Some additional wording adjustments may be necessary.
• Outline language is in RED and was inserted as bullets into apparent appropriate section within
Draft Interlocal Agreement
• Where Outline wording is identical or essentially identical (i.e., duplicative) to existing
Draft Interlocal Agreement language, it was not included or merged.
• In some cases, existing Draft language may be preferable by staff as opposed to Outline
language.
• Staff has not incorporated the Outline language into the body of the Draft Interlocal
Agreement; it is only illustrated in the appropriate section of the document.
Key Issues
Staff notes a few key issues for consideration by the SWAG:
• UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare — Multiple ILA Section References
Incorporating UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare into the existing draft agreement presents some
language and format challenges for the following reasons:
• neither entity currently receives county recycling services;
• each maintains their own internal comprehensive grounds keeping /landscaping
services;
• both use private waste hauling and disposal facilities; and
• they generally manage their own solid waste affairs.
It appears the draft agreement assumes joint service and facility usage by the parties of the
agreement, or at least availability of usage of county services and facilities that doesn't currently
apply to either UNC -CH or UNC - Healthcare. Nor are we aware that discussions have occurred
that would explore collaborating in or combining of these services, which would be a major and
lengthy assessment if or when UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare wished to consider it. While your
staffs are eager to participate in any investigation of future cooperative opportunities such as a
local transfer station, it may not be practical and timely to substantively address these matters
in the current interlocal agreement development timeframe or format. How UNC -CH and UNC -
Healthcare are incorporated into the interlocal agreement will require additional discussion.
• Reference to Debt —Sections I.B. and V.D.
As part of further refinement of the interlocal agreement document, a much more complete
definition or understanding of debt will be required in order for the SWAG to more thoroughly
evaluate the provisions on termination.
Level of Program Details in Agreement — Section IV.E.
Staff is uncertain as to the level of existing program detail that should be included in the ILA.
There is some concern regarding a formal amendment process being required for minor
program adjustments. Perhaps detail with regard to existing programs at the time of the
agreement's execution could be included in an Appendix. Alternatively, staff could provide Staff
Outline level or even additional detail to the draft agreement as desired by the SWAG.
Financial — Section V
As previously indicated by staff, the suggested top priority regarding the development of the
interlocal agreement should be the determination of a funding mechanism for recycling
programs. Until this is completed, the financial provisions in the draft agreement are tentative,
unreliable and incomplete. Significant effort should be applied to resolve the recycling funding
mechanism so that the financial section can be established and supporting language such as the
fee notification and approval process can be finalized.
Ongoing Advisory Board /Committee — Section VI.G.
Staff believes an advisory board /committee will be very important in order to obtain broad and
informed input into the process of evaluating various solid waste management subjects for
elected officials and staff consideration. At the previous two meetings of the SWAG, several
issues have arisen that might appropriately be referred to an advisory board /committee for
examination and comment.
19
INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN ORANGE COUNTY AND THE TOWNS OF
CARRBORO, CHAPEL HILL, AND HILLSBOROUGH REGARDING THE PROVISION OF
SERVICES RELATED TO AND THE DISPOSITION OF SOLID WASTE IN ORANGE COUNTY
THIS AGREEMENT, made and entered into this day of , 20_
between Towns of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Hillsborough, North Carolina municipal
corporations, of Orange County, North Carolina (hereinafter referred to individually as the
"Town" and jointly as "Towns "); UNC- Healthcare; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(hereinafter referred to as UNC -CH), and Orange County, a political subdivision of the State of
North Carolina (hereinafter referred to as the "County "), for the provision of solid waste services
and disposition of solid waste within Orange County. (County, Towns }NC -CH and UNC -
Heaithcar- may be referred to collectively as the "Parties ")
WITNESSETH
WHEREAS, the County UNC - Healthcare, UNC -C and Towns are public bodies, politic
and corporate, under the laws of the State of North Carolina and are vested with the power and
authority by Article 20 of North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 160A to enter into this
Interlocal Agreement (hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement "); and
WHEREAS, the County operates and /or contracts for the operation of solid waste and /or
recyclable materials collections services in the jurisdictions of the County and Towns; and
WHEREAS, the County 1JNC- Healtr -- and Towns desire to establish
procedures, policies, rights, and responsibilities for the collection, transport, and disposition of
solid waste, construction and demolition materials, and recyclable materials.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and on mutual promises and
obligations set forth herein, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the
County �-, 4�;- Healthcare, UNC -CH and Towns agree as follows:
TERM AND TERMINATION
A. This Agreement shall continue in effect until such time as it is amended or terminated.
B. Any Party to the Agreement may withdraw upon 12 months' notice and payment of its per -
capita share of any outstanding debt related to the services and programs listed above.
C. County may terminate this Agreement, without penalty or cost, pursuant to the terms of
Paragraph V (D) below.
Interlocal Agreement will become effective upon execution by each Town and County and
remain in effect until eliminated by agreement of the parties or the majority of the parties
withdraw. Parties to the agreement may withdraw with 12 month notice and payment of its per -
capita share of any outstanding debt related to the services, facilities and programs listed above
and any debt which is incurred while a party to the Interlocal Agreement up to the time of notice
to withdraw. The withdrawing party shall be responsible for the full amount of any outstanding
costs or debt related to the provision of services or facilities contemplated by this Agreement as
such costs or debt apply within its territorial jurisdiction.
20
CONSTRUCTION AND DEMOLITION ( "C &D ") AND MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE
("MSW") LANDFILLS
A. County shall maintain financial, regulatory and environmental responsibility for operations,
closure, and for post - closure maintenance /monitoring, of Orange County's C & D and MSW
Landfills.
B. County shall, pursuant to the terms of its agreement with the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill, monitor the operation and performance of the University Landfill Gas Recovery
System.
C. Towns and County will, in support of the solid waste enterprise fund, direct C &D waste from
projects where local government funding is utilized, including school construction and
renovation, to the Orange County C &D Landfill.
Towns and County will, in support of the solid waste enterprise fund, deliver white
goods /appliances, vegetative wastes and scrap metal and other materials as agreed on in the
future, to County recycling facilities
D. -owns and County will establit- ipping fees annually as part of the County budget
process, may include some portion of the fee to apply to C &D closure and post - closure
costs, and shall become effective on July 1 of a given year.
Tipping fees (if any) shall be established annually as part of the County budget process and
become effective on July 1; County Manager's fee recommendations will be available to parties
to Interlocal Agreement no later than May 1 and Solid Waste Director's fee recommendations
will be available to parties to Interlocal Agreement no later than April 1 (County will respond to
inquiries earlier if fee recommendations are available)
III. MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE ( "MSW ") COLLECTION AND TRANSFER
A. Towns and County will maintain authority and responsibility, financial and environmental, for
MSW collected and transferred within their respective jurisdictions.
B. Any party to this agreement that plans, sites, and develops a waste transfer station shall
entertain participation by other parties to this agreement subject to payment of prevailing
tipping fees as established by the relevant governing body. Should they participatf: fees
shall be established annually as part of the regular budget approval process and become
effective on July 1 of a given year.
Should the County or a Town (or Towns) plan, site and develop a waste transfer station the
Agreement may be amended if necessary to clarify access, etc.
C. County will maintain, operate, and fund Solid Waste Convenience Centers that accept
residentially generated MSW, C &D, bulky waste, recyclable materials, etc. for the use and
benefit of all County and Town residents.
21
D. Towns and County will, in support of the solid waste enterprise fund and subject to
modification, deliver white goods /appliances, mattresses, vegetative wastes, C &D waste,
clean wood, cardboard and scrap metal to designated Orange County facilities.
An Enterprise Fund for governmental activities is a self- sustaining cost center that operates
similarly to private business operations. The primary purpose of establishing a solid waste
enterprise fund is to isolate all solid waste /'recycling revenues and expenditures away from
the general fund for greater accountability. An enterprise fund maintains its own capital
program and system of fees and charges.
E. County shall provide for the specific recycling and /or, where legally permissible, the reuse of
materials such as:
• Other materials as markets and program funding becomes available
F. County will endeavor to maximize schedule of operation and services available (subject to
material markets and budgetary considerations and constraints) at convenience centers
consistent with current District /Neighborhood concept or other convenience center concepts
as directed by the Board of Commissioners. Current District Center (Walnut Grove Church
Road and Eubanks Road Convenience Centers) services provide for the disposal of:
1. Residential municipal waste;
2. Household hazardous waste;
3. Cardboard;
4. Waste oil, filters, and anti - freeze;
5. Yard waste;
6. Scrap tires;
7. Clean wood waste;
8. Scrap metal and white goods;
9. Cooking oil and residential food waste;
10. Recyclable materials (bottles, cans, mixed paper);
11. Rigid plastics;
12. Textiles /shoes;
13. Salvage shed;
14. Electronics;
15. Batteries (wet & dry cell);
16. Plastic bags and film.
22
IV. RECYCLABLE MATERIALS
A. Recycling programs and services that are provided at the time of implementation of this
Agreement are anticipated to be continued for the foreseeable future. Periodic expansions,
modifications, improvements or adjustments to programs /services may be made by the
parties of the Agreement (subject to material markets and budgetary considerations).
County will coordinate /collaborate with Towns and UNC- University and UNC - Healthcare
regarding changes to programs /services operated within the Towns through an advisory
board /committee established for this purpose, or other means as agreed.
Any consideration of eliminating a program, facility or service shall first be discussed by the
advisory committee /commission /board /group so that all parties may provide input to the
decision.
B. It is the County's objective to offer equivalent services /programs within the Towns. County
may also provide special services to individual Towns that may require special negotiated
service fees or other specific compensation that fall outside of this Agreement. The portion
of Chapel Hill located within Durham County should receive those services which other parts
of the Town of Chapel Hill receive, however, it is solely the responsibility of the Town of
Chapel Hill to establish the authority by which County shall provide services in that portion of
the Town.
C. County shall ensure that recycling programs /services provided by the County are of high
quality and reliable with regard to the reasonable: Adherence to route schedules; prevention
of overflow of drop -off site receptacles; resolution of complaints; safety; making progress
toward waste reduction objectives, etc. County will endeavor to coordinate urban curbside
recycling collection routing with municipal waste collection routing (as requested) to the
extent possible, consistent with collection efficiency, budgetary constraints and available
resources (i.e. roll- carts, compacting collection vehicles, etc.) County will endeavor to
maintain maximum efficiency in recycling and waste reduction programs consistent with
generally accepted industry best management practices.
Towns will coordinate /collaborate with County with regard to specific interests /initiatives that
affect performance of County programs and services, such as PAYT, organics diversion, etc.
D. Current 24 -Hour Recycling Drop -off Centers are intended to remain in service, subject to
County budgetary considerations, ° ecyclable material drop -off requirements of the parties,
site availability, space limitations, material market availability, and Town recyclable material
drop -off requirements. The five current drop -off sites include: Cedar Falls Park, Hampton
Point, Carrboro Plaza, University Mall, and Meadowmont. No reductions or additions of
drop -off sites are contemplated at this time.
Reduction /addition in the number of centers within each Town shall be coordinated /reviewed by
advisory board /commission /committee /group.
E. Subject to state and federal law and subject to budgetary considerations and constraints it is
expected by the Parties that recycling services offered at the time of the execution of this
Agreement shall continue and be subject to appropriate pertormance measure and analysis.
23
F. As of the date first above recorded current recycling services provided to Towns by County
include:
1. Weekly residential curbside collection (single stream);
2. Multi- family collection (single stream);
3. Food Waste collection from commercial establishments;
4. Bar /Restaurant and other small commercial location collection (single stream);
5. Downtown cardboard Collection — Chapel Hill only — fee based;
6. Pedestrian bins ( locations) — Chapel Hill only — fee based;
7. Park &Ride lot collection ( currently 3 locations in Chapel Hill and and 2 in Carrboro);
8. Municipal park collection;
9. Government building collection for all local governments, OWASA and public (except
UNC -CH) schools;
10. Public housing - (multi - family style service or single family, as appropriate to housing
type);
11. Public schools collection -- fee based, contractual service.
Current recycling services provided to the towns (incorporated municipalities) by the County
indi Ap-
Weekly residential curbside collection (single stream) — co- mingled collection currently provided
by contract to the County with 95 gallon roll carts; materials include clean -dry paper, metal cans,
glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles /tubs /cups, drink and milk cartons, cardboard, aerosol cans,
aluminum foil /trays
Multi- family collection (single stream) — co- mingled collection available to all multi - family
facilities throughout the County at necessary collection frequency; materials include clean -dry
paper, metal cans, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles /tubs /cups, drink and milk cartons,
cardboard, aerosol cans, aluminum foil /trays
Food Waste collection — available to all restaurant, food preparation, supermarket, etc. (pre and
post- consumer) who meet a County established minimum monthly quantity generated threshold
and can adhere to quality requirements and accessibility
Bar /Restaurant and other commercial location collection (single stream) — objective of providing
services to all establishments in the County according to pending comprehensive recycling plan
and available funding
Downtown Cardboard Collection (Chapel Hill only) — fee based on negotiated rate directly with
Chapel Hill and may be available to other Towns upon request
Downtown Pedestrian Bins — fee based on negotiated rate directly with Chapel Hill and may be
available to other Towns for a fee upon request; subject to coordination of receptacle used with
County and level of contamination of materials
Park & Ride Lot Collection ( currently 3 locations in Chapel Hill and 2 in Carrboro) - fee based
on negotiated rate directly with Chapel Hill and Carrboro and may be available to Hillsborough
upon request; subject to coordination of receptacle used with County and level of contamination
of materials
24
Municipal Park Collection - fee based on negotiated rate directly with Chapel Hill and may be
available to other Towns upon request; subject to coordination of receptacle used with County
and level of contamination of materials
Government building collection for all local governments and OWASA — recycling service
available to all local government buildings and OWASA; other government buildings at County
discretion and available resources
Public Housing - (multi - family style service or single family, as appropriate to housing type) —
public housing will be service in the same manner as other residences, whether multi - family or
single family type service; County to provide periodic communication as needed with
Department of Public Housing regarding outreach and education of residents, management and
other changes to public housing services
Public Schools collection -- fee based, contracted service negotiated directly with the individual
school system
Hours of Operation — County will establish hours of operation for County services /facilities;
County will consult with Towns when changes in hours of operation are being considered,
except in extenuating and temporary situations such as storm events; County will attempt to
notify municipalities by 7am the morning of any event that impacts regular facility hours of
operation
Recycling (unstaffed) Drop -off Centers — recycling drop -off centers within the Towns will be
serviced by County on an as needed basis; materials include clean -dry paper, metal cans,
glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles /tubs /cups, drink and milk cartons, cardboard, aerosol cans,
aluminum foil /trays
• Towns will cooperate with County to site or maintain current locations as necessary
• materials currently available at these centers at the time of the execution of this
agreement will be maintained and any consideration to reduce the current available
materials will first be discussed by the advisory committee /commission /board
• materials may be added at County discretion
• County will, with the relevant Town cooperation, maintain the sites with regard to
screening, signage, litter collection and illegal dumping (includes any existing agreement
for site maintenance)
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V. FINANCIAL
A. Fees for the purpose of providing multi - family and urban curbside recycling services within
the jurisdictions of the Towns shall be established through each Town's budgetary process.
Through such process Towns shall establish recycling service fees based on County's
recommendation, which recommendation shall be based on County's good faith estimate of
the costs of providing recycling services within the Towns' jurisdictions. Each Town shall
authorize County to collect and administer fees established for the purpose of providing
recycling services within the Towns' jurisdictions. County shall apply the full revenue of said
fees solely toward the costs of providing services within the Towns' jurisdiction.
The County will provide proposed fees to Towns for Urban Curbside and Multi- family recycling
services by April 1 (Solid Waste Directors recommendation) and May 1 of each year (County
Manager's recommendation if different from Directors), unless multi -year fee rate is established.
B. Annually no later than April 1 County shall notify Towns of any proposed tipping fee
increases and any proposed fee increases associated with multi - family and urban curbside
recycling services provided pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. Subject to the terms
and any exceptions in this Paragraph V County shall be solely responsible for establishing
said fees. County shall establish said fees through its good faith estimate of the actual costs
of providing the services contemplated by this Agreement. Fees imposed pursuant to the
terms of this Agreement shall be uniform for each Town and shall be in an amount sufficient
to fully cover the direct and indirect costs of providing the services contemplated by this
Agreement.
Annually no later than April 1 (Solid Waste Directors recommendation) and May 1 of each year
(County Manager's recommendation if different from Directors), County shall notify Towns of the
proposed tipping fees and fees associated with services other than recycling provided pursuant
to the terms of this Agreement. Subject to the terms and any exceptions provided in this
section, County shall be solely responsible for establishing said fees. County shall establish said
fees through its good faith estimate of the actual costs of providing the services contemplated
by this Agreement. Fees imposed pursuant to the terms of this Agreement shall be uniform for
each Town and shall be in an amount sufficient to fully cover the costs of providing the services
contemplated by this Agreement.
C. Subject to the two exceptions set out below, any fee increase of more than five percent (5 %)
must be approved by the Towns in advance by June 1 of any given year.
1. This Paragraph V(C) shall not apply where County has provided at least twelve (12)
months' notice of said fee increase and where such increase greater than five
percent (5 %) is necessary to maintain the then current level of services.
2. County's contract with its service provider, a provider of urban curbside service
contemplated by this Agreement, contains provisions for annual increases in costs
based on annual increases in the national Consumer Price Index ( "CPI "). This
Paragraph V(C) shall not apply where a greater than five percent (5 %) fee increase
is necessary based on the CPI increase requirement of County's contract with Waste
Industries, or any other service provider where the service contract contains a similar
provision, and where County has notified Town prior to the first day of April when
such a CPI increase greater than five percent (5 %) is expected for the next fiscal
year.
Subject to the two exceptions set out below, any fee increase of more than five percent (5 %)
must be approved by the Towns in advance.
• (Same as item C.1 above)
• County's service contract provider, a provider of some services contemplated by this
Agreement, contains provisions for annual increases in costs based on annual
increases in the national Consumer Price Index ( "CPI "). This Paragraph shall not
apply where a greater than ten percent (10 %) fee increase is necessary based on
the CPI increase requirement of County's contract with service provider, or any other
service provider where the service contract contains a similar provision, and where
County has notified Town prior to May 1 of a fiscal year in which such a CPI increase
greater than 10 percent (10 %) is expected for the next fiscal year.
D. In the event a Town or Towns fail to approve a multi - family or urban curbside recycling fee
increase of greater than five percent (5 %) for any service where such increase is necessary
to fully pay for the provision of any service contemplated by the terms of this Agreement or
where such increase is necessary for County to meet its contractual obligations with any
contractor engaged in providing any of the services contemplated by this Agreement County
may, at its option, terminate this Agreement as it applies to any Town that fails to approve
said fee increase.
In the event a Town or Towns fail to approve a fee increase of greater than ten percent (10 %)
for any service where such increase is necessary to fully pay for the provision of any service
contemplated by the terms of this Agreement or where such increase is necessary for County to
meet its contractual obligations with any contractor engaged in providing any of the services
contemplated by this Agreement County may, at its option, terminate this Agreement as it
applies to any Town that fails to approve said fee increase.
1. Any termination pursuant to this Paragraph V(D) shall be without cost or penalty to
County.
2. In the event County terminates this Agreement pursuant to the terms of this
Paragraph V(D) the Town or Towns with which the Agreement is terminated shall be
responsible for the full amount of any outstanding costs, contractual obligations or
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debt related to the provision of services contemplated by this Agreement as such
costs or debt apply within its territorial jurisdiction.
3. Any termination pursuant to this Paragraph V(D) shall be effective at the end of the
fiscal year in which a Town or Towns fail to approve the aforementioned fee increase
and after written notice by the County to the Town(s).
"If the County determines that it is or may be advisable to create and impose any additional type
of Governmental Fee (beyond the existing Urban Curbside and Multi- family Fee), then the
County will give at least 60 days' notice of the proposed Governmental Fee to the other parties.
A Governmental Fee may then be imposed only if the creation and imposition of such
Governmental Fee is subsequently approved by the County and at least one other of the largest
two (by population) local government Parties. A new Governmental Fee will take effect at the
end of the notice period or, if later, the date of the last Governing Body approval necessary for it
to take effect."
"The County may increase any individual Governmental Fee (except the existing Urban
Curbside or Multi- family Fee) from time to time in its discretion with at least 60 days' notice of
the increase to all Parties. The County may not, however, increase any individual Governmental
Fee during or at the beginning of any Fiscal Year to a fee that exceeds the fee in effect at the
end of the preceding Fiscal Year by more than 10 %, without the prior consent of all the other
Parties. The Parties intend and agree that the County shall endeavor to adjust any and all
Governmental Fees only annually, with changes becoming effective only at the beginning of a
Fiscal Year."
VI. MISCELLANEOUS
A. Holiday service. County shall publish holiday schedules annually for curbside collection.
There will be no service on New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas Day.
Other holiday service will be scheduled according to the specific day of week of
observed holidays.
County shall be responsible for providing service and facility holiday schedule to parties and to
make a good faith effort to coordinate service schedules to the extent practicable.
B. Storm debris management. County shall manage construction debris created by or from
severe storms at its Construction & Demolition Landfill. County shall provide debris
management sites for delivery of severe storm event vegetative debris. Emergency
storm debris collection and monitoring shall be the responsibility of each Party within its
territorial jurisdiction.
Emergency storm debris collection and monitoring are the responsibility of each jurisdiction
unless otherwise noted in a separate MOU
C. Ordinance enforcement. Each Town shall enforce County's Regulated Recyclable
Materials Ordinance within each Town's jurisdiction. Towns shall monitor waste
collected by Town staff for banned materials in order to prevent the delivery of banned
materials for disposal. County shall provide solid waste plan advice, review, and
approvals in concert with development applications to various jurisdictions. County may
assist towns' enforcement staff in enforcement of landfill bans on privately collected
waste containers.
Towns will allow enforcement of County regulated recyclable material ordinance (RRMO) within
Town municipal limits.
Towns may assist in enforcement of RRMO using their staff in coordination with County staff.
D. Education and Outreach. County shall be responsible for the preparation, distribution,
expense, and coordination of education and outreach services related to waste
management, recycling, and reduction services and programs under its administration.
County is responsible for preparation, distribution, expense and coordination for education and
outreach services related to waste management, recycling and waste reduction
services /programs under its administration, including advertising of holiday schedules. A multi-
media approach will be utilized.
E. Solid waste management, planning, and reporting. County, in cooperation with Towns, is
responsible for the development and timely submission of required annual reporting and
solid waste management planning to the North Carolina Department of Environment and
Natural Resources. Towns and County shall cooperate with requests for information, data,
and records, in a reasonable and timely manner. Consideration shall be given by County to
investigation of increased diversion of organic wastes, especially commercially generated
food wastes, and the expansion of non - residential recycling programs and services.
County, in cooperation with Towns, may develop recycling performance and tracking
measures for various programs of interest. Collected data will be maintained in a secure
manner, consistent with public records law of North Carolina.
Consideration will be given by County to investigation of increased diversion of
commercial /non - residential wastes, including review of program financing
County, in cooperation /coordination with the Towns, will develop recycling performance
measures and tracking data for various programs of interest
o Consistent with the reasonably available or obtainable data given the integrated
nature of most recycling programs; annual reporting examples include:
• Number of households and multifamily units served by curbside
program /by Town
• Number of businesses serviced with onsite collection service /by
jurisdiction
■ Participation rates for curbside program by jurisdiction
■ comparison with prior year
• To be provided upon request, annually or otherwise reasonably accessible
• To maintain data in a secure manner, consistent with public records law of North
Carolina
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F. Future Landfill /Transfer Station. In the interest of joint long -term planning County, Towns
UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare shall cooperate and jointly participate in the siting and
location of any future MSW landfill or transfer station that is sited within the boundaries of
Orange County.
G. Advisory Board. County, Towns, UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare shall cooperate and jointly
participate in the creation of a solid waste management advisory board. The document
containing the bylaws and /or operating procedures of such advisory board shall be attached
to this Agreement as Exhibit 1.
• Representing each Town, County and potentially the University
• State composition, terms, rules of procedure and membership
• State mission /charge
o Advise the County's governing board on matters related to solid waste and
solid waste plan
■ To provide advice to the County Manager and Board of Commissioners
with regard to development of the proposed annual solid waste budget
■ To respond to inquiries or requests for opinion from the County's
governing body, or such other matters as any Town governing Board or
the County Manager may request
■ To initiate research, analysis or review on existing services, programs or
policies
■ To provide a public forum for the discussion of issues related to system
programs /policies
Note: Elected officials may wish to initiate a separate process to determine nature and
composition of advisory committee%ommission or board, or Orange County
Waste Partners Group.
VII. INDEMNIFICATION
To the extent authorized by North Carolina law County, Towns, UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare
each agree to indemnify and hold harmless one another, their agents, officials, and employees,
from and against all claims, actions, demands, costs, damages, losses and /or expenses of any
kind whatsoever, in whole or in part, resulting from any acts of County, each Town, UNC -CH or
UNC - Healthcare, their agents, officials, employees, guests or invitees caused by or directly
related to the performance of this Agreement, including but not limited to court costs and
attorney's fees incurred by the County, Towns, UNC -CH and UNC - Healthcare in connection
with the defense of said matters.
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VIII. NOTICE
Any notice required by or pursuant to this Agreement, or any amendment or renewal, shall be in
writing and delivered by United States Mail to the following:
To Carrboro:
Town of Carrboro
Town Manager
301 West Main Street
Carrboro, NC 27510
To Orange County:
To Hillsborough:
Town of Hillsborough
Town Manager
101 East Orange Street
Hillsborough, NC 27278
To Chapel Hill:
[SIGNATURE PAGE TO FOLLOW]
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In witness whereof, the Parties, by and through their authorized agents, have hereunder set
their hands and seal as of the day and year first above written.
This instrument has been pre- audited in the manner required by the Local Government Budget
and Fiscal Control Act:
Orange County Finance Director
UNC -CH
UNC - Healthcare
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