Minutes - 20071211 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Jacobs asked if the County could apply for both projects. Noah Rannells said that the County could put in both projects, one of the projects, or neither. A motion was made by Commissioner Carey, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to submit a grant application for the shared value-added food processing center and not the Breeze Farm at this time. Commissioner Nelson said that it feels weird to be applying for a grant for this project when the other counties have not signed on yet officially and there is no facility. Commissioner Gordon agreed and said that it is premature. Laura Blackmon made reference to item #4 in the feasibility study (page 6) under the action items suggested by the consultant, which was to contract with the lead project developer for services. There are some other things about developing the plans for the creation of the non-profit management entity. She suggested looking at the development aspects as part of what the grant would actually fund. This might move the project further along because the other counties would not have to put money in until later. VOTE: Ayes, 3; Nays, 2 (Commissioner Gordon and Commissioner Nelson) Commissioner Gordon said to tell other counties that the County Commissioners did not approve the report unanimously. 5. Public Hearings-NONE 6. Regular Agenda a. Landfill Gas Recovery Process Options The Board considered additional information needed to evaluate the proposed options for developing a gas recovery project at the Orange County Landfill. The salmon sheet had some additional information, including pros and cons of working with UNC or a private entity on this. Laura Blackmon said that the Board asked staff to meet with UNC and develop pros and cons. The meeting was yesterday and the staff pointed out some concerns with the County in dealing with the landfill gas project. One of the concerns is that this needs to move forward quickly because landfill gas is a commodity. There are also some issues with odor control as well as potential revenue. It is UNC's policy not to respond to RFP's. The goal is for Carolina North to break ground as early as 2009. The desire of the University is that at least the first phase of the project will be carbon neutral. The University would like to use the gas to produce energy at Carolina North. There will have to be an interim plan on the utilization on how to deal with the landfill gas prior to it being utilized on site. The University is requesting that the memorandum of understanding give it 90 days for time to evaluate several items -check the amount of gas generated, explore the feasibility of piping the gas to Carolina North, and come back to the Board with a draft agreement. She said that if it gets to the point where, in order for the University to move forward that they would have to bring in a vendor to do what staff was recommending, staff would not recommend this to be part of the agreement. Associate Vice Chancellor of Auxiliary Services Carolyn Efland said that the meeting was good yesterday, and she made a list of things that would need to be included in the MOU. She hopes that her amended MOU would address the County's concerns. She said that from UNC's point of view, the cost of capital offsets the tax credit advantage to make it a wash for the County and there should not be a financial advantage to using a private developer. She said that the University wants to make Carolina North carbon neutral period and not just in the first phase. The landfill gas alone would make the energy carbon neutral in the first phase.