Agenda - 04-01-2008-11b - Laserfiche WebLink

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Y1Tofn'1A"~"'t On .•« ~ Ee., o• ~, ~~~b Ca. "e. Orange County Animal Services 501 W. Franklin St, Suite 106, Chapel Hill, NC 27514 (919) 968-2287 To: Laura Blackmon, County Manager From: Bob Marotto, Animal Services Director Date: March 25, 2008 Subject: UNC Remediation Project Near the Animal Shelter ~~em Changes have already begun around the exterior of the Animal Shelter due to a chemical remediation project conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (tTNC) in preparation of its new `Carolina North' campus construction. This project will cause parking and entrance changes to, the Shelter, but staff is working with UNC officials to ensure that the remediation process they need to conduct in preparation for the new campus has as little adverse affect as possible. The Animal Shelter will continue to operate on a regular schedule during this process and will work to inform the public to avoid any confusion. It is important that we continue to maintain our presence in the community during this project and that the public is made aware and kept up- to-date on changes as they occur. We are preparing a Frequently Asked Questions, a media advisory, and will be posting more detailed information on our website. We will continue to update the general public and others with any changing information we receive. No less important is that all County officials communicate effectively with our customers, stakeholders, and partners. We want people to know that we will be continuing to operate as usual-despite the fence, signage and different parking and access to Municipal Drive-and that we look forward to the community continuing to support and work with us through this remediation period. The remediation will occur on a site that sits at the juncture of Municipal Drive and the road that runs down to the Animal Shelter, where more than 10,000 containers of varied chemicals were disposed of from UNC Chemistry laboratories in the 1970s. The process is expected to be completed in August, at which point access to the shelter will return to normal operations until transitioning to the new Animal Services facility on Eubanks Road at the end of the year. The first significant change of this remediation process has begun with the construction of a fence around a large area that includes much of the space in the front of the .Animal Shelter including our present parking lot. In the coming weeks, a large tent will be constructed over the excavation site.