Orange County NC Website
Susan Walser said that on Monday and Tuesday the Board of County Commissioners <br /> was hand-delivered a report compiled by three community groups — Orange County Voice, The <br /> Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association, and Orange County Community Awareness. She <br /> handed the report to Deputy Clerk to the Board David Hunt as part of the record. She said that <br /> the community groups are in agreement that all ten sites selected by Olver, Inc. are bad sites, <br /> and they came up with four alternative sites that all three groups agree are good sites. She <br /> asked the County Commissioners to look at the report. <br /> Tom Schopler made reference to a letter submitted to the County Commissioners <br /> talking about some of the discrepancies between the information on the purchase of the <br /> Howell property. He has heard that the property was valued at $700,000, whereas the owner <br /> has stated that he expects to paid somewhere in the orders of $3 million. There is also a <br /> stipulation that the owner must be allowed to some special zoning requirements of eight acres <br /> in the front for something to be built. He is not sure that some of this information has been <br /> publicized and that people are aware of it. He thinks that the transfer site should remain on the <br /> Eubanks Road site because all of the infrastructure is there and it would save money. <br /> Forrest Covington lives on Orange Grove Road and has for 40 years. His property <br /> does not abut the proposed property, but he is within %2 mile of the Howell property. He said <br /> that the wind is such that he will be able to smell the trash. He lives on a piece of property that <br /> is surrounded by property that is already used by OWASA to spray treated waste material. <br /> Also, one of the prospective airport sites cuts his property in half. He feels a bit put upon with <br /> this process. He spoke about the negative effects of this facility on wildlife. He recommended <br /> a more industrial site. <br /> Edward Mann is a lifelong resident of Orange County. He shared comments sent via <br /> mail. He asked the Board to extend the selection process and consider a site in a more <br /> industrial area with better access to major interstates. He said that there is no water and sewer <br /> and no municipal fire protection services available. There is also lack of access to rail services. <br /> He said that this area has been forced to provide water for a large portion of the County, yet it <br /> receives no water services. He said that he could find no objective data to support the score <br /> associated with these sites. He asked the Board to extend the site selection process to further <br /> identify and consider alternate sites. <br /> Wallace Williams lives near the proposed site and is concerned about his well, which is <br /> about four miles from the facility. He said that pollution and water use is a problem. He thinks <br /> that putting a transfer station in this area will definitely cause a problem. He pointed out that <br /> NC 54 is a two-lane road and there will be traffic backups. He does not want his water to go <br /> bad. <br /> Paul Brey said that this can be a win-win situation, if the County Commissioners are <br /> willing to provide the leadership. He said that there is a sense of urgency because the landfill <br /> is filling up. He suggested asking the citizens to cut back on garbage generation and support <br /> efforts to do so. <br /> Matt Peretin said that there has not been enough deliberation and time has not run out. <br /> He asked the County Commissioners to investigate transparently these items before even <br /> talking about deciding. He spoke about the negative traffic impact of this site. He said that <br /> 100 acres is ridiculous, but 15 acres is acceptable. He asked that the process be transparent. <br /> Robert Campbell spoke in support of a letter that the Board will receive shortly. He said <br /> that there is a problem with the waste, but he wants to look at the environmental impact on the <br /> communities. He said that this community has already been impacted by the OWASA sludge. <br /> He asked the County Commissioners to please not come back to the Rogers Road community. <br /> He asked the County Commissioners to keep the human element in this process. <br /> Jim Conner is an attorney in Durham and said that he has been retained by a diverse <br /> group of citizens who live all over the County. He said that the citizens wish to have a dialog <br />