Agenda - 10-06-1998 - 5d - Laserfiche WebLink

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Memorandum AGENDA #6 To: Landfill Owners Group From: Gayle Wilson, Solid Waste Director _ Subject: Construction and Demolition Facility Siting Date: October 8, 1998 This memorandum presents options for proceeding to finalize the selection of a site for our future construction & demolition disposal and recycling facility. _ Backgrround When the siting process was initiated in early 1990 for a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill, it was assumed that such a site, when identified and acquired, would also provide an area for the disposal of construction & demolition materials (C&D). As the process became protracted and it became likely that a new MSW facility would not be acquired, we initiated a dialogue with the Landfill Owners Group regarding the need for a C&D facility prior to solving our MSW capacity problem. In the summer of 1996 we began discussing C&D management options with the LOG. In December 1996, we prepared a comprehensive report (attachment 1) discussing a wide range of options and advising that about 2 1/2 years of capacity remained. (Since that time we have made some operational adjustments that has given us 6-8 months of additional capacity, with the estimated new full capacity date of early 2000.) The LOG sponsored a public forum on five distinct options in January 1997: • no new landfill or facility of any kind • landfill only, no waste reduction • transfer station to ship waste out • manual waste reduction facility . • semi-automated waste reduction facility Following the forum, the LOG examined the options and decided not to build any facility for C&D, but to pursue an ordinance meant to reduce C&D waste at the landfill. The LOG has spoken of C&D on several occasions since the early 1997 decision to not develop a facility to recycle or reduce C&D, as the uncertainty of what would happen when we reached capacity persisted. In February, 1998 the LOG asked the staff to initiate a site search for freely offered property for purchase within Orange County, suitable for a C&D disposal facility. The search for freely offered sites culminated in a May, 1998 report (attachment 2) which discussed the search process and its results. The only suitable site remaining among those discussed in the report is the site on Old NC 86, which happened to be considered the best site among the original five finalists and was recommended by staff. The LOG was unable to agree to acquire this site. We believe that the inability to negotiate without the benefit of the potential of using eminent domain as leverage resulted in an asking price which exceeded current market value. On September 10, 1998 the LOG and the governing boards of Carrboro and Chapel Hill sponsored a public hearing on the county's need for C&D management and, on possible locations for siting a management facility. A diversity of viewpoints were expressed at the hearing. We are now awaiting advice from the LOG on how C&D materials might be managed in the future.