Agenda - 01-20-1998 - 10a - Laserfiche WebLink

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SECTION 2 4~s0 . MEMORANDUM TO: Orange County Boazd of Commissioners FROM: John Link, County Manager DATE: January 15, 1998 RE: Landfill Community Benefits Issues During the most recent Assembly of Governments meeting on October 22, 1997, the four local governing boards reached consensus on providing nine of fourteen "community benefits" recommended by a working group of LOG members and Eubanks Road Landfill neighbors. Of the two proposed benefits with the largest financial impact, there was also general agreements that one of these, sewer line extensions, should not be pursued. The Boazd of Commissioners indicated that it felt that additional factual information was needed in several areas before well-informed decisions could be made about the other costly proposed benefit, the extension of water lines into the neighborhoods in the vicinity of the Eubanks Road Landfill. Some of that additional information has since been developed and reviewed by the Boazd, including an assessment by a hydrogeology firm regarding the likely migration pattern of leachate, should it leak from the current landfill, and an analysis by the County Engineer of strategies for ascertaining potential leachate impacts on groundwater. Accompanying this memo are two additional sets of documents which provide further information about the Board's questions related to proposed water line extensions. The first (Attachment IV) is analysis by Environmental Health Director Ron Holdway and his staff which indicates that testing of wells in the vicinity of the landfill does not reflect substantial differences in results from drinking water tests in other parts of the County. The second (Attachment V) is a report from Paul Thames on options and estimated costs of additional water testing, and the estimated costs of water line extensions to the various neighborhoods in the landfill vicinity. At this point, there does not appeaz to be evidence that supports a hypothesis that landfill leachate has, or is likely to, adversely impact well water in the vicinity of the landfill. The County and Town Attorneys have concluded (see attached memos VI-A, VI-B, and VI-C, previously distributed, for amplifying information) that it is permissible for local governments to provide water line extensions as a matter of public policy. However, those improvements can be funded by landfill revenue only to the extent that the need for those improvements can reasonably be related to the operation of the landfill. Therefore, it seems reasonable to conclude at this point that any water line extensions that the local governments may elect to pursue will have to be accomplished with general fund revenue. Based on the County Engineer's estimates of $2,889,000 as the cost of water line extensions to all neighborhoods, and assuming a division of costs based on the landfill ownership interests (other divisions of costs may also be considered) of 43% (Orange County); 43% (Chapel Hill); and 14% (Carrboro), the estimated tax impact for each jurisdiction would be: Orange County $1,242,270 equivalent of 2 cents on ad valorem tax rate Chapel Hill $1,242,270 equivalent of 4.5 cents on ad valorem tax rate Carrboro $404,460 equivalent of 6.3 cents on ad valorem tax rate