Minutes - 20080415 - Transfer Station

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9 Commissioner Gordon's said that it is her understanding that Olver wants to end up with a ranking of sites. She asked how this would be done. Bob Sallach said that they are proposing that the sites would be ranked with respect to each other and the criteria. Commissioner Gordon suggested a ranking based on some measurable points for each criterion. Bob Sallach said that he would look at this, and that he was trying to make this as objective as possible. Commissioner Carey said that he thought the technical criteria and attached values would determine which sites are the highest, and then the top 10 would be laid out physically. Bob Sallach said that Olver's intent was that 10 sites would be taken from the exclusionary criteria and 4 sites would be carried forward to the community-specific evaluation. The Commissioners had some further questions. Chair Jacobs suggested taking a hypothetical site and showing the County Commissioners how the criteria would work. 6) Public Comment Period Sean Anderson said that he is a non-traditional senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, and he brings a perspective of someone from a very diverse university, and he thinks the staff, the faculty, the undergraduate body, and all of the employees on his campus believe what has transpired historically is that dumps and sewers were placed on impoverished, minority communities that do not have the power to unseat the elected officials. He knows the County Commissioners are in a tough dilemma, but in his opinion Orange County is in violation of the 1948 Human Rights that were signed and ratified by the United States and the United Nations. He recommended adoption of the criteria. Regarding the impact on existing neighborhoods, he said that primarily in this country the biggest investment people make is their home, especially with impoverished, minority communities. He said that he read the Government Office of Accountability Report, and it states that traditionally, our country as a whole has done this —counties dumping on minority communities. He said that this is wrong. It is the County Commissioners' responsibility to make sure that this does not happen. If it does impact an existing neighborhood, then it should impact a white, affluent neighborhood or a neighborhood of people other than minority and impoverished. He said that UNC-Chapel Hill does not stand up for discrimination —existing or past. He begged the County Commissioners to be a beacon of light and not put a transfer station in a minority, impoverished community. Barry Katz thanked the Board for its consideration of this issue. He sees that the Board is about to take the time necessary to make the right decision and not be rushed into any kind of action. He is grateful for how the Board has handled this meeting tonight. He said that he was very disappointed at the presentation that Olver made regarding the materials that they were expected to prepare tonight. He read a prepared statement. "The Board is acting on behalf of the public and has a duty to let us know what you know as soon as you know it. I think the Board ought to decide whether any current activities would continue at the present landfill site and let the public know as early in this process as possible. Otherwise, the Board might appear disingenuous during a process that demands clarity. Once you decide exactly what you intend to do on the new WTS site, the BOCC can decide how large a tract it is seeking within narrower limits. This would help tremendously in choosing serious site candidates and it would minimize distracting public anxiety. I have a few comments on a potential exclusionary criterion and other specific criteria. Absent from the Technical Criteria list is any concern for water. At a minimum, the WTS site will have the transfer station which will require frequent washing for obvious sanitary and public health reasons. Substantial quantities of water would be used to wash this facility and washing might well occur every day. I don't know.