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Orange County plans FY26 takeover of landfill operations; proposes brush fee, hours changes
Summary
County staff presented FY24–FY25 collection-site data and recommended aligning site hours, adding a brush fee to deter commercial abuse, and budgeting staff and equipment to operate the landfill next year. Lake Of The Woods is the busiest site; staff proposes address tracking and charging frequent commercial-style users.
Orange County staff presented a data-driven plan to take over landfill operations and adjust collection-site policies, including a brush fee intended to reduce commercial abuse at residential drop-off locations.
Stephanie Straw (Speaker 8) opened the presentation and introduced George Madison and Kenny Yount. Speaker 6 summarized calendar-year 2024 data and noted Lake Of The Woods as the county’s busiest collection site. Staff recommended aligning Porter Road hours with other sites (closing at 7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturdays) and proposed a brush fee shown in staff slides as "$60 a ton if over 200" (presented as the county’s proposed fee to mirror an existing CND policy).
Speaker 8 said brush service is currently included in the contractor’s monthly fee but that, if the county takes over landfill operations, the county would need to bid brush handling separately and bring in a third-party vendor for brush removal. Staff recommended a transition period so residents can adjust to the new policy.
To address commercial-style abuse, staff showed security-camera photos and described frequent, heavy loads that appear commercial in nature. "We're gonna track it by address so that, you know, a homeowner still gets to drop off. But if you're going to come in here every day and pretend you're a homeowner... then we're going to have to charge them," one presenter said, describing enforcement by resident address and fee application.
Staff outlined a timeline and staffing plan: county staff are budgeted to start in April of FY26, equipment could be ordered as early as January, and staff recommended renewing the existing contractor’s agreement for one year to bridge operations while county staff onboard. Staff estimated staffing needs to operate seven days a week at roughly 2 full-time equivalents plus 1–4 part-time employees and provided average daily operation cost estimates (FY24: $8,839/day; FY25 estimate: $8,269/day).
Board members asked questions about origin of trips to Lake Of The Woods and whether staff track which neighborhoods people travel from; staff said they verify users are Orange County residents but do not currently track trips by origin address and will provide district-level data on request. Supervisors also noted weekday and Monday-morning rush patterns, and staff said the county benchmarks localities year-over-year to inform operational decisions.
The board did not take formal action at the work session. Staff said they will continue to monitor usage, incorporate benchmarking and, if approved in budget implementation, proceed with equipment purchases and staff onboarding per the FY26 schedule.
