Minutes - 11-27-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ignored and that Mr. Davis' memo was prepared before the deadline far comments from the public even arrived. He said that this was not a fair process. Mr. Danziger continued by speaking about the mitigation measures. He said that the neighbors had made it clear tonight that no expansion and no mitigation was preferred to expansion with mitigation. Therefore, there are no valid reasons for approving the rezoning or this SUP. He said that if the Board of County Commissioners chose to approve it anyway, then it would be for reasons known only to the Board and not yet made public. He said that the Planning Department changed same of the wording of the mitigation measures to favor the applicants. The wording used in the present mitigation measures was not the same wording that was used in the memorandum of agreement. He recommends an appointment of one or more members of the County Commissioners, one Planning Board member, and himself to review the conditions far proper wording. His final point was a series of eight questions that he hopes the County Commissioners will review before issuing the SUP. Elliot Cramer, a statistician for 40 years, said that one of OWASA's main argument for quarry expansion was its claim that it could not acquire the current quarry except by eminent domain at a cost of millions of dollars. He said that the day before the April 12th public hearing, OWASA announced an agreement in principle to purchase the current quarry property. It was not until September 7th, one week after the Carrboro vote, that the purchase was consummated. He thinks that the delay was due to OWASA's wish to forestall a negative vote by the Town of Carrboro. He has a copy of the contract between OWASA and the Durham's, and he said that there was nothing in it to justify afive-month delay. He also made reference to the contract between OWASA and American Stone Company, which significantly modifies the old four-party agreement. He believes that both of these contracts should be part of the record. He said that OWASA and American Stone Company have said that the current pit is 250 feet deep and will have a depth of 350 feet if the application is approved, and will be over 500 feet if not approved. He said that this contradicts information that was provided to the OWASA board on February 9, 2000. Using the 350-foot depth, he computed the capacity of OWASA's current quarries to be about three billion gallons. The three billion gallons is identical to what OWASA's consultants have said to be the capacity of the expanded quarry. He sees no justification far the expansion. He asked that the County Commissioners reject this application. With regards to the future need for water, he said that OWASA's consultants, in their technical memorandum, have stated that the demand for water in 2050 will be 15.1 million gallons per day. This is the amount of water that OWASA has without any quarry at all. He said that this makes the assumption, which OWASA has conveniently chosen to ignore aver the past year, that all new housing will have federally mandated law flow toilets and showerheads. He said that it is clear that there will be enough water to last through 2090 and probably forever because build out in Chapel Hill is expected and there will be a flattening of the growth. He said that Paxton Badham did misrepresent the size of the pit to OWASA. He believes that OWASA has not made their decision on scientific realms, but on faulty ideas that the community was growing exponentially. Pastor C. M. Williams is the senior pastor at Hickory Grove Missionary Baptist Church. He is a concerned citizen speaking for his 300 parishioners. The church is on Bethel Hickory Grove Church Road. He has been there for three years and has incurred expenses at the church for damages as a result of the quarry. He said that the burden was on the community - structural damage, change for the community, accidents or death because of the changes in the road, etc. He feels that the quality of life in the community is very important. He made reference to the no fault well repair fund and he asked who would determine who gets this money. He is concerned about all of the money that has already been spent to repair damages to wells. He is concerned about the fund that will be established, whether it will be adequate, and who will handle the fund. He feels that there is a right thing to do in being fair. It does not seem fair that American Stone Company and OWASA are making money and that the residents are suffering. He said that it does not seem fair that an African American community should withstand the burden of the growth of Chapel Hill and Carrboro. He feels that the fair thing to do is to be sure that the residents are compensated for water and sewer and compensated for past, present, and future damages.