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<br /> Comprehensive Review of <br /> S olid W aste Collection and Disposal Options <br /> <br />v2.1 111 10/22/12 <br />approximately one-third of the costs are allocated to the Town of Carrboro, should enable the <br />Town of Chapel Hill to save over $100,000 per year. <br /> <br />7.3 CONCLUSION AND RECOM MENDATIONS <br />As noted above, siting and developing a new Town-only transfer station would be challenging <br />for a number of reasons and the scenarios reflecting direct haul to an existing transfer station <br />located in an adjacent municipality provide a lower cost option, in part due to economies of <br />scale. Developing a new regional transfer station provides for better economies of scale, but <br />would face the same difficulties. SCS recommends that the Town pursue further evaluation for <br />developing its own transfer station, and continue to participate in potential future regional <br />cooperative efforts in this regard. <br /> <br />7.3.1 Recommendations <br />7.3.1.1 Pursue Siting and Permitting a Transfer Station Within the Town <br />Two major reasons to engage in efforts to develop a transfer station within the Town is the <br />ability to control which facility the Town’s waste is transferred to and to guard against price <br />increases that could be imposed by neighboring transfer station facilities in the future. <br />Recognizing that Town values (e.g., sustainability, local control of destination and price, and <br />self-reliance, etc.) factor into these disposal option considerations, the scenarios that incorporate <br />a new transfer station are attractive even though they may not represent the absolute lowest-cost <br />option. <br />Another reason to engage in efforts to develop a transfer station is that future waste processing <br />and treatment technologies that may be developed and implemented for the Town or elsewhere <br />in the region will likely necessitate that the Town’s waste be delivered to a central location, <br />sorted in some manner, and transferred to larger trailers for transport to such future facilities. <br />Furthermore, WTE facilities will generate waste that must be transferred for final disposal and <br />this could act as a secondary backup to those facilities. Developing a transfer station now places <br />the Town in a preferable situation to capitalize on future opportunities for innovative waste <br />management and treatment techniques that may become available in the Town or in the <br />surrounding region. <br />As noted previously, the efforts to permit a transfer station will likely require significant work <br />over a multi-year period. SCS believes the Town would be well-served to commence <br />preliminary planning activities, perform a technical feasibility study on the potential candidate <br />sites (one being the Town-owned parcel located southeast of the intersection of Millhouse Road), <br />and solicit interest from other municipal partners, specifically Town of Carrboro. Also, it is <br />suggested that the Town staff and elected officials visit one or more existing transfer stations to <br />observe conditions and operations.