Orange County NC Website
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1 <br />2 <br />3 <br />4 <br />5 <br />6 <br />7 <br />8 <br />9 <br />10 <br />11 <br />12 <br />13 <br />14 <br />15 <br />16 <br />17 <br />18 <br />19 <br />20 <br />21 <br />22 <br />23 <br />24 <br />25 <br />26 <br />27 <br />28 <br />29 <br />30 <br />31 <br />32 <br />33 <br />34 <br />35 <br />36 <br />37 <br />38 <br />39 <br />40 <br />41 <br />42 <br />43 <br />44 <br />45 <br />46 <br />47 <br />48 <br />49 <br />50 <br />7 <br /> <br />repaying $200,000 from the Farmer's Home Administration, which loan has been approved in <br />principle by FMHA, along with a grant of Orange County in the amount of $589,300 for the <br />construction by Orange County of a sewer collection and treatment system to serve the area of <br />Orange County identified in principle source the risk of health, safety, and welfare of people of <br />the County; and <br />WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners now has agreed on the conditions under <br />which the sewer collection and distribution system will be constructed..... <br />Point #11: Orange County will appropriate annually to the Operating Revenue of the system <br />operating budget the difference between annual expenditures and revenues received from <br />users, fees, investments, and other income of this system." <br />Michelle Laws acknowledged Robert Campbell, who has been invited to the White <br />House in reference to his civil rights support of the Rogers Road area. She said that it is <br />unfortunate that they are at this point today again. She said that there is a terrible stench in the <br />air, and it is not from the trash. The terrible stench smells like racism and classism. She said <br />that people that have contributed a lot to this community are not among the professional class <br />and rich, but are the public servants. She said that these people have given a lot with their lives <br />in order that the community can dump its trash. She asked the Board to consider the EPA's <br />definition of Environmental Justice: "The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all <br />people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, <br />implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. Fair <br />treatment means that no group of people, including racial, ethnic, or socio-economic groups <br />should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting <br />from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local, <br />and tribal programs and policy." She said that the Rogers Road, Eubanks Road, and Millhouse <br />Road communities have shared a disproportionate brunt and share of the waste in Orange <br />County. She said enough is enough. <br />Allison Coleman is a resident in Mebane and spoke about the Efland sewer. She said <br />that this community has an old system that needs to be updated. There are 213 on the sewer <br />and they needed 212 to be able to get sewer in 1984. She said that the people in this <br />community cannot afford the sewer and they live in a Habitat for Humanity community. She <br />said that they will have to take second and third jobs to pay the water and sewer bills. She said <br />that businesses could be put on this sewer system to help pay for it. <br />Mark Marcoplos lives in Bingham Township and said that there is a secret UNC animal <br />research facility greatly expanding across the street from him and he cannot find out anything <br />about it because of the laws. He said that he would like a commitment from the County to <br />address these issues and he wants to know when the State will not notify the citizens about <br />facilities like this. Regarding the waste transfer station, he said that no one is happy about <br />sending trash somewhere else in someone else's community. He does not think that the <br />County leadership is happy about becoming beholden to a giant waste corporation that will <br />have us by the short hairs when they want to raise the hauling rates. He said that fuel costs are <br />only going to rise. He said that the current plans for a transfer station will be increasingly <br />expensive and that the best bet is to avoid getting hooked into the unpredictable system by <br />siting a landfill in Orange County. He said that solid waste represents an economic opportunity. <br />This will save money in the long term by avoiding price hikes from waste businesses and fuel <br />cost escalation. He suggested siting awell-designed landfill in one of the economic <br />development districts that have been sitting vacant for many years. Then businesses could be <br />sited there that will make products from the waste stream. There could be incentives such as <br />