Minutes - 20080318 - Transfer Station

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3 Commissioner Gordon said that watersheds deserve their own separate category. Chair Jacobs said that, since this is a working document, then he would suggest on the bottom of Exhibit 5, that there be a space with a list of additional concerns raised by the Board of County Commissioners so that they can be tracked. Commissioner Gordon said that she remembered early on talking about other things, such as sites that are freely offered, and she is concerned about things being brought up by Commissioners and not being included in the documents. Ed Schuffler made reference to item H, which was discussed last time regarding sites being within three miles of major roadways. This was where the discussion about the railroad came in. This is being considered for the technical criteria. Chair Jacobs said that the Board had asked for a map that showed the actual 10-mile distances from the waste centroid. Ed Schuffler made reference to Exhibit 2, which shows the centroid of population and employment together. Chair Jacobs said that the Board talked about how the trucks cannot go through the Town of Hillsborough, so what may be 10 miles on a map is not 10 miles in reality. He thought that the Board wanted a map that showed the actual ten miles that a truck would have to travel to get north of the Town of Hillsborough. He needs to see this on a map. Ed Schuffler said that the furthest site would be right up to Hillsborough, so it would not run into the north of Hillsborough. Chair Jacobs said that since this is exclusionary criteria, then that would exclude NC 86 and NC 57 north of Hillsborough, but it is not indicated on the list. He would recommend taking NC 57 off the list, as well as NC 86 north of Hillsborough. Commissioner Gordon said that she would argue against the ten-mile centroid as an exclusionary criterion, because it would take out sites that are on 1-85 east and west, which could be possible good sites. She stated that this should be included in the technical criteria and not in exclusionary criteria. She said that some of the sites on 1-85 would be 16 miles away. Chair Jacobs said that one of the issues that the County dealt with about a year ago is that both Chapel Hill and Carrboro expressed reservations about having to drive their vehicles very far. He thinks that there must be some road mile cutoff point that is optimal for trucks that are designed for carrying garbage. Ed Schuffler said that, based on the way it is set up, if the mileage is more than about 15 miles, then there will have to be a transfer station to get to the transfer station. If there are no sites at 10 miles, then it can jump to 12 miles. Commissioner Carey said that 10 miles may seem strict, but it can go up to about 12 miles. Chapel Hill and Carrboro should have a chance to comment on this again. He wants to be clear about allowing the extra two miles. Ed Schuffler said that there was discussion about, as the consultants go out and look for sites, that if they do not find sites at 10 miles, then they would come back and ask for a higher radius. Chair Jacobs suggested listing it as up to 12 miles and then giving a weighted factor to distance from waste generation. Ed Schuffler said that the technical criteria does look at this again. Commissioner Gordon suggested setting the maximum distance from the centroid at 15 miles, since that is what Ed Schuffler referenced as the maximum distance. Commissioner Foushee said that she would like to come to some conclusion on this criterion. A motion was made by Chair Jacobs, seconded by Commissioner Foushee to change the exclusionary criteria (item H above) to say"within 12 miles of the projected waste generation centroid." VOTE: Ayes, 4; Nay, 1 (Commissioner Gordon)