Agenda - SWAB 020805 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Storm Debris Management Orange County continues to operate without a storm debris management plan capable of responding to another major storm event that will inevitably occur. Staff has, for several years, advocated development of a plan including a suitable site for receiving, processing, and storage of such vegetative debris. The SWAB believes that the County continues to be both lucky and vulnerable. Staff has previously suggested, and the SWAB agrees, that a dual purpose facility capable of handling the debris generated by a major storm event, but which also has ongoing daily utility in accepting land clearing and inert debris (LCID) for recycling, is badly needed. Such a facility would receive LCID as a normal daily function, helping to fund the operation and fill a local waste management need, while at the same time maintaining emergency storm debris management capability. This would operate as an alternative to burning and land filling. Most LCID is now hauled out of Orange County destined for cheaper disposal sites elsewhere. There is no-full -scale LCID disposal site in the County although small private sites do operate sporadically. Solid Waste Operations Center The existing Solid Waste Management Department administrative offices must be relocated by December 31, 2006 due to the expiration of an agreement between the Town of Chapel Hill and UNC for lease of the current site. The Town has commenced construction of their new operations center on Millhouse Road and anticipates relocating by that deadline, deconstructing and removing its old facilities as required by the agreement. The Solid Waste Department has shared the existing facilities for several years. The County has purchased a 4 -acre parcel on Eubanks Road and approved that parcel in their Solid Waste Facilities Master Plan as the home for a new Solid Waste Management Department Operations Center. The County has recently received proposals from architects in response to a formal request and staff is preparing to recommend to the BOCC an architectural firm to design the new operations center. The SWAB requests that the BOCC authorize the hiring of the recommended architect and commence to design the new building. The SWAB urges the BOCC to consider incorporation, to the extent practicable, of sustainable design practices and techniques. While these sustainable design elements usually add up -front costs to the design and construction phases, they have proven to be cost effective over time. The SWAB also advocates for a facility of sufficient size and functionality to consolidate the department's many disparate employees, to provide basic amenities that are currently lacking at some existing facilities, and to conveniently serve the many citizens who visit the Solid Waste offices. Should the current County solid waste collections activities be transferred from the Public Works Department to the Solid Waste Management Department, additional space will be required to accommodate those staff and equipment. Page 6 of .10 213/2005