Agenda 11-14-23; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 1 taxpayer funds. She said residents deserve to see the same information as decision-makers and 2 to be part of the process. Instead, she said residents are on the defensive and fighting for their 3 homes and families' health and safety. She said she and other residents would prefer to be on 4 the offensive and on the side of Solid Waste Management in understanding the need for a new 5 consolidated site and to have been part of the governmental process. 6 Mary Lawrence said her property is adjacent to the proposed site for solid waste 7 convenience center. She said the center would be located on 7.7 acres carved from the northeast 8 corner of a 56-acre plot owned by OWASA. She said about 30 acres is currently wooded, and the 9 rest is open and used for land application of biosolids. She said the proposed site already bears 10 the environmental burden of biosolids from OWASA and the surrounding community has already 11 absorbed the numerous risks associated with this practice and a solid waste convenience center 12 would add additional burden. She said to build the center would require removing hardwood trees 13 that stand between the site and neighboring properties, which neighbors need to absorb the water 14 runoff from the biosolids site and filters wells. She said a representative from the engineering firm 15 involved in the project said he could give no guarantees that contaminants from the site would 16 not infiltrate the neighbors' wells, which means the center could double the risk of well 17 contamination. She said the proposal is lose-lose for 70 homes and asked the Board to withdraw 18 support for the project. 19 Joshua Setzer said an NC-54 corridor study was presented at the last meeting, and there 20 were findings shared that are relevant to the solid waste facility issue. He said Highway 54 is well 21 beyond its carrying capacity resulting in congestion and accidents. He said solutions will take 22 years and, in the meantime, the population will continue to grow, and it will get worse on Highway 23 54 before it gets better. He said despite this, Solid Waste Management has proposed 24 consolidating two convenience center sites into one at the corner of Orange Grove Rd. and 25 Highway 54, which would make even more people have to use Highway 54. He referenced the 26 census block data presented by Nishith Trivedi at the last meeting which showed that there is a 27 community of concern along Orange Grove Rd. that meets three environmental justice thresholds. 28 He said this section of Southwestern Orange County at the junction of Orange Grove Rd. and 29 Highway 54 is already overburdened by traffic and underserved by roads and is burned by waste 30 byproduct from the biosolid treatment program which is now known to contain PFAS and is under 31 EPA study. He said the proposed waste and recycling center would bring more traffic and potential 32 contamination. He urged the Board to ask Solid Waste to look for other sites. 33 34 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 35 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the agenda below.) 36 37 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members 38 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said she attended the ribbon cutting for Innovate Carolina 39 Junction on September 271h. She said she appreciated that there was a moment to acknowledge 40 the women who worked at that location and made their living selling flowers and a carnation was 41 provided to all who entered. She said the Junction is a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship 42 at UNC Chapel Hill. She said she also attended the Local Government Housing Collaborative 43 meeting. She said the group has put a pause on the RFP because the previously identified funds 44 can't be used for county-wide housing plan, only for a plan focused on the four priority populations. 45 Commissioner Richards did not have any announcements. 46 Vice-Chair McKee said there is a lot of activity along the roads in northern Orange County. 47 He explained that this is a result of the broadband initiative the Board started two years ago, and 48 multiple crews are hard at work laying conduit. He said the plan is for this work to be done by the 49 end of 2024. 50 Chair Bedford thanked Vice-Chair McKee and Commissioner Greene for serving on the 51 Broadband Task Force, which led to the work Vice-Chair McKee mentioned. She said she and