Kannapolis hears recycling proposal, CMC-NorthEast plans
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, December 2, 2009
By Hugh Fisher
hfisher@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó A group of concerned citizens and forward-thinking staff brought the issue of recycling back to the table Monday.
And Kannapolis City Council members must decide how much longer the city will remain North Carolina’s largest municipality without a recycling program.
That fact was one of many Public Works Director Wilmer Melton and Renee Goodnight, community outreach coordinator, presented to council at last night’s meeting.
Goodnight is one of many who stress that recycling is an important quality-of-life issue, especially for new residents.
“A lot of them are coming from communities that already recycle and are surprised to learn there are no recycling bins or carts,” Goodnight said.
Eleven members of the city’s Environmental Stewardship Commission, formed last May, sat in the audience as Goodnight and Melton presented a proposal the commission said could have curbside recycling up and running in Kannapolis within seven months of approval.
Also on hand were 11 students from Kannapolis Middle School. The Kannapolis school district is planning its own recycling program, which may be online by next year if funding is available through the system’s budget.
They sat in the audience as Melton and Goodnight presented the commission’s report, which projected costs for single-stream recycling with a weekly curbside pickup at all households currently receiving city garbage services.
Single-stream recycling means households could put all their recyclables ó aluminum, plastic, glass and paper ó into one container, with no sorting needed.
The key to their plan is a proposed user fee of $4.60 per month, which the commission projects will raise $993,600 for the program.
After expenses, including the purchase of carts, $10,000 for administration and $50,000 to educate the public on the program, a balance of $8,712 is projected to remain in the first year, according to the presentation to City Council members.
The initial surplus would help keep costs from rising as quickly in later years, even if fuel goes up, Melton said.
But Mayor Misenheimer expressed some concern about adding another $55.20 per year to each household’s fee load.
Councilman Richard Anderson agreed. “My concern is that if this council is not careful, we’re going to ‘fee’ people to death,” he said.
“I’m really for recycling, but I’m not ready to jump in here with what I see here,” Anderson said.
No action was taken on the proposal, which was for council members’ information only. But Goodnight urged action, and the mayor thanked the commission for its hard work in preparing the proposal.
It’s unclear when the council may take up the matter again.
In other business before the Kannapolis City Council:
– Council members heard a presentation from Carolinas Medical Center NorthEast regarding proposed construction of an eight-story tower at the Concord hospital.
Larry Hinsdale of CMC-NorthEast presented a brief video highlighting the planned expansion. A state hearing on the proposed expansion had been held earlier Monday.
Hinsdale called the tower a replacement “for beds built literally when Mr. Cannon laid the cornerstone,” although in later comments to council members he said the actual bed count of the hospital would not change.
Instead, a few beds originally constructed in the 1950’s, and others still in need of updating, would be renovated. Other hospital departments would gain space in the expansion.
Hinsdale’s presentation said the proposed tower would cost an estimated $264 million, with a projected opening date of January 2014.
Hinsdale said the need for growth was noticeable as patients using the hospital on crowded days noted the age of some of the rooms.
Charles Cannon, owner of Cannon Mills, helped establish the original Cabarrus County Hospital in 1937.
The presentation was for information only and council members took no action.
– Recognized graduates of the Kannapolis Academy, a series of informational seminars given to city employees and concerned citizens to help them better understand the function of city government.
Representatives of the Kannapolis Police Department, the Kannapolis Fire Department, Public Works and Parks and Recreation were among those who took part in the voluntary seminar series.
Goodnight presented certificates to all of those who took part in the meetings. Additionally, Assistant City Manager Eddie Smith was given a special trophy, the Proud Peacock Award, in recognition of his department’s presentation being voted the best overall by participants.