Agenda - 05-20-2008-e2f - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 Commissioner Cordon's said that it is her understanding that Olver wants to end up with a 2 ranking of sites. She asked how this would be done. 3 Bob Sallach said that they are proposing that the sites would be ranked with respect to 4 each other and the criteria. 5 Commissioner Gordon suggested a ranking based on some measurable points for each 6 criterion. Bab Sallach said that he would look at this, and that he was trying to make this as 7 objective as possible. 8 Commissioner Carey said that.he thought the technical criteria and attached values would 9 determine which sites are the highest, and then the top 10 would be laid out physically. Bob 10 Sallach said that Olver's intent was that 10 sites would be taken from the exclusionary criteria 11 and 4 sites would be carried forward to the community-specific evaluation. The Commissioners 12 had some further questions. 13 Chair Jacobs suggested taking a hypothetical site and showing the County 14 Commissioners how the criteria would work. 15 16 6) Public Comment Period 17 Sean Anderson said that he is anon-traditional senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, and he brings 18 a perspective of someone from a very diverse university, and he thinks the staff, the faculty, the 19 • undergraduate body, and all of the employees on his campus believe what has transpired 20 historically is that dumps and sewers were placed on impoverished, minority communities that 21 do not have the power to unseat the elected officials. He knows the County Commissioners are 22 in a tough dilemma, but in his opinion Orange County is in violation'of the 1948 Human Rights 23 that were signed and ratified by the United States and the United Nations. He recommended 24 adoption of the criteria. Regarding the impact on existing neighborhoods, he said that primarily 25 in this country the biggest investment people make is their home, especially with impoverished, 26 minority communities. He said that he read the Government Office of Accountability Report, 27 and it states that traditionally, our country as a whole has done this -counties dumping on 28 minority communities. He said that this is wrong. It is the County Cammissioners' responsibility 29 to make sure that this does not happen. If it does impact an existing neighborhood, then it 30 should impact a white, affluent neighborhood or a neighborhood of people other than minority 31 and impoverished. He said that UNC-Chapel Hill does not stand up for discrimination -existing 32 or past. He begged the County Cammissioners to be a beacon of light and not put a transfer 33 station in a minority, impoverished community. 34 Barry Katz thanked the Board for its consideration of this issue. He sees that the Board 35 is about to take the time necessary to make the right decision and not be rushed into any kind of 36 action. He is grateful far how the Board has handled this meeting tonight.. He said that he was 37 very disappointed at the presentation that Olver made regarding the materials that they were 38 expected to prepare tonight. He read a prepared statement. 39 "The Board is acting on behalf of the public and has a duty to let us know what you know 40 as soon as you know it. I think the Board aught to decide whether any current activities would 41 continue at the present landfill site and let the public know as early in this process as possible. 42 Otherwise, the Board might appear disingenuous during a process that demands clarity. Once 43 you decide exactly what you intend to do on the new WTS site, the BOCC can decide how large 44 a tract it is seeking within narrower limits. This would help tremendously in choosing serious site 45 candidates and it would minimize distracting public anxiety. 46 I have a few comments on a potential exclusionary criterion and other specific criteria. 47 Absent from the Technical Criteria list is any concern for water. At a minimum, the WTS 48 site will have the transfer station which will require frequent washing for obvious sanitary and 49 public health reasons. Substantial quantities of water would be used to wash this facility and 50 washing might well occur every day. I don't know.