Minutes - 19990817 - Laserfiche WebLink

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the management of solid waste tonight. As soon as all three governing bodies sign the agreement, the County will move swiftly in resolving this issue. Commissioner Jacobs spoke to Mr. Caldwell about the inter-local agreement and said that section six deals with financing the community benefits. He said the Commissioners and other elected boards were still committed to bringing water and sewer to the Rogers Road community. He said they have been caught up in dealing with the details of this document for half a year. Chair Gordon spoke about the process for receiving public comment. She said there will be a public hearing on the C & D site at a later time, but they will hear a few comments tonight as time permits. John Link explained the process that is being followed in siting a C&D site. Last winter the governing boards of Orange County, the Town of Carrboro, and the Town of Chapel Hill commissioned a subcommittee of the Landfill Owners Group to explore possible construction and demolition sites. The combination of that effort, which included looking at a number of sites, resulted in examination of the Guess Road and Eubanks Road sites. He explained the timetable. On September 7th the Board of County Commissioners will receive the engineers' report on their regular agenda. A public hearing would need to be held sometime during the week of September 13th. It looks like September 16 would be the date for the public hearing. Since the Board of County Commissioners will be taking responsibility for all of the landfill and solid waste operations effective January 1St, he recommends they take the lead in establishing the public hearing with the other jurisdictions. After the hearing, each board needs to make a decision on what they would recommend as the C & D site from the two sites that are now being considered. Orange County would need to make a decision by September 21St, the Town of Chapel Hill would need to make a decision by September 27th and the Town of Carrboro would need to make a decision by September 28th. They have learned that in addition to a local public hearing that the state requires, that after a decision is made there must be a public meeting where the decision is discussed publicly. This meeting would need to occur on September 29th, since the option is set to end on September 30th. An extension of the option is not a very likely alternative. He then summarized the timetable: A final report would be received on both sites by September 1St. The Commissioners would consider that report on September 7th and a public hearing would be held on September 16tH. The Board of County Commissioners would make a decision on September 21St, and the other jurisdictions would make a decision the next week. The decision would either have to be unanimous or two out of the three partners in the LOG. He then reported on the amount of money that has been spent to date on examining the two sites. The site on Guess Road has incurred an expense of $68,500. The site on Eubanks Road has incurred an expense of $25,750. The total expenses of carrying through the entire process of examining the site suitability for Guess Road is $133,000, and for Eubanks Road, $51,000. There would be additional costs for permitting the site. Commissioner Halkiotis asked that the revenue stream be identified. John Link said that the revenue will come from the Landfill Owners Group fund which is funded by users of the landfill. Commissioner Jacobs suggested that the meeting for the public hearing on September 16th be in Hillsborough. He asked if the discussion could be held earlier than the 14th. He wants to be sure that whatever happens cannot happen without the Board of County Commissioners' approval. He also asked for clarification from the County Attorney on the option and asked if the option had to be closed on September 30th. Commissioner Brown asked Gayle Wilson about the expenditures to date and the total permitting process price. She asked at what point what monies are being spent. Gayle explained the permitting process and costs. Commissioner Brown asked how much money would be spent on the Guess Road site by September 16th Gayle said $80,000 to $85,000 would be spent on the site suitability process. SPEAKERS Chair Gordon suggested that 15 minutes be allocated for public comment, since there will be a public hearing on the C & D site at a later time. Robert Fletcher, who lives 1 /2 mile from this site, said that he has examined each acre of the site very carefully and attended the meeting last week. He commended Mr. Wilson and his consultants on a good job. The consultants confirmed that zoning of this site could permit a sanitary landfill as well. The site sits approximately 140 vertical feet higher than the Little River, the site is within 130 feet of the stream that flows directly into the Little River, and the site has a 30-50-70 year operating life. He pointed out that there are two issues; water quality for tens of thousands of people, and transportation. Guess Road is a very high-speed road, and he feels that a C & D site in this area would be very unsafe. He feels that this is not an appropriate site. Mr. R. L. Forrester spoke on behalf of POPLR, People Opposed to the Pollution of the Little River. He has purchased land in this area for his entire family. POPLR would like to help the County Commissioners come up with an alternative, and they are concerned about pollution. He had all the representatives from POPLR stand up. He said that they have environmental concerns. One of the things that attracted them to Orange County was the generally good quality of life in the area. A lot of money has been spent on this process. POPLR would like to help Orange County make money another way. They are distributing a petition for those who do not want this site, and