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5. The parties agree on some treatment of the Greene Tract. <br />COMMENTS AND/OR QUESTIONS FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS: <br />Commissioner Gordon mentioned that the County Commissioners need additional financial <br />information before proceeding with this process. <br />Chair Crowther stated that the Board of Commissioners voted that meeting the deadline of <br />December 1, 1997 was not achievable because a site cannot be chosen before the end of November. <br />They also agree that they need more information regarding the business and finances of the Landfill. <br />The Board of Commissioners is not willing to move forward until a site is selected. <br />Council member Franck pointed out that the agreement did not refer to siting a landfill. It <br />referred to establishing a solid waste management facility. <br />Commissioner Carey stated that he thought that one of the conditions of this agreement was <br />that the three units of government would agree on a site. <br />Mayor Nelson stated that if the County Commissioners felt that there had been agreement that <br />all three units of government would participate in the siting of the landfill, that stipulation could be <br />written into the agreement. <br />Council member Chilton suggested that if the County wanted the wording to be changed that <br />could be accomplished. The Agreement could say that "agreement will be reached on siting a <br />disposal facility at a later time. Then we could move forward with other parts of this agreement. <br />Chair Crowther stated that the Commissioners do not want to take responsibility for the current <br />landfill with the next site undecided and continue to be responsible to an Agreement that states that <br />all parties must agree to the siting of the facility. <br />Council member Chilton stated that the current procedure is unworkable. A new procedure <br />has been redesigned so that the decision making would be in the hand of the County Commissioners. <br />Now it seems that they are saying that they do not want the authority. The landfill will close soon and, <br />in the meantime, even if a transfer station is decided upon, it will take time to have that type of facility <br />up and running. It is not possible to make the next decisions under the current system. We need to <br />have someone take control of this situation. <br />Council member Brown stated that there had been some successes under the current LOG <br />management, including adoption of the integrated solid waste management plan. <br />Council member Pavao asked why the Board of Commissioners could not select a site and <br />inform the other units of government. The Agreement could stipulate that as a part of the process. <br />Chapel Hill feels that the County should be in charge of this situation. <br />Alderman Gist stated that siting and operating a landfill is the flash point for many other issues <br />of class/race/tax/politics. These are emotional issues. An Interlocal Agreement was developed <br />because the County said that they would have to take over the landfill because they were ultimately <br />responsible. She suggested that the three units agree to help site the landfill and have that written <br />into the agreement. This could be done by December 1st with a paragraph inserted into the Interlocal <br />Agreement which agreed that the current owners of the landfill would share in the responsibility for <br />siting a new solid waste disposal facility. <br />Commissioner Carey stated that the law has changed since the beginning of this process. <br />Now each unit of government is responsible for the disposal of their solid waste, although he does <br />believe that the County is the best entity to manage the facility. The Interlocal Agreement does need <br />to be revised so that some of the conditions are changed, especially if Site 17 is not a possibility. <br />Perhaps the business information that Commission Gordon requested has been available, but it has <br />not been studied thoroughly by each of our members. <br />Commissioner Gordon stated that it is important to the County that since Site 17 no longer <br />appears to be available as Commissioner Carey said, each jurisdiction is responsible for their own <br />solid waste. The Commissioners have just recently received an update on the finances but we need <br />further clarification. The fact that the reserve is only 2 million dollars after current expenses are paid