Agenda - 01-30-1989 - Laserfiche WebLink

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lakeside economic development serves to further alarm and stiffen the resistence of those who might have to live with a reservoir in their midst. -- Step back from' consideration of politics -- who wants what, who owns what, which water supplier exists where -- and rely upon objective criteria. Which site supplies the better yield per dollar? Which site has the larger capacity, and thus the greater long-term usefulness? Which site is more readily protected from the hazards of encroaching development and errant pollution? In that regard, I direct your attention to the fact that an interstate carrying 1.5 million trucks per year passes almost atop one potential reservoir site. Many thousands of those trucks carry hazardous cargoes, some of them unlicensed to convey such loads. A rail line also passes perilously close to that same watershed, a rail line that could carry wastes from Shearon Harris should the state choose a waste site west of Orange County. Again, I realize that decisions such as where to site a reservoir, or an airport, or a landfill, are fraught with difficulty. I am likewise aware of the potential impacts on several valued historic structures posed by the site above Corporation Lake. As a historian; as someone who has made his living nominating such - structures to the National Register of Historic Places; as a former vice president of the Hillsborough Historical Society; and as a caretaker at a site on the National Register, I am very much concerned that those properties be respected and protected. But there is much to be respected and protected along Seven Mile Creek as well. That is why I trust that fact and careful, open discussion, rather than overheated rhetoric or a shortsighted desire for the path of least resistence, will guide your decision. Whichever site you choose, I trust too that you will specify measures that will minimize damage to the surrounding environment, both during construction and in the long run. Thank you.