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3 <br />Memorandum <br />To: Laura Blackmon, Orange County Manager <br />From: Gayle Wilson, Solid Waste Management Director <br />Subject: Orange County Transfer Station <br />Date: March 20, 2007 <br />At the March 13, 2007-Board of County Commissioners' meeting the Board requested <br />various information relating to deciding of a location for a transfer .station within Orange <br />County. Staff has provided the information below in response to BOCC questions. <br />Traffic <br />Transfer trucks like the ones anticipated to the used in Orange County have about 52-55 <br />foot long trailers and 25-30 foot long tractors; standard lengths. They are about 8 feet <br />wide and 13.5 feet in height. The empty weight is about 31,000-32,000 pounds. Average <br />weight loaded is about 44,860 pounds (22 tons). Scales, built-in to the floor of the <br />transfer station are planned to avoid over weight loads. <br />Regarding the number of trips, staff is using 20051andfill tonnage data rather than more <br />current and lower tonnage data estimates for calculating transfer trips so as to present <br />more conservative representations. Tonnage is seasonal and also varies by day of week. <br />The estimated number of transfer round trips on the heaviest day and season would be 15. <br />On our lightest day, which is Saturday, we estimate only 3 trips. <br />The Eubanks Road area has recently seen traffic control mechanisms be installed recently <br />such as the traffic light at the Millhouse Road intersection and the planned roundabout <br />recommended for Elementary School #10 on Eubanks Road. It is our opinion that the <br />general community interest in increasing traffic in the area is primarily a result of <br />cumulative development in the northern Chapel Hill and Carrboro transition areas that <br />have little direct association with landfill or transfer station operations as our traffic has <br />remained constant to slightly decreasing over the past five years. <br />The Town of Chapel Hill can require a full traffic impact analysis for any major <br />subdivision, special use permit or site plan review. The requirement may be waived by <br />the Town Manager based on meeting 5 conditions, of which we believe can be met by a <br />proposed transfer station developed on existing landfill property. <br />Orange County typically does not require a full traffic impact analysis unless the <br />proposed project generates 800 trips per day or other factors such as safety, road capacity, <br />etc. exist. The transfer station is expected to generate only a maximum of 30 (15 round <br />