Minutes 03-24-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Frank Clifton said that several issues have brought this to the forefront. One is that the Town was reviewing its tree ordinances and they were trying to decide how any changes to the tree ordinance might impact this site from a development standpoint. There is a long-term intention to expand this facility that serves a lot of County functions. Commissioner Gordon said that she wanted to emphasize that Orange County needs to be working with the Town of Chapel Hill following the parameters of their ordinance to move the project forward. She said that she would like to see coordinated human services in the Southern Human Services Center, such as health and dental services, as soon as possible. Jim Ward said that if the funding for this site is far down the road, he would ask that the County take a more urban look at the design because this is a very suburban design. Matt Czajkowski said that there was a discussion some years ago about a shelter being put in the Southern Human Services Center campus and Chapel Hill is in the process of siting a transitional facility in Chapel Hill. He said that the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro are going to try and address the issue of homelessness in Orange County and he asked if there was any contemplation to address this issue, such as a food service facility at this location. Chair Pelissier said that she is the Commissioner representative on the Partnership to End Homelessness and there are discussions about general services but with the County building that type of facility, there has not been any discussion. She said that usually counties do not build shelters, but non-profits do this. Commissioner Jacobs said that the County offered building site #3 for a shelter and at that time, Mayor Foy addressed this issue at the senior center and there was a lot of opposition from people who use the senior center about having a homeless shelter next door. The Mayor addressed how they could coexist. There was never a vote, but the shelter was moved somewhere else. The County did step forward and entertained this possibility. Commissioner Gordon said that Project Homestart is located on the Southern Human Services Center campus and it is a facility for women and children. This site is leased for 25 years. Commissioner Foushee pointed out that during the discussion about the homeless facility there was also discussion about providing the justice facility and a possible swap of having a committed location in downtown Chapel Hill. This somehow got lost in the discussion. Ed Harrision left at 9:14 PM. 3. Solid Waste Issues a) Inter-local Agreement Modifications for Solid Waste Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said that the Town of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County have had a partnership since the 1970's with regard to solid waste. From the mid-80's to 2000 the Landfill Owners Group guided landfill operations under the administrative control of the Town of Chapel Hill. In 1999, there was a working group of elected officials, attorneys, and managers that met for months in crafting the existing interlocal agreement. The key provision in the agreement was that the County would provide local disposal and the partners would provide waste to that facility that would provide the funding. The recent decision regarding the transfer station has brought the interlocal agreement into question. The Solid Waste Advisory Board has discussed this issue thoroughly and has made some recommendations on how to proceed. The suggestion is that a new working group be formed to revise the existing interlocal agreement or to craft a new interlocal agreement for solid waste management. The Solid Waste Advisory Board recommended that with the possible additional life of the landfill that a long-term solution could be implemented that might avoid or at least minimize the interim delivery of waste to the City of Durham. The SWAB strongly