Agenda - 02-21-2017 - 6-a - Minutes

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20 1 2 Commissioner Jacobs recalled a recommendation from the Construction and Demolition Waste 3 Recycling Task Force that the County treat the communities receiving their waste with the same 4 care they would have for their own community. He said he does not think they have followed 5 through on this. If they are going to have a transfer station, then they should visit the 6 communities near the landfills where they would be sending their waste, learn how they are 7 being treated, and speak to their elected officials. 8 9 Commissioner Jacobs said they have had discussions about taking responsibility for their own 10 waste within Orange County, but two-thirds of the waste generated in Orange County comes 11 from Chapel Hill and Carrboro. They have no intention of having that waste disposed of within 12 their jurisdiction. If their policy were to take responsibility, then their officials would want to 13 dispose the waste somewhere near a community in rural Orange; that would be no more ethical 14 or equitable than the current arrangement. Sometimes he thinks people feel they are not being 15 environmentally just because they are sending their waste out of the county. But there are no 16 environmentally just solutions that are cost effective. They are too small and the environmentally 17 safe technologies are too expensive. This is a tough one to crack, and they should keep working 18 on it. 19 20 Commissioner Marcoplos described a field trip he took to the Sampson County landfill. It is a 21 much more beat down community than Rogers Road. The landfill is closer to the houses. He 22 said you can see it through the pine trees from very impoverished homes. There is trash on the 23 roads for miles around the landfill. he would say they have taken a step backwards in terms of 24 environmental justice. They should not be hide-bound by the much longer term considerations 25 when they talk about a transfer station, because the transfer station is a necessary step no 26 matter what else they do. 27 28 Bonnie Hammersley said on the next Monday night, staff will be updating the Solid Waste 29 Advisory Group on the transfer station process. The Board approved $100,000 in the Capital 30 Improvement Investment Plan for collaborative planning. She said they have met with Chapel 31 Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough, and are inviting Durham (because there will be an impact to 32 Durham if we decide to build a transfer station) and UNC to the next meeting. They have had 33 the same conversation about not letting something else detour the process, but everybody 34 around the table agreed they need a longer range plan that includes what they are going to do 35 next because otherwise they will be shipping their waste away without knowing what is 36 happening to it. The conversation today is helpful because it informs her as to what the Board 37 needs. 38 39 Commissioner Jacobs said he believed the Board had adopted the recommendation of the 40 Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling Task Force into policy, and if that is so then, as 41 Commissioner Marcoplos had done, the Board should visit the communities where Durham is 42 shipping Orange County's waste. 43 44 Commissioner Jacobs suggested the Board refresh itself on the County's land use plan in order 45 to have the understanding it needs to make strategic investments in high-value infrastructure. 46 He said they have not looked at it in years. They assume staff is taking care of it in accordance 47 with what they have done. Land use planning is to an extent a guarantee to home owners: they 48 are making the biggest investment in their life, and getting some level of assurance from local 49 government that they know the kind of neighborhood they are living in. There is an element of 50 fairness or justice to the people who are relying on them, to make sure they are taking their 51 expectations into consideration when land use changes are being considered. 20