Orange County NC Website
October 21st. On November 18th, the Board should make a final decision on the Waste Transfer <br /> Station Site. Staff feels that there are probably some alternative processes for public <br /> participation, and these are outlined on page 5. She reviewed these proposals, which are <br /> incorporated by reference. <br /> Commissioner Carey said that he had planned a trip on the 21st and will not be back in <br /> time for the 5:30 p.m. meeting next week. He said that the Board needs for the public to <br /> comment, but he would tend to prefer to select a smaller number of sites instead of a larger <br /> number of sites. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that his mother is having knee surgery on the 21st and so he <br /> should be back by 5:30 p.m. on the 21st, but he cannot promise he will be back in time. <br /> Commissioner Nelson agreed with Commissioner Carey about the smaller number of <br /> sites and that five sites seem too many. He said that closer to three sites seems better. He <br /> said that he will need more information on the ten sites than they had the last time. He wants to <br /> know what is currently located on each site. He would like to know if all of the owners are <br /> willing sellers or if condemnation would be involved. <br /> Commissioner Nelson said that he read Hillsborough's resolution and he respects <br /> almost all of the concerns. He said that a couple of the things about the process are factually <br /> incorrect. He suggested that the Chair write a letter to correct some of these things. One of the <br /> things that he noticed was, "limited transparency in the selection criteria." He said that those <br /> criteria were developed with many members of the public. <br /> Commissioner Foushee supported limiting the sites to no more than three sites. <br /> Commissioner Carey agreed. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that if the County Commissioners that cannot attend have any specific <br /> preferences, then he would be happy to share them with the public. <br /> Chair Jacobs pointed out that the Clerk's staff has made a listing of links to all <br /> newspaper articles over the last year on the transparency of this process. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that the Board needs some cost estimates on a transfer station <br /> (acreage for some of the proposed sites, etc.). The other question that he would like to have <br /> answered is what is in the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund to pay for this. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that he personally does not want Olver going out into the community <br /> holding meetings. He thinks that people should talk directly to the County Commissioners at <br /> this point. He said that it would be nice to have the process finished before the Board <br /> composition is changed, but he thinks that it is more important to get it right and to have people <br /> feel like they were heard. He does not think that one public hearing will cut it because there will <br /> be more people than can be accommodated in a 1.5 to 2-hour meeting. He said to cram it into <br /> November 5th and November 13th is a dubious proposition. He agreed with narrowing down the <br /> sites to three. Once the three sites are chosen, the meetings should be held closer to those <br /> sites. <br /> Commissioner Carey said that he agreed with Chair Jacobs about the listening sessions <br /> being with the Board of County Commissioners and not with Olver, and in both ends of the <br /> County. <br /> Chair Jacobs said that part of this process will be, when the County Commissioners pick <br /> a site, it will be as if it were a development proposal, and at that point, all of the mechanisms of <br /> review will come into play. He thinks that this needs to be explained on the 21st and at these <br /> meetings. <br /> Laura Blackmon said that the Board will receive a packet tonight for the next transfer <br /> station siting meeting with this information in it. She said that the financial information is being <br /> developed at this time and the Board should receive this by Friday. <br />