Minutes - 20081118 - Transfer Station

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Commissioner Gordon arrived at 5:50 pm. Commissioner Nelson asked about how a 90-day delay would affect the timeline. The landfill will run out of space in two years. He said that there is a crisis with what to do with waste. Bob Sallach said that if a decision were made on the site on December 111h, the project could be implemented by May 2011. There would need to be some preliminary site planning in conjunction with the site acquisition and permitting. The process would have to be accelerated. A 90-day delay would prohibit the construction of the facility before May 2011. Commissioner Nelson asked about the possibility of shipping waste to Durham in the short-term, as was suggested by some citizens. Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said that he and the Manager met with Durham officials and Durham was willing to receive waste from Orange County, but the excess capacity was about a third of Orange County's waste volume, so it would not be able to take all of Orange County's waste. Another issue is that the transfer station in Durham had some issues when it was developed and it is not efficiently receiving processed waste. There are frequently long lines. The economic analysis of hauling waste to Durham indicates that it would significantly impact the collection services for Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Commissioner Nelson asked about the pros and cons of waste to energy. Bob Sallach said that he was not going to comment on the technology, but there have been no new work to energy facilities developed in the United States in the last ten years. It would be very expensive compared to a waste transfer station. Chair Jacobs asked Planning Director Craig Benedict to talk about the limits of the County Commissioners'jurisdiction in relation to areas in towns that may be industrial or prime prospects for redevelopment. Craig Benedict said that this transfer station is a government facility, so Orange County has a lot of flexibility in locating a transfer station. In the industrial and commercial nodes, those are land use designations, and those are located next to interstates. The present zoning of those areas are left as residential until someone comes in and rezones them to an industrial or commercial category. Orange County does not have jurisdiction of non-residential uses within Carrboro and Chapel Hill planning areas, but there are transition areas. Orange County would have to be an applicant going through the process if it considered a site within the town jurisdictions. Discussion ensued about the economics of transferring waste outside the County. Chair Jacobs asked how long it would take to execute the possibility of looking at 10+-acre sites. Bob Sallach said that 30 days should be sufficient for its GIS study. Chair Jacobs pointed out that if there were a smaller site in Orange County's jurisdiction, it would probably be an undeveloped area and would need a buffer, and Hillsborough has said that it would annex the property to prevent it from being developed. 3. Review Proposed Timeline for Making Site Selection Decision Bob Sallach reviewed the timetable as proposed, which is shown below: