Agenda - 09-01-2009 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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are feasible from a technical design, environmental, and economic prospective. The community - specific criteria consider the impacts that the facility will have on the surrounding community. This set of criteria underscores the priority that the public placed upon environmental justice considerations; impact upon adjacent land use; proximity to schools, churches, and recreation sites; and the number of residents impacted. Using weighted scoring based on these criteria, 242 potential parcels were narrowed down to ten, which would undergo further consideration. Once these were discussed further and public comments were heard, the sites for the transfer station location were narrowed down to the Site 056 (Howell Property) or Site 759 (OWASA Property) by the BOCC. Each site is being simultaneously negotiated for purchase by the County. However, only one site will be purchased for transfer station use. Site 056 is the topic of this environmental assessment. Site 056 was one of the two sites selected because it is undeveloped and heavily wooded, can be directly accessed from NC Highway 54, and is freely offered. The site has minimal floodplain and /or steep slope encumbrance; ample space for the construction of the transfer station facilities; and further provides excellent buffering from adjacent land uses and residents. 3.0 EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PROJECT AREA 3.1 Topography The site is flat to gently sloping and elevation ranges from approximately 540 feet to 562 feet across the site with the construction of the transfer station to be at approximately 554 feet. See Exhibit B.1 for the site's location within the USGS White Cross quadrangle. There are a few small areas of the site that have a slope greater than 10 percent. This information, along with detailed elevation information regarding the site, was obtained from the 2007 North Carolina Department of Transportation LiDAR Data Release, which are both displayed on Exhibit B.2. Using Orange County's 2007 Flood Hazard Polygon information and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maps (FIRMettes), it was determined that the site will not encroach on any floodplains. See Exhibits C.1 and C.2 for copies of these FIRMettes. 3.2 Soils According to information provided by the Orange County Planning Department and the United States Department of Agriculture's Web Soil Survey of Orange County, North Carolina, the site location is comprised of the soils summarized in Table 1 below and shown in Exhibit D. 4 Environmental Assessment Site 056