Minutes - 20080916 - Transfer Station

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1 Myra Gwin Summers said that, with the hard work of the Hillsborough Arts Council, local 2 businesses, Hillsborough government, and countless individuals, Hillsborough has become a 3 destination for tourism, shopping, and eating out. Last Fridays have been a huge success. For 4 visitors coming to Hillsborough, the I-85/old NC 86 interchange has been ugly, disorganized, 5 and clogged with traffic. This has been the face of Hillsborough for years. The Orange County 6 government has identified the four quadrants of 1-40 as being economic development land. 7 There are opportunities to do thoughtful economic development that is in the interest of 8 Hillsborough and Orange County. This could promote tourism and local businesses. She said 9 that Hillsborough is one of the few historic areas in the country that is more than 250 years old 10 and has so many preserved historic properties. She wanted to alert the Board of County 11 Commissioners that the technical evaluation does not factor in the negative impact of putting the 12 transfer station at sites 857 and 573. She suspects that these sites are ranked #1 and #2 13 because it looks like it is not in anyone's backyard. She pointed out that this is Hillsborough's 14 backyard and it would be a huge mistake to put the transfer station here. 15 Nathan Robinson is a resident of Orange County and an environmental engineer. He said 16 that he has been involved in the design and closure of many landfills, etc. He said that he has 17 gone through the report and, as a professional, he was struck by the subjective nature of the 18 rankings. In his experience, he would view site 669 as underscored while other sites are over- 19 scored. He recognizes a lot of social injustices. He said that his comments are limited to his 20 review of the technical report from an engineering standpoint. Regarding item #2, Access to 21 Major Transportation Routes, Eubanks ranks near the bottom even though it is right across from 22 1-40. There is a UPS distribution center and a park-and-ride. He does not understand how it is 23 possible that the major transportation routes can rank so low. He pointed out several other 24 reasons that Eubanks should be ranked high on the list of technical criteria. He said that maybe 25 there is a public perception that when the landfill is closed in 2011, then there will be a pristine 26 meadow and the social injustice will be completely eradicated. He said that the reality is that 27 people will be living next to a closed landfill. The question is how social justice can be enacted. 28 He said that the meeting minutes contain nothing about the economics that everyone will incur 29 to build a new facility at any of the sites. He said that municipal services should not have to 30 sprawl into such a zone as an EDD in Hillsborough when the Eubanks Road site has an existing 31 facility with other government entities around it. He said that there is a social equity problem. In 32 his experiences, site relocation is not the only way to enact social equality. He said that, given 33 the millions of dollars it will take to develop another site, he thinks that the County could invest 34 heavily into the neighborhood surrounding Eubanks Road. He suggested property tax 35 incentives, etc. He asked the County Commissioners to clarify the technical, the environmental, 36 the land use, the cost factors, and to use them to create social justice for everyone. 37 Jim Ciao represents The Stratford Company. The Stratford Company manages a land 38 fund that owns the Waterstone development near site 573. He said that he just recently was 39 made aware of this site. He said that they just put in $28 million of infrastructure to create a 40 mixed-use development where Orange County said that it wanted economic development. He 41 fears that if the transfer station goes in here, it could impact the ability to attract development 42 and ultimate users of the tract. 43 Stephanie Perry from Orange County Organizing Committee said that social justice and 44 environmental justice should be just as heavily weighted as economic impact. She said that at 45 some point everyone needs to look deep and realize that people, the water, and children are 46 more important than economic impact. 47 Jo Soulier lives in Hillsborough. She said that the County Commissioners need to take 48 into account how others see things. In Hillsborough, the 40 and 86 interchange has been touted 49 as the "Gateway into Hillsborough." She said that this is not the best interchange to be putting a 50 transfer station. There are already too many trucks coming into Hillsborough.