Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
• It appears that each town wholly within Orange County will soon have an <br />elected representative sifting on the Economic Development Commission; can <br />this body serve as a central clearinghouse for information about economic <br />development? <br />• What are the most effective ways to engage the private sector in economic <br />development? <br />• Other issues as desired. <br />No Attachments <br />2) Sustaining and Maintaining Affordable Housing <br />The Orange Community Housing and Land Trust recently completed an a with of the viability <br />of the current land trust model and the challenges the organization faces with long-term <br />maintenance of land trust properties. The results of this analysis indicate the need to revise the <br />model to ensure the long-term maintenance and subsequent sustainability of these affordable <br />housing properties. Attached is a more detailed memorandum from Robert Dowling and a <br />summary of the findings of this analysis provided as background for discussion of this topic. <br />Attachment 2 — 1— 3120107 Robert Dowling Memo to Assembly of Governments <br />Attachment 2 — 2 — December 2006 Orange Community Housing and Land Trust <br />Quarterly Status Report <br />3) Shearon Harris Update <br />The citizens and elected officials of Orange County have, for some years, been aware of the <br />potential for widespread and lethal consequences resulting from an airborne release of the <br />tremendous quantity of radioactive material available from the spent nuclear fuel stored in <br />Shearon Harris nuclear power plant's "temporary" waste storage pools. While the southernmost <br />portion of Orange County is approximately 15 miles north of Shearon Harris, all of the County <br />lies within the 50 mile radius "ingestion pathway" around the plant - as does a large portion of <br />the heavily populated area of central North Carolina (approximately 2,000,000 individuals). <br />Orange County governments and citizens have been very vocal about concerns related to those <br />safety and security issues at the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant that could lead to an <br />incidentinvolving a significant airborne release of nuclear waste materials. <br />During the period of late -1998 through mid-2002, Orange County's concerns led it to work with <br />other local governments to challenge, through a quasi-judicial proceeding known as an <br />"Intervention" with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the plans of Progress <br />Energy/CP&L to expand the use of the Shearon Harris fuel storage pools. In spite of the best <br />efforts of the County and its consultants and allies, the NRC approved the plans of Progress <br />Energy/CP&L. <br />Orange County governments have recognized the potential consequences of an airborne <br />release of nuclear materials, given a combination of circumstances including existing population <br />densities, known problems with traffic gridlock under non-emergency conditions and the lack of <br />overall coordination in emergency management, response and evacuation planning between <br />Progress Energy/CP&L and local law enforcement/emergency management personnel. Orange <br />County has, on several * occasions, tried to raise this issue and these concerns with Progress <br />Energy/CP&L and with government officials on the national,, state and local level. At a <br />