Minutes - 20081021 - Transfer Station

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Gwen Harvey said that at last week's work session, there was a discussion of alternate proposals for public participation and the impact that the participation would have on moving forward with the project timelines, which was to be in a position for the Board to make a determination about the final site at the meeting on November 18th. There were three proposals. The first proposal would involve the Board choosing five candidate sites at this meeting, then conducting one or more public hearings around those five potential sites from the ten candidate sites, and then making a decision on November 18th The second proposal would have been for the Board to decide a manageable number of sites, maybe less than five, and then Olver, Inc. would take the sites out for public listening sessions. The Board would then have a public comment period and make its determination at that time to move forward. The third proposal was for the Board to possibly choose one site at this meeting and then have public information and education sessions take place out in the community concerning that one site and come back on November 18th with the opportunity for further public discussion before the Board made its decision. The Board agreed at the work session to narrow the list down to three sites, which it has just done. The Board also decided to have the Board receive public comment directly as opposed to having Olver, Inc. serve as the interface in the community. Chair Jacobs said that the Board is trying to operate under constraints such as the fact that the landfill will close in 2011. Also, the Board was trying to make decisions before it added three new County Commissioners on December 1St He explained the public comment process for tonight. Commissioner Gordon said that there is only one more meeting before December 1St and she would like to take due process. She suggested having one more meeting to discuss this. Chair Jacobs said that the Board has a regularly scheduled meeting at 7:30 p.m. and there are 45 people signed up to speak. He said that this list could be taken to the next public meeting. He asked that people with written comments give them to the Clerk. 5. Receive Public Comment on Results of Technical Criteria and Community-Specific Criteria and Proposals for Public Participation PUBLIC COMMENT: Chris Cole said that quality of life is a community issue and not a technical issue. He said that a transfer station is not a long-term solution. He said that there should be a parallel track focusing on recycling. He said that there are other green solutions than shipping the trash somewhere else. He said that it is a concern to him that the County is looking at such large parcels of land when the future use of the balance of the land has not been determined or disclosed. He said that moving the site away from where the trash is generated is not environmental justice either. Gayane Chambless read a prepared statement and submitted 585 signatures expressing concern for environmental, economic, and the site selection process. "Thank you, Commissioners, for the opportunity to be heard. After the disclosure of the potential sites just one month ago, I began a mission to learn more in order to understand what you were looking at. What I found was a number of inconsistencies which began to alarm me. One of these was that Olver, Inc. introduced Community Input Forms, and touted them (on their website and in meetings) as if they were with your full knowledge and approval. So much so, that a group submitted them to you at the September 16th meeting. I am aware that numerous people wanted to submit forms and posed questions to County staff and/or Olver. It was not until nearly a month later that a press release from you was issued stating it was not with your 5