Orange County NC Website
4 <br />1 He thinks that once the community-specific criteria are applied, it will be clear that the ranking <br />2 will change. He does not propose taking all ten to the community for consideration. He would <br />3 propose only taking three or four sites to the community. <br />4 Chair Jacobs said that there is another Transfer Station Siting Committee meeting on <br />5 October 21St. So even though it will delay the overall process by five weeks, the way he <br />6 understood the process was that the community-specific criteria would be applied by the <br />7 consultants, and this would come back to the County Commissioners and they would decide <br />8 where the cutoff point is before going back to the public. He wants to take ownership from now <br />9 on and be clear that nothing leaves the room until the County Commissioners feel comfortable. <br />10 Lewis Watts said that what they know now is that all of the sites are "technically" suitable. <br />11 ,Chair Jacobs said that the Board could have both sets of scores and decide how to regard <br />12 those. Commissioner Carey agreed. <br />13 Chair Jacobs summarized what he has heard from the County Commissioners: To have <br />14 the consultants apply the community-specific criteria; have the results listed side-by-side with <br />15 the total points from the technical and exclusionary criteria for the ten sites; have this come back <br />16 to the Board on October 21St; and decide where the cutoff point is before it goes back out to the <br />17 community for further comment. <br />18 Commissioner Nelson said that this is•fine with him, but he would like input from the <br />19 consultant regarding a reasonable cutoff point so that the decision is based on evidence and <br />20 input from experts. The Board agreed. <br />21 A motion was made by Commissioner Foushee, seconded by Commissioner Nelson that: <br />22 1) The Consultant apply the community-specific criteria to all ten sites; <br />23 2) That this be reported side-by-side with the application of the total points for the <br />24 technical criteria; <br />25 3) That the Board of County Commissioners would decide the number of sites, which <br />26 would go forward to the public for comment and consideration; <br />27 4) That the Consultant would make a recommendation as to a cutoff point that makes <br />28 sense based on the entire process; <br />29 5) And that this meeting would be held on October 21, 2008 at the Southern Human <br />30 Services Center at 5:30 p.m. <br />31 VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br />32 3.Receive Public Comment on Sites Recommended for Preliminary Community- <br />33 Specific Criteria Evaluation and the Proposal for Obtaining Initial Public Input <br />34 <br />35 PUBLIC COMMENT: <br />36 Rev. Robert Campbell said that he wants to apply the community-specific criteria. He also <br />37 invited the County Commissioners to an Orange County Organizing Committee assembly at St. <br />38 Thomas Moore on October 29tt' for community input. <br />39 Rev. Richard Edens is one of the pastors at United Church of Chapel Hill and is also a <br />40 member of the Orange County Organizing Committee. He asked those connected with OCOC <br />41 to stand. He said that 45 years ago, Martin Luther King spoke his "I have a dream" speech at <br />42 the Lincoln Memorial about arriving in Washington with an uncashed check; a promissory note. <br />43 He said that the OCOC joins neighbors at Eubanks and Rogers Road in coming to the County <br />44 Commissioners with an uncashed check, that they would not bear being a neighbor to a landfill <br />45 into eternity or alone. He said that they are heartened to see that the selection criteria includes <br />46 environmental justice considerations, but they were disappointed to see that the Eubanks site <br />47 remains on the list of possible sites. He said that the people of Rogers and Eubanks Road were <br />48 promised explicitly or implicitly that they would not be impacted disproportionately forever. He <br />49 said that this organizing committee is still forming and is composed of 27 congregations, <br />50 institutions, and associations. He applauded the County Commissioners for their work thus far. <br />51 He asked them to site the transfer station elsewhere. <br />