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,~ Chair Jacobs said that sometimes the Board asks for annual reports and he asked the Manager to make a schedule for these annual requests. c. Landfill Gas Recovery Process Options The Board considered proposed options for proceeding to develop a gas recovery project at the Orange County Landfill. Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said that staff is asking for guidance from the Board regarding an approach to move forward to pursue a landfill gas recovery project. In 1997, the Chapel Hill Department of Solid Waste became a partner in EPA's Landfill Methane Outreach Program in hopes of identifying a landfill gas project for the facility. The University quickly became the only viable project opportunity. Following meetings with University representatives, aproject was not put together, and it was abandoned. Over the last few years, there have been various inquiries and discussions regarding getting this project off the ground. Over the past several months, there has been considerable interest in the relatively small landfill. The County has been contacted by a number of parties interested in delivering specific proposals. The University is interested in this and the staff and representatives from the University have met several times to discuss this potential project. Late this summer, the University submitted a memorandum of understanding, attached to the abstract, for Orange County consideration. This MOU would grant exclusive rights for the University to negotiate with Orange County and would prohibit Orange County from considering other proposals. The MOU approach is option #1 in the abstract. In response to receiving various other expressions of interest, option #2 is an RFP process for all interested parties, including the University. Option #3 is for Orange County to develop its own landfill gas project. He introduced Bob Selig, a landfill gas consultant, who was available to answer any questions. Chair Jacobs said that late today further communication was received from UNC- Chapel Hill Associate Vice Chancellor of Auxiliary Services Carolyn Elfland asking that the Board defer making a decision until the next meeting so that she and University staff have an opportunity to meet with the Manager because there is still some misunderstanding and miscommunication. Carolyn Elfland said that there seems to be some problem with communicating with the University. She wants to arrive at the reason why there cannot be a meeting and try to overcome that. Commissioner Nelson said that this is an important time where there is finally a market for methane gas. Methane is one of the worst greenhouse gases and he wants to move forward expeditiously with the University. He said that he is not going to be willing to wait forever, but he is willing to wait one more week. Commissioner Foushee agreed with Commissioner Nelson. She asked about option #3 and if it is cost-effective for the County to develop its own project. If not, she wants to remove this option. Laura Blackmon said that there would be some infrastructure and operating costs, and additional assistance would be sought for this. Commissioner Foushee suggested removing this as an option for expediency purposes, and the Board agreed. Commissioner Gordon said that the underlying presentation of options seems to be economic return. She said to include project specific economics, when this is brought back. She said that the decision would be partially driven by the return. Laura Blackmon said that there is no way to know this because the market value of the gas is not known.