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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-03-31 Work Session e e e ~ MINUTES OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL WORK SESSION MARCH 31, 1994 PAGE 1001 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners held a Work Session on Thursday, March 31, 1994, at 9 00 A M in Room 501 of the New Hanover County Administration Building, 320 Chestnut Street, Wilmington, North Carolina Members present were Commissioners Sandra Barone; William A Caster; William E Sisson, Jr ; Vice-Chairman E L Mathews, Jr ; Chairman Robert G Greer; County Manager, Allen O'Neal; County Attorney, Wanda P Copley; and Clerk to the Board, Lucie F Harrell Chairman Greer called the Work Session to order and welcomed all persons present He announced the purpose of the meeting is to discuss and hopefully find a solution to the solid waste disposal problem in New Hanover County County Manager O'Neal reported the memorandum from the Assistance County Manager, Dave Weaver, was an excellent outline of the major issues and costs that must be addressed before deciding what type of County trash collection system to establish He requested Assistant County Manager Weaver to discuss the memo and staff recommendations Chairman Greer complimented staff .for an excellent job in preparing the memorandum outlining the options available, but expressed concern for having to hear a lengthy presentation on how solid waste disposal has become a problem, which in his opinion has been discussed numerous times After further discussion, it was agreed to proceed directly to the recommendations proposed by staff PRESENTATION OF STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS Assistant County Manager, Dave Weaver, presented the following options to fund the County solid waste operation OPTION I continue the present county operation with a $28 per ton tip fee and a $5 5 million tax subsidy REQUESTED BUDGET FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1994-95 EXPENDITURES Administration Recycling WASTEC - Operation & Maintenance $4,987,145 Debt Service 3.833.195 $ 408,930 $ 353,098 $ 8,820,340 Landfill- Operation & Maintenance $1,117,884 Debt Service 609.452 $ 1.727.336 TOTAL $11.309.704 REVENUES Steam Sales Electricity Sales Scrap Tires Scrap Metal Tip Fee ($28 per ton) Transfer from General Fund (7 1 cent on tax rate) $ 315,000 $ 1,377,792 $ 170,000 $ 2,000 $ 3,900,000 $ 5.544.912 TOTAL $11.309.704 ~ MINUTES OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL WORK SESSION MARCH 31, 1994 PAGE 1002 This option would require a subsidy of 7 1 cents on the tax rate primarily because of the debt service on the WASTEC Facility The figures presented are based upon the assumption that New Hanover County will receive 125,000 tons of burnable trash during the next fiscal year It is felt that an additional 20,000 tons of trash could be burned in WASTEC each year, which would generate additional revenue in the amount of $600,000 at a $28 per ton tip fee However, as of this date, the state has not given final ----~ approval of a permit to accept trash from sources outside of New Hanover County If a permit is received, the County will have to schedule acceptance of tonnage at times that will not interfere with the peak load capacity during the tourism season Chairman Greer strongly objected to increasing the property tax rate to subsidize the environmental operation and requested the other Commissioners to express their opinions commissioner Barone commented on the $4 million debt service and reported she requested the Assistant County Manager to separate the cost of operating the WASTEC Facility from the environmental management fund The purpose for requesting these figures was to compare the difference in the cost of operation with closing of the WASTEC Facility and using only the landfill If the County's landfill should become too expensive, the trash could be carried to the Sampson County landfill In actuality, this has occurred for the past six months with a major hauler carrying trash out of New Hanover County to Sampson County She stated, for the record, this is just an idea and she is not advocating this action In her opinion, the County must decide if it should remain committed to the WASTEC Facility, which will become more expensive, or if the County needs to step back and look in another direction in order to make an intelligent decision about the disposal of solid waste ----\ Chairman Greer commented on the County's commitment to the WASTEC Facility and stated this would have been a good idea ten years ago, but at the present time, he cannot support closing the facility OPTION II Use the tip fee only for WASTEC and subsidize the other division with taxes 1994-95 REQUESTED BUDGET Total Expenditures $ 408,930 $1,727,336 $ 353.098 $2.489.364 Administration Landfill Recycling This would require 3 2 cents on the tax rate to subsidize Administration, Landfill, Recycling 1994-95 REQUESTED BUDGET Net Expenditures $8,820,340 (315,000) 11.377.792) $7.127.548 ~\ WASTEC expenditures Steam Sales Electric Sales In order to fund WASTEC through the tip fee, the fee would have to be increased to $54 per ton plus the 20,000 tons of non-burnable materials that would have to be placed in the landfill at a tip fee of $20 per ton After a lengthy discussion on how to resolve this matter and avoid increasing the property tax rate, Vice-Chairman Mathews recommended establishing a collection system that will divide the County into zones with bids being received and awarded for each \ ~ MINUTES OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL WORK SESSION MARCH 31, 1994 PAGE 1003 zone If a hauler is awarded a bid for one zone that hauler would not be allowed to bid on another zone County Manager O'Neal reported residential waste only 30% of the waste stream with the remaining 70% from waste In his opinion, the haulers are concerned proposed commercial system not the residential system represents commercial about the e Chairman Greer inquired as to whether the County can operate just the commercial portion? Recycling Manager, Tim Cole, reported some municipalities in Florida provide for commercial collection with the assignment of territories to one or more haulers Assistant County Attorney, Andrew Olsen, reported the cities in Florida that provide for commercial collection with assigned territories also provide for residential collection As of this date, he is not aware of any cities or counties that perform only commercial collection Most local governments perform both residential and commercial, which is legally more acceptable After further discussion, Chairman Greer reported the County has no other choice but to go into the trash collection business and contract out the service with the County performing the billing Mr Floyd Lucas, owner of Coastal Removal Service, inquired as to why the County should go into the trash collection business? e Chairman Greer stated in order keep the trash from going out of New Hanover County, it may be necessary for the County to go into the business Mr Chris McKeithan, representing Waste Management, commented on past meetings with the Commissioners where both the haulers and County were satisfied with dividing the county into zones for residential collection However, after meeting with staff pertaining to commercial collection, the haulers have become concerned about the tip fee being increased to $80 per ton If at all possible, the tip fee should remain at an acceptable level to avoid waste from being carried out of the County Mr Lucas requested the Commissioners to consider franchising the service to 20 local haulers which will reduce the size of units and allow for removal of items from the waste stream, such as batteries and bulky items that create maintenance problems for the incinerator e Chairman Greer expressed concern for the County having to consider going into the trash collection business, but with the County's commitment to WASTEC and more stringent federal and state regulations, he feels there is no other choice As an elected official, the Commissioners must do what is best for the citizens, not just the Commissioners or the haulers Hopefully, a franchising system can be developed to protect the haulers and serve the citizens of the County Chairman Greer requested direction from the Board as to how commercial collection should be handled commissioner Sisson reported the County could be divided into zones, or the County could contract with a single hauler Presently, it appears that commercial collection is basically handled by two haulers Also, if the County should go to a franchising system, it should be stipulated that as the County grows, the zones will have to be changed to reflect the growth ~ MINUTES OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL WORK SESSION MARCH 31, 1994 PAGE 1004 Mr Perry Whisnant, owner of Windfish Disposal, expressed concern for the amount of money invested in his equipment and urged the commissioners to allow all the haulers to participate in the trash collection business so that small haulers will not be driven out of business Chairman Greer sympathized with Mr Commissioners must protect the taxpayers created by a major hauler carrying waste Whisnant, but stated the The existing problem was out of New Hanover County /"\ Mr Jim Auten, representing Waste Industries, questioned how the County could keep private businesses in New Hanover County from contracting with haulers outside of the County for the provision of commercial collection at a lower cost? county Attorney copley stated if the system is fee based, this type of situation cannot be controlled; however, if the system is tax based, the haulers would be paying for the service and would not desire to contract with an outside hauler Mr McKeithan stated the haulers do not have a problem with working out the plan as discussed at previous meetings and are willing to cooperate with the County However, if the County charges a tip fee at $80 per ton, businesses will contract with outside haulers He also commented on the N C state statute pertaining to user fees and stated if a customer is on a subscription service and decides not to use the service, that person is not required to pay the user fee commissioner sisson reported this type of situation occurred with the city of Wilmington An individual living within the city Limits refused to pay the fee because he recycled his trash and had no need for the service The Court ruled in favor of the city and /"\ determined that this individual would have to pay the fee even ) though the service was not used BREAK Chairman Greer called a break from 11 10 A M until 11 43 A M Chairman Greer apologized for the length of the break and stated during this period of time the Commissioners have reached a general agreement; however, official action will have to be taken at a regular meeting He reported during the past year, numerous discussions have been held on increasing taxes, franchising, and dividing the County into zones for implementation of a County collection system The haulers are pleased with the proposed residential system but are concerned about a loss of business for the proposed commercial collection system since there is legislation that has been introduced in Congress and a case is pending in the U S Supreme Court pertaining to flow control, the Commissioners feel these legal matters should be resolved before implementing a trash collection system The recommendation is as follows (1) allow the private haulers to continue to provide residential and commercial collections as currently being rendered; (2) raise the tip fee from $25 per month to $30 per month effective July 1, 1994; and (3) pay the remaining solid waste disposal costs for the next fiscal year out of the undesignated fund balance This option will allow time for the legality of flow control to be determined on the federal level as well as provide time for the county to prepare a collection system to be implemented by July 1, 1995, if the disposal problem is not resolved at that time --~ Vice-Chairman Mathews concurred with the recommendation and emphasized the importance of resolving legal issues before implementing a collection system "- .., MINUTES OF SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL WORK SESSION MARCH 31, 1994 PAGE 1005 commissioner sisson agreed to using the undesignated fund balance for FY 1994-95 contingent upon having a plan of action ready to implement by July 1, 1995, if the trash problem has not been resolved commissioner Caster inquired as to what will happen if the Supreme Court allows counties to adopt a flow control ordinance? e Deputy County Manager, Andrew J Atkinson, reported if legislation is enacted to allow for flow control, the tip fee can be adjusted at any time; however, if the County establishes a collection system based on taxes, the taxes can not be adjusted until the next fiscal year Chairman Greer reported this recommendation will be discussed and acted upon at the Commissioners' meeting scheduled for April 5, 1994 Director of Environmental Management, Ray Church, and John Hubbard, Plant Manager of the WASTEC Facility reported on the positive impact of this facility to New Hanover County Due to incineration, 18 acres of costly landfill space have been saved since 1984, and the facility will continue to save landfill space for the next 22 years Figures and graphs were presented reflecting the increase of trash burned at the incinerator Currently, the boilers are burning efficiently due to implementation of a preventive maintenance program and the expertise of the Plant Operations Manager Staff feels that New Hanover County is beginning to recover its dollars worth from this facility It DISCUSSION OF YARD WASTE PICKUP Commissioner sisson reported that collecting yard waste and requested responsible for picking up yard waste ordinance some haulers are not that every hauler be according to the County Director Church reported the County's ordinance allows 15% of a truck load for yard waste; however, the haulers view this percentage differently Some haulers pick up all yard waste placed at the street, whereas other haulers pick up only one or two bags The 15% allowed under the ordinance is a judgement call by the haulers and is very difficult to enforce uniformly commissioner Sisson recommended modifying the yard waste ordinance to allow the tip floor personnel to be more lenient in making the judgement call for acceptance of burnable yard waste until the facility is nearing its capacity Director Church reported no citations have been issued for exceeding the 15%, and, in his opinion it will be up to the haulers to see that yard waste is picked up After discussion, it generally agreed by the haulers present to pick up yard waste and the tip floor attendants are to continue to be lenient in determining the 15% of yard waste per truck load e Assistant County Manager Weaver requested the haulers to inform the customers that the cap on yard waste was enacted by the State, not the County ADJOURNMENT Chairman Greer expressed appreciation to the haulers and staff for their efforts and adjourned the Work Session at 12 05 P M ~~c~~submitted, ~F Ha~ Clerk to the Board ......