Chapel Hill residents could soon see their recycling bins switched out for roll carts with five times more capacity.
The Chapel Hill Town Council unanimously passed a resolution on Monday to support the Orange County Board of Commissioners by awarding a five-year contract to the lowest bidder. Weekly service, which is set to begin Jun. 1, could be 44 cents cheaper per household each month.
The resolution recommended collection continue on a weekly basis.
“The only change they will be incurring will be the container,” Wendy Simmons, the town’s solid waste services manager, said.
Bi-weekly collection, which refers to every other week, would come at a lower cost to the town, but Simmons said the system could be more trouble for residents than it’s worth.
If residents were out of town or if a collection day fell on a holiday, households could be left with a month’s worth of recycling, making the switch unappealing to the town.
The contract would include flexibility to make collection biweekly an option that could save an additional dollar per household each month.
The council authorized the Town Manager Roger Stancil to investigate opportunities for community-financed solar panels. Potential locations include the roof of the Homestead Aquatic Center and the parking lot where Chapel Hill Transit buses are stored.
Notable:
The council also passed resolutions to reimburse costs associated with the Town Hall Renovation and the Ephesus-Fordham Improvement Projects and reviewed the recommended priorities for Parks and Greenways master plans.
Quotable:
“I think it’s very much a lower-end Buick,” Stancil said when Councilman Jim Ward asked him to gauge the Town Hall renovations.
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