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offering mitigation measures unless the expansion is approved. We believe that limiting the quarrying <br />operation to the shortest time frame is in the best interest of our health, homes, wells, environment, <br />safety, and quality of life in general. There is no scarcity of water or stone. The expansion is not <br />necessary. If the expansion is approved, mitigation measures have not adequately addressed traffic <br />impacts, noise impacts, visual impacts, homeowner property values or structural damages, air quality, or <br />watershed threats. We feel it is unnecessary, unreasonable, and unjust to allow the quarry to expand. <br />The current quarry could provide 98°~ of the capacity of the expanded quarry if fully mined. It is <br />unreasonable and unjust to ask our community to continue to suffer a great loss of quality of life and <br />property damage for this expansion when there is no need. We ask you, as stewards of our community, <br />to deny the proposed expansion. Help us to restore a good quality of life to our community." She said <br />that this statement was signed by at least 100 people. <br />Robert Brooks said that he was opposed to the expansion. He said that of the two houses he <br />has in the neighborhood, he has three wells that have gone bad. He is changing his water filters twice a <br />week. He said that he has to buy all of his drinking water. <br />Pastor C. M. Williams, Senior Pastor of Hickory Grove Missionary Baptist Church, shared his <br />concerns that the church has had to put in three new wells. He notices that during the blasting around <br />12 noon, there is shaking and the church almost comes off its entire foundation. He said that the total <br />cast of digging the last well in 1998 was $7,995.05. In May 2000 the church had an extensive plumbing <br />repair that cost $1,490.21. This was due to the deposits from the water. He is concerned about the <br />structural damage that is not yet visible. <br />Erwin Danziger said that in the presentation by the Planning Department, the Board was told <br />that there would be a finite time limit. He said that as far as he knows, there is nothing that will keep the <br />quarry to a finite time limit. He said that American Stone Company could come back and extend the <br />Special Use Permit past the time limit. He said that the time limit could not be legally enforced. He <br />asked the Board to deny this request. <br />Chair Carey said that if the County does not approve the land use plan amendment then the <br />process would stop. If the County approves the land use plan amendment then Carrboro would have to <br />approve the change in order for the Special Use Permit to move forward so that the mitigation measures <br />can be addressed. <br />Geoffrey Gledhill said that the County Commissioners have two decisions - act on the Joint <br />Planning Area Land Use Plan Amendment and act on the Orange County Land Use Element of its <br />Comprehensive Plan amendment. If both are approved, before anything else can happen and before <br />this property would be eligible for an application for the Special Use Permit, Carrboro would also have to <br />approve the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan Amendment. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked about the two-percent difference in the water supply that would <br />result from the quarry expansion. He asked if OWASA was in agreement with this number. <br />Peter Gordon said that the two percent was very much a point of dispute. He said that the <br />size of the current quarry would allow about 600 million to a billion gallons of storage for water. The <br />expansion would allow three billion gallons of storage for water. He said that the difference between one <br />billion and three billion gallons is a difference of 20%. He said that it is unknown haw much of the three <br />billion gallons could be achieved mining an the current site. However, it is clear that in order to dig out <br />enough stone on the current site to achieve close to the three billion gallons of storage would require the <br />mining to go on almost as long as it would under the rezoning. He said that OWASA thinks that the twa- <br />percent claim is without foundation. He told about the professionals that have studied the amount of <br />water supply for the quarry expansion. <br />Commissioner Gordon made reference to the Rural Industrial Activity Node and said that it <br />would be helpful if the public uses were separated from high-intensity private uses. Geoffrey Gledhill <br />said that he did not know what the Planning Director had in mind for this. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked how a finite time limit could be placed on excavation <br />operations. Geoffrey Gledhill said that there was nothing that could make the time limit absolute. He <br />said that there could be some third party beneficiary in the agreements that would be part of the Special <br />Use Permit process application that would have the ability to enforce the termination. <br />Commissioner Brown asked OWASA about the time frame of thirty years and why it was <br />chosen. Peter Gordon said that the 30 years was a compromise between a number of constraints. <br />4 <br />