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MINUTES
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL
CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERMEN
HILLSBOROUGH TOWN COMMISSIONERS
PUBLIC HEARING ON ORANGE COUNTY LANDFILL SITING
JUNE 19, 1996
712
The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in joint session with the governing boards of Carrboro,
Chapel Hill and Hillsborough on Wednesday, June 19, 1996 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cultural Arts Building at
Chapel Hill High School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Commissioners William L.
Crowther, Alice M. Gordon, Stephen H. Halkiotis and Don Willhoit.
COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill
COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager John M. Link, Jr., Assistant County Manager Rod
Visser and Public Works Director Wilbert McAdoo
CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Rosemary Waldorf and
members Julie Andresen, Joyce Brown, Joe Capowski, Mark Chilton, Pat Evans, Richard Franck and Lee
Pavao
CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Michael Nelson and
Aldermen Jay Bryan, Jacquelyn Gist and Alex Zaffron
HILLSBOROUGH TOWN COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Mayor Horace Johnson and
Commissioners Kenneth Chavious, Catherine Martin, Richard Simpson and Remus Smith
1. CONVENING OF HEARINGS MOSES CAREY. JR." CHAIR, ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF
COMMISSIONERS
Chair Carey called the meeting to order at 7:41 p.m. He called upon the Mayors in attendance to
declare quorums of their boards and to select a moderator for this evening's hearing. Chair Carey
declared a quorum of the Orange County Commissioners to be in attendance. Chapel Hill Mayor
Rosemary Waldorf, Carrboro Mayor Michael Nelson and Hillsborough Mayor Horace Johnson each
declared a .quorum of his or her board.
a. Selection of a moderator
_ A motion was made by Chapel Hill Mayor Rosemary Waldorf, seconded by Carrboro Mayor
Michael Nelson to appoint County Commissioner Moses Carey, as moderator. The motion was adopted by
acclamation.
b. Discussion and approval of a format and procedures for the hearing
1. No time limit on speakers but they were encouraged to be concise
2. More detailed information may be submitted in writing through 5:00 p.m. on July 1
c. Discussion and approval of an agenda for the hearing
A motion was made by Commissioner Halkiotis, seconded by Commissioner Gordon to
adopt the proposed agenda as distributed and in the permanent agenda file in the Clerk's office. The
motion was adopted by all of the Boards.
2. PRESENTATION OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION BY GAYLE WILSON, DIRECTOR OF
SOLID WASTE. TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL AND ROB WILSON, PLANNER, TOWN OF
CHAPEL HILL
a, Purpose of hearings under State law.
b. Review of previous actions by the governing boards regarding consideration of 713
potential landfill sites
c. Demographic and socio-economic information submitted in accord with State law
Gayle Wilson said that this hearing was being held in compliance with state statutes
pertaining to municipal and county regulations concerning the siting of a landfill within one mile of an
existing landfill site. He also said that statutes require that socioeconomic and demographic' data be
presented for alternative possible landfill sites. This information was prepared by Planner Robert Wilson.
3. PRESENTATION BY OWNERS OF PROPERTY UNDER CONSIDERATION AS A POTENTIAL
LANDFILL SITE
a. Site Orange County-2 near Cane Creek and North Carolina 54
b. Site Orange County-9 near Highway 57 and Phelps Road
C. Site Orange County-11 near New Sharon Church and Miller Roads
d. Site Orange County-17 near Eubanks Road
Chapel Hill Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos clarified that the intent of the hearing was to receive
comments from property owners who's property might be taken as a result of landfill siting. There were no
people wishing to speak on sites two, nine or eleven. ' ..
Frank Emory, representing Duke University, said that it appears that the greatest number of
impoverished persons live near site 17 as compared to the three other potential sites. He believes that the
conclusions reached in the staff s report regarding socioeconomic and demographic conditions were
inaccurate. He urged the govemments in Orange County not to site the landfill on site 17. He expressed
a concern about the potential for groundwater contamination.. He requested that the local governments
find a place other than site 17 for disposing of the community's garbage.
B. B. Olive said he spoke for hundreds of Orange County residents when expressing his
objections to this evening's public hearing. He expressed his concern that options other than landfilling
had been eliminated. He pleaded with local elected officials to direct their time and attention to the
question of how Orange County's solid waste should be processed. He placed a petition at the table this
evening signed by thirty-nine Orange County residents requesting that local elected officials examine
options other than a landfill.
Cornelius Kirschner, a resident of Mill House Road, said that well water at a number of homes in
the area was contaminated by two manmade pollutants only present at industrial and landfill sites. He
also said that he could not presently sell his home due to its proximity to the existing and proposed
landfills. He urged local elected officials not to open the existing landfill for mining and to not site a landfill
in this location.
Linda Carver asked that the elected officials be responsive to the concerns of area residents by
not siting a proposed new landfill in their neighborhood.
Jean Barr said that this public hearing did not satisfy the law since many interested participants
were out of town due to the summer holidays. She also said that information pertaining to this evenings
hearing was not available for public review until Monday, June 17th at about 3:00 p.m. at the Chapel Hill
Public Library.
Kathy Schinley, owner of a home adjacent to site seventeen, asked why all county residents had
not been notified of the hearing. She stated that the Eubanks Road area had been the site of the
County's landfill for twenty-four years and urged the elected officials to not consider site seventeen as a
possible landfill site.
David Caldwell, a lifetime resident of the Rogers Road area, expressed a concern about 714
groundwater contamination and said that area residents were attempting to raise funds to pay the $20 per
home fee for testing their well water.
Roger Barr said that . if garbage were piled as proposed in the site consultant's report, it would be
..an aesthetic disaster given the level of bedrock and the height of area water tables. He asked that the
officials seriously examine landfilling alternatives.
Fred Brooks, a resident of Granville Road, said that although he did not live near any of the sites,
he was concerned about the wisdom of the process to date. He feels that economics and technological
alternatives needed to be thoroughly rethought and reexamined.
Sally Crane said that she lives near the present landfill site. She asked that the officials consider
alternative methods to landfilling including incineration.
Betty Maultsby said that although she did not live near any of the proposed sites, it appeared that
the process has been directed to the conclusion of siting the landfill at site seventeen. She said that
VEDCO only guarantee that fifteen percent of recyclables would be recovered, a percentage which did not
meet the State's standard. She feels that a landfill is needed to handle construction and debris and
organic wastes. She urged local elected officials to have a full discussion concerning landfilling and other
alternatives.
William. Hutchins, a registered professional engineer and Orange County resident, said that the
present landfill was well sited on a divide between two watersheds. He urged officials to be creative in
reusing the existing landfill facility.
Bonnie Norwood inquired whether the notice of the hearing had been intentionally placed near
the obituary column in the newspaper.
Commissioner Gordon inquired how far above ground level the peak of the landfill on site
seventeen would be. Gail Wilson did not have the answer but reported back on July 1 the following
information: 'They show the comparative height of the proposed design capacity of Orange County-17 at
690' vs the Phase I (existing North Eubanks Landfill finished elevation) and Phase 2 (proposed final
elevation of the South Eubanks Landfill) heights. The height of Blackwood Mountain is 744' and the
existing Eubanks Road elevation is 510'. He again would suggest that future waste reduction be used, not
to significantly reduce the size/capacity of the new site, but to both extend the life well beyond the 50 year
estimated capacity and to reduce the final elevations to well below the 690'." He said that it was also
.important to note that existing height estimates for Orange County-17 is based on preliminary geotechnical
information and will be further refined after further, more detailed geotechnical investigation after final site
selection. Commissioner Willhoit said that the total projected height was for a period of fifty years. He
suggested that a portion of the Landfill Fund be used to pay for testing for chemical contamination in
groundwater wells near site seventeen.
Council Member Evans noted that the present 202-acre landfill site had lasted for twenty-four
years and that sites two, nine and eleven were over five hundred acres each. She asked why the four
alternative sites were so much larger than the existing landfill. She also inquired whether or not a two
hundred-acre site would be sufficient for a new landfill site if an aggressive recycling program were
undertaken. Chapel Hill Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said that the Town's population and related
growth rate had accelerated appreciably since the 1970's when the current landfill was sited. He stated
that the Landfill Search Committee had focused its energies on sites comprising 500 to 600 acres each.
Commissioner Willhoit said that the original charge was to identify alternative tracts of land comprised of
300 to 500 acres.
Council Member Andresen inquired about the staffs response on the meeting notice
requirements. Mr. Wilson said that notices of the hearing had been mailed to all residents living within one
thousand feet of any of the four sites. Also, newspaper notices were published last week. Socioeconomic
and demographic data was hand delivered to elected officials on Saturday, June 15th and made available 5
to the public on Monday, June 17.
Council Member Chilton noted that although there had been no detailed discussions about water
contamination matters, one of the costs related to site seventeen, if approved, would be laying water lines....-.?
Commissioner Willhoit noted that no decisions regarding compensation had been made at this point.
Council Member Capowski inquired about the comparative safety of incineration compared to
landfilling. Gayle Wilson said that although emission control devices for incinerators had been improved
over the years, the financing and economics for such facilities had not necessarily improved. He is in the
process of putting together a discussion paper about incinerators and landfills.
Alderman Jackie Gist said that the Board of Aldermen was waiting for facilitated meetings to
discuss compensation matters and a waste reduction plan. Commissioner Willhoit said that it would be
premature to have facilitated meetings prior to the selection of a landfill site. Council Member Chilton
asked for clarification on when to have facilitated meetings on this matter. Mr. Karpinos, Attorney for the
City of Chapel Hill, said it would probably be appropriate to have the facilitated meetings after a landfill site
was identified and approved. Mayor Johnson said he believed it would be appropriate to sit down with
affected citizens once a landfill site had been selected and approved. It was decided that facilitated
meetings would be added to the next steps in the process.
MOTIONS TO KEEP THE HEARING RECORD OPEN UNTIL 5:00 P.M. ON JULY 1 FOR RECEIPT OF
WRITTEN COMMENTS
Chapel Hill Town Council Member Richard Franck moved, seconded by Council Member Mark
Chilton, to keep the hearing record open for receipt of written comments until 5:00 p.m. on July 1st, 1996.
The motion was adopted unanimously (8-0)
Orange County Commissioner Alice Gordon moved, seconded by County Commissioner Steve
Halkiotis to keep the hearing record open for receipt of written comments until 5:00 p.m. on July 1 st, 1996. The motion was adopted unanimously (5-0)
Alderman Jackie Gist moved, seconded by Alderman Alex Zaffron, to keep the hearing record
open for receipt of written comments until 5:00 p.m. on July 1 st, 1996.
The motion was adopted unanimously (5-0)
Board Member Evelyn Lloyd moved, seconded by Mayor Johnson to keep the hearing record
• open for receipt of written comments until 5:00 p.m. on July 1 st, 1996.
The motion was adopted unanimously (5-0) ..
B.B. Olive requested that local elected officials keep the public notified of solid waste related
matters regarding landfills and their alternatives. Chair Carey said that the public would be kept notified of
these matters.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further comment, Chair Carey adjourned the meeting at 9:30 p.m.
Moses Carey, Jr., Chair
Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk