Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE 041299 mom APR 6 1 % Orange County Environment and Resource Conservation Department P . O . Box 8181 Hillshrn oudh, NC 27278 Phone : (919) 732 - 8181 o7A 967- 9251 , x2597 Fax : (919) 644- 3002 Email : dstanciMco . oral-cge . ru . us Memorandum To : Commission for the Environment From : David Stancil Environment and Resource Conservation Director Date : April 5 , 1999 Re : April 12 Meeting Agenda Please find attached the agenda and materials for the next meeting of the Commission for the Environment , scheduled for : Monday, April 12 , 1999 7 : 30 p . m . Southern Human Services Center Homestead Road , Chapel Hill , NC At this meeting we will receive status reports on Shearon Harris , the Master Recreation and Parks effort , and consider membership issues . Breakout sessions for each committee will complete the agenda . If you have questions , or will be unable to attend , please contact me at the numbers or e - mail above . I look forward to seeing you on the 12th . AGENDA Orange County Commission for the Environment ( CFE ) Monday, April 12 , 1999 7 : 30 p . m . Southern Human Services Center Homestead Road Chapel Hill , NC 7 : 30 I . Call to Order ( Roy Fortmann , Vice Chair ) 7 : 30 II . Additions or Changes to Agenda 7 : 32 III . Approval of Minutes ( March 8 , 1999 ) 7 : 35 IV . Appointment of Liaison to Wastewater Treatment Monitoring Program Committee 7 : 40 v . Update - Nuclear Waste Storage Pools at Shearon Harris Staff and Commission members will provide an update . 8 : 10 vI . Update - Master Recreation and Parks Staff will provide a report on this effort and the linkages to the Resource Acquisition Program 8 : 20 VII . Follow - up on January Goals 8 : 30 VII . Commission Membership Report 8 : 35 vIII . Committee Meetings 9 : 05 IX . Reports From Committees 9 : 15 X . Adjournment ORANGE COUNTY COMMISSION - FOR THE ENVIRONMENT DRAFT Summary of Meeting Fifteen , March 08 , 1999 Held in Orange County Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill , NC (Prepared by Adhir Kackar, Planner I, Orange County Planning Department) Members Present : Commissioner Alice Gordon, Annette Jurgelski, Loraine Kohorn, Rosalinda Lidh, Daniel Okun, Richard Pratt, Kris Price , Lee Rafalow, and Jane Sharp-MacRae . Excused Absences : Roy Fortmann, William Glaze Guests : R. J Beaty, News of Orange ; Slade McCalip , Orange County Planning Dept . , Mary McDowell, Chatham County Nuclear Issues Consultant; Paul Thames , Orange County Engineering Department, Staff Present : David Stancil, Director Department of Environment and Resource Conservation and Adhir Kackar, Planner I . I. Call to Order Chair Loraine Kohorn, called meeting to order at 70. 30 PM . II. Consideration of Additions of Changes to the Agenda The Commission approved that discussion of a CFE liaison to the Parks and Recreation Work Group be added to agenda as Item IV . Dr. Gordon informed the Commission that her responsibilities as Chair of the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) , require that she reduce her attendance at CFE meetings . Given this she would no longer be serving as member of the CFE, rather she would be the BOCC liaison to the CFE. III. Approval of January 11 , 1999 minutes The following changes to minutes was approved. Item 9 Review of Priorities from January was changed to read as follows : (change in bold) Loraine Kohorn began discussion by asking CFE if they wanted to make any changes to the resolutions drafted at the January meeting . Rafalow mentioned that he did not notice indicators as a priority Stancil remarked that the SOCF Task Force is not doing any work with indicators . Instead the current thinking is to forward the report and indicator assessment, to the towns and Orange County for further development. Annette Jurgelski asked if the Commission would be assigning tasks . To this Stancil suggested that the CFE receive BOCC feedback and then develop a draft work program . Kohorn _ agreed that input from the BOCC would be beneficial . Stancil concluded comments , by suggesting that the CFE review the ERCD Status report in the next month to assist in determining their priorities . IV. CFE liaison to the Parks & Recreation Work Group Chair Kohorn began discussion on the issue of whether CFE should liaison with the Joint Master Parks & Recreation Work Group . The following is a summary of the comments made by CFE members and ERCD staff during discussion of this matter . Discussion culminated with the approval of Loraine Kohorn as a CFE liaison to the Joint Master Parks and Recreation Work Group . Kohorn : The Master Park & Recreation group are in the process of prioritizing funds for land acquisition given this CFE should consider a liaison . Lidh : What is the meeting schedule for Park and Recreation meetings ? Stancil. Parks & Recreation meets every 4th Wednesday at 6900 PM 1 Gordon: It is important for CFE to have a liaison to the Work group . The Work Group is developing criteria for open space and natural area acquisition . CFE presence in this process would be beneficial, particularly given that once this criteria is developed, it may be binding . Rafalow: Could you clarify the term binding ? Gordon : At present there is no clear definition of the term binding as it relates to the activities of the Work Group . Stancil: The Work Group is in the process of developing a new parks and recreation plan . The plan will provide clarification on language, for instance it will identify what open space is . At present I am trying to build a link between parkland acquisition criteria and bond criteria. The draft plan is presently in bullet form, and will be available in a week or so . I will cc a draft copy of the plan to the Commission . Rafalow: My presumption is that regardless of whether CFE liaisons with the Work Group , we will have the opportunity to review the plan, prior to BOCC approval . Kohorn. Unless someone else wishes to do so, will serve as liaison. IV. Approval of Wastewater Treatment Management Program Letter During the February 9 , 1999 CFE meeting, Rosemary Summers and Ron Holdway of the Orange County Health and Environmental Health Department made presentations on the expansion of the County ' s Wastewater Treatment Management Program . In response to their presentation, William Glaze drafted a resolution, on behalf of CFE, expressing support for the program . The purpose of discussion, was to consider revisions and approval of a CFE resolution . Chair Kohorn opened discussion by highlighting that she had made revisions to the resolution . These changes were suggested, given the Chair' s belief that CFE support of the WTMP should focus upon on environmental matters . To this Rafalow indicated his concern that the scientific expertise of the group was causing them to hesitate addressing political issues . Kohorn replied that she agreed with Rafalow that the CFE should consider political issues , but not without recognizing that they are doing so . CFE members : Kohorn, Rafalow , Jurgelski, Price , Gordon and staff member Stancil, then revised and unanimously approved CFE resolution on the WIMP . The resolution was submitted to the BOCC, c/o Dr. Alice Gordon on March 9 , 1999 , a copy can be found in Appendix B . V. County Resource Acquisition Program David Stancil informed the Commission of the current status of the County ' s resource acquisition program . This update followed outline (see Appendix C) provided by Stancil to the CFE . At the conclusion of his comments , Stancil indicated that he would welcome any suggestions by the CFE by email . Following his presentation several CFE members discussed the need for developing an accelerated resource acquisition program . The comments of the Commission are outlined below . Pratt: We need some kind of accelerated acquisition program, so that we can remain competitive with developers as property comes on line . MacRae : Does the Triangle land Conservancy have plans to hold onto land? Jurgelski. Yes , that ' s what the Conservancy does . Stancil: Having a quick response mechanism as part of the Resource Acquisition program is critical to the success of a program . Pratt: Is there a minimum parcel size, lower than which acquisition will not take place? Stancil: There is no minimum size established, conservation will take place depending upon the attributes of the property . Smaller parcels can have historic value . Kohorn : There are small areas with biological value? What is the mechanism to act on priority sites ? Do things have to go through the BOCC ? Gordon : If areas were prioritized then the BOCC would want to approve everything as it was being considered for conservation, but a quick response mechanism could be considered. Pratt: Could eminent domain be used in the conservation? Gordon . No , Resource Acquisition is a voluntary program . In fact one of the keys of the ERCD department is that its programs are voluntary . Stancil: I want to reiterate that I welcome CFE input on this process . 2 VI. Update on Nuclear Waste Storage Pools at Shearon Harris Mary McDowell, nuclear issues consultant to Chatham County, reported to the CFE on the status of the proposed expansion of the Shearon Harris facility . Discussion centered on the position of CP&L that Shearon Harris expansion poses no new risk to public health and safety, and on organizing an effort to encourage other jurisdictions and public officials to get involved in the issue . Below is a summary of the discussion . Stancil: Before Mary begins speakimg I want to remind the CFE that we have Dr. Gordon Thompson ' s report of the NRC findings as well as CP&L ' s response . McDowell.• I am happy to be here . I have been working on the low-level nuclear waste issue for Chatham for 8 years and began working on high level waste in June . Given changes on the Chatham board there is a possibility that I may not be working on this issue after July . Gordon Thompson has shown in his report that the existing waste storage pools pose a danger . The likelihood of an accident is not high, but the possibility remains, and this is something that the NRC has not considered . The expansion of these pools will extend Shearon Harris ' s use for 90 years . Overall, we expect that water levels in the pools will drop . This has happened in the past at Shearon Harris, although the levels have not been low enough for radioactive exposure . What is needed is for NRC to extend their risk assessment to the pools and the reactor, this would benefit the nation and the area . Ultimately, you have greater radioactivity in pools given the shifting of waste from the reactors to the pools . If water levels drop then there is a risk of fire or of a zirconium steam reaction . The risk of both these accidents occurring is something that the NRC hasn ' t looked into . the NRC sees the new pools as less dangerous as existing pools . Dr. Thompson ' s results are logical and the issue of partial drainage in new pools should be examined, by both NRC and CP&L . Gordon : How plausible is it to get CP&L to consider partial drainage issues9 They seem to be incredibly resistant to change . McDowell: Corporations , such as CP&L are concerned with their economic future , their public image , it is important to involve the public and the media in pressuring CP&L . Pratt: Does the Shearon Harris plant include back-up pump systems and other redundancies ? McDowell: There are redundancies built-in the two heat exchanges, but they are not linked. Pratt: When facilities are designed a safety factor is incorporated . Changes to a facility are allowed only if the safety factor is maintained . McDowell: There are a bunch of technical questions that need to be resolved, but they (CP&L) do not need to place rods in such a dense configuration . Pratt: We need to find out how and if the safety factor changes if Shearon Harris expansion occurs . Okun : In reading the Thompson report, expansion of the pools is reducing the safety factor. CP&L ' s actions were cavalier. This is in the historical tradition of the nuclear industry . This issue requires a public hearing . Pratt: My point is when the final safety report was prepared it was based on quantitative information . We need to find out if the safety factor was changed and if so then formulate an engineering solution . Okun : How costly and time intensive will such an endeavor be ? Pratt: There is no doubt that it will be . Gordon : When we (BOCC) got into it I was willing to hear information, but CP&L has claimed that they are continuing existing policy, but they are clearly not doing so . The point is that that CP&L is not doing the same thing, they are not letting the experts in . Are they trying to hide something? Rafalow: Where are we in the process ? Gordon : We have asked for a hearing in the legal manner from the NRC . Rafalow: Has our congressional delegation been contacted? Gordon : No . Pratt: Have State officials been contacted? Gordon : NC DENR has sent a letter to the NRC asking for a public hearing to be held . McDowell: The Chatham chair asked DENR, Division of Radiation Protection (DRP) , to put money aside for examining Shearon Harris . DRP has met with CP&L . I was at their meeting , during which CP&L explained how under existing regulations they were not increasing risk . In private conversations with NC DRP, it appears that DRP does not have the expertise to evaluate the Shearon Harris expansion . Given this, we may need to look toward UNC to do an engineering analysis for us . Pratt: What is the County ' s position ? 3 Thames : On May 10 , 1999 there will be a prehearmg conference in Rockville , Md. to determine if Orange County has established standing . CP&L does not feel that Orange has in fact established standing , since the 50 mile radius applies to reactor accidents and not waste storage pools . Pratt: Why aren ' t Wake and other counties concerned? Gordon : There are counties , other than Orange , which have expressed concern, but they haven ' t given money for the effort to get a hearing . Pratt: Wouldn ' t it be helpful to form a coalition? Gordon : Yes, but it is costly . Thames : We have asked every jurisdiction within 50 miles to call for a hearing . Gordon : The county does not have enough staff to organize a multi jurisdictional effort . Pratt: What if you sent Dr. Thompson ' s report? Gordon : If we are to send anything, I prefer the News & Observer summary of the Shearon Harris expansion . We have a tremendous amount of information, we could even set up a strategy session with Dr. Thompson . What we lack is the staff to lead an organizing effort. Price: Would a campaign change NRC ' s decision on standing? Gordon : I do not know . Rafalow: Can Representative Price and/or Senators Edwards and Helms help ? Gordon : If they hold the purse strings . Okun : We need to work with Wake and Raleigh officials to establish standing . Possibly we could get the nuclear engineering department at NC State to assist. MacRae : How possible is it that the Shearon Harris plant could be a terrorist target? Gordon : I do not know . The question is what can we do ? Jurgelski: We could ask environmental organizations , such as the Sierra Club to help . Gordon : We could contact the Raleigh chapter of the Sierra Club , send a mailing to jurisdictions, hold a meeting, but these endeavors take time . Rafalow: I like the idea of the Sierra Club holding a forum or public hearing . Jurgelski: I was thinking about the idea of contacting them via email . Pratt: Shouldn ' t the state level catalyze local responses , we need to find someone with authority at the state . Gordon : Does the CFE have any ideas about what to do? Kohorn : We need to find out some way to seize the interests of people . Thames: There is a late intervention process where other jurisdictions can enter . Kohorn : What is the possibility of other interests intervening? Gordon: People are not intervening because they do not have time or feel that this issue is over their heads . MacRae : We need the Sierra Club to get involved. McDowell: The Sierra Club is a good group . I think that it is worth having persons with scientific expertise to intervene and evaluate the Shearon Harris proposal . Gordon: I suggest that if the CFE wants to work on this issues then they should decide what they want to do . Okun : What could be the role of the Environmental Management Commission? I could speak with David Moreau, EMC head . Gordon : Could Lee and Annette could contact the various Sierra chapters in Wake ? Pratt.• What is it that you want persons in the Sierra Club to follow up on? Gordon : Members could contact their jurisdictions and ask them to intervene , ask their political representatives to send letters to the NRC . VII. Further Discussion of 199 Goals/Tasks This item was tabled by the CFE due to lack of time . Chair Kohorn asked individual members to look over the 1999 Goals/Tasks , VIII. Committee Meetings All three committees met at 9 : 15 PM. The Air Quality Committee was staffed by Slade McCalip and the Environmental Education Committee was staffed by Adhir Kackar, both of the Orange County Planning Department . David Stancil, ERCD director, staffed the Biological Resources Committee . Sessions lasted for 30 minutes at which time reports were given . 4 IX. Committee Reports Kris Price informed the Commission that the Environmental Education Committee has revised an education website . The new site contains new information on air quality, sustainable development. The site will be ready by Friday March 12 , for review . CFE members wishing to make suggestions should direct them to Lee Rafalow by March 19 . Jane Sharp MacRae, informed the group that the Air Quality Committee discussed the status of the County ' s bicycle plan . Slade McCalip then summarized the details and status of the County Bike Plan . His comments are as follows : The Bike Plan has been reviewed by the Orange County Planning Board. It is now being prepared to go to the BOCC for consideration . The Planning Board has asked that a bike coordinator position and standing bicycle committee be created . In addition they are asking that state bicycle legislation be updated , and that a map be created showing all needed road improvements for biking . Presently, the roads in Orange County are too narrow for cars , thus the bike plan calls for designated bicycle routes , with 12-ft wide travel lanes and 4 ft paved shoulders . Additionally, McCalip informed the group that an Air Quality Ozone Action Plan has been prepared and that is awaiting approval . Loraine Kohorn reported that the Biological Resources Committee has been brainstorming criteria for protecting natural resource areas . XI. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 9 * 55 PM . The next meeting will take place on April 12 , 1999 at 7 : 30 PM in the Southern Human Services Center, Homestead Road, Chapel Hill . 5 Summary of Joint Master Recreation and Parks Work Group March 23 , 1999 I. Charge to the Work Group m Update and modify the Master Recreation and Parks Plan to be a joint long-range capital facilities plan for Orange County, Carrboro, and Chapel Hill. Over the last decade , several recreation and parks planning efforts have been undertaken across the County , with policy recommendations covering a spectrum of related issues . These previous efforts resulted in the development of three guiding policies that serve as the rationale for the current effort : • Explore the relationship between existing and proposed school sites and parks • Explore strategies for the preservation of natural and cultural resources through open space design, including the relationship of these resources to active and passive recreational uses • Update Master Plans of County and Municipalities IL Plan Update Prt . ocess The most recent efforts in developing the interjurisdictional master park and recreation plan have included the formation of a work group comprised of elected officials , citizens , staff, and interested stakeholders . The following bullets highlight key activity areas . • The work group divided into two subcommittees , 1 ) Resources and 2) Needs Assessment, to create an inventory of public , quasi-public , and private recreational facilities/opportunities , and update the countywide needs assessment. • After completing this task, the subcommittees reformed into the work group to address issues such as the incorporation of wildlife corridors and open space preservation into parkland acquisition, joint capital funding , and payment- in-lieu reform . • Parks and Recreation Directors from each jurisdiction presented reports on projected program and facilities needs to work group . • Staff developed draft criteria for fund allocation and recreation land acquisition, receiving comment from work group . • Staff is currently preparing versions of a final report incorporating all of these areas for work group review. • The work group will develop the final proposals and recommendations in April/May 1999 , which will be presented to the elected boards . .III. Prima Issues Addressed b Plan Work Group ry. y Throughout the planning process , the work group has inventoried current facilities , discussed joint standard development, and investigated issues related to parkland acquisition and facilities funding . The following list highlights some of these issues . • Staff prepared an inventory of public, quasi public, and private facilities within the County that possess recreational opportunities for citizens . The database is structured to allow for constant updates and serve as the basis for a publicity brochure highlighting recreation resources in Orange County . • The role of recreation provision by UNC was discussed, and further investigation into possible partnerships between municipalities and the University has been discussed . • The development of joint standards for all jurisdictions in recreation and park provision was discussed, and may be a recommendation for a future Recreation and Parks Council (see below) . • The coordination of school and park siting is a top priority , and work from the School/Land Use Council can be incorporated in order to further this effort . • A multi jurisdictional payment-in -lieu program is being investigated . A review of local programs , case studies of efforts throughout North Carolina and the U . S . , and consultation with the Institute of Government, are serving as the basis for this review. • Interjurisdictional capital funding efforts for parkland acquisition and recreation and project funding are being developed . A proposal to coordinate CIP budgets and acquisition mechanism for parks and recreation between all jurisdictions is being developed, with a goal of efficient service provision to the entire County . TU . Possibleecommend�tons of Work group >x .. _.... _. .. . . . While the Work Group has not yet developed its recommendations , a draft set is being considered . These possible recommendations include : A . Standardized parks and recreation requirements among jurisdictions B . Joint siting , design, and management of school and park sites co Public/private partnerships across jurisdictions D . Joint Capital Facilities Plan for Parks and Recreation E . Standing "Joint Recreation and Parks Council" , that would address future followup , maintain database , public relations , develop future bond proposals F . Open Facilities Policy among 1 ) County, towns and OWASA, 2) UNC and schools , and 3 ) Duke G . Using CIP to recommend acquisition / joint acquisition methods H . Recommended Payment-in-lieu Changes eptic woes (3 / 12/99 , CHN) http : //www . chapelhillnews . com/Issues/ 1999/03 / 12/news02 . html . ,. NeWS : �t 3 '.: Home Classifieds News Sports Opinion Around Town Arts Calendar Chapel Hill News Real Estate Section Search Contact Us Septic woes Inspire ' fear and loathing ' The county plans to improve inspection and maintenance of septic tanks . Those near reservoirs would be considered first. By DAVID SCHULMAN, Staff Writer HILLSBOROUGH -- For every yang , there is a yin . For every ego , there is an id . And for every drinking water well ? " A lot of people moving to this area today, it becomes a big discovery for them, " observed County Commissioner Stephen Halkiotis , " when they find out they have a septic system . " An estimated 19 , 000 households in Orange County rely on back yard septic tanks to deal with what happens when they flush . That' s about 40 percent of the county' s households , and includes everything from posh houses in rural buffer subdivisions to weathered mobile homes to old Chapel Hill and Carrboro neighborhoods not yet connected to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority . But failing septic systems , in theory , can affect both their own well water and the quality of water that town- dwellers drink . According to Orange County Environmental Health Director Ron Holdway, studies have indicated that between 8 percent and 10 percent of septic systems fail . And about 1 , 600 septic systems lie within areas designated as " water quality critical areas " for reservoirs that serve the towns of Chapel Hill , Carrboro and Hillsborough. So since June , members of the county Board of Health have been meeting with Holdway and County Commissioner Margaret Brown to develop a proposal to change the current system of septic tank inspections , hoping to improve protection of drinking supply watersheds . Tanks are required to be inspected - - at the owners ' .expense - - only when subdividing property or adding buildings . The bill for inspecting an existing system, when no construction is planned, is $ 50 . But an inspection that finds a failing system can cost a homeowner thousands of dollars in mandatory repairs , giving little incentive for regular inspections . of 3 3 / 12/99 1 * 25 PM Septic woes (3 / 12/99 , CHN) https //www . chapelhillnewsecom/Issues/ 1999/03 / 12/newsO2 , html The new proposal would include mandatory inspections within five years - - but only for those septic tanks near the Cane Creek, University Lake , and Hillsborough reservoirs . Under the plan, it could take up to 20 years before the majority of systems outside " critical " areas are inspected . And rather than a single bill at inspection time , the inspection costs might be covered by a smaller annual fee , supplemented by county tax money . But Brown stresses that this is very different from an earlier proposal that was vehemently protested by rural residents . " When this came up eight or nine years ago it was a very hot item in the county , because the proposal then was to inspect every tank in the county and charge everybody a fee , " said Brown . " We're not interested in doing county -wide . We 're interested in what would be high-risk. " " It all goes back to public health and welfare , and to protecting our water supply , " she said . The issue balances the needs of numerous city- dwellers , who often take their water service for granted, against the wishes of fewer rural residents - - who may acutely feel the regulations ' effects . As things now stand, Holdway said he is very familiar with the " fear and loathing of the septic inspector . " And, at a work session the county commissioners held Tuesday with the Board of Health, County Board Chair Alice Gordon observed that fear had to do with money -- beyond the inspection fee . " One issue . . . has to do with fear - - that the inspector will come out and find something wrong , and they ' ll have to pay a lot of money, " Gordon said . OWASA Board chair Dan VanderMeer wrote Gordon in January to say that the utility ' s directors are " particularly enthusiastic " about an initial focus on watershed areas . But County Commissioner Barry Jacobs , a former chair of the OWASA board, noted that the plan is likely to provoke protest from residents of the Cane Creek watershed owners , who consider that they 've gotten " all the burden and none of the benefits " of the Cane Creek reservoir . County manager John Link, who described himself as the " proud owner " of a septic tank, said the county should encourage people to start thinking of their septic systems as they would a utility . And he suggested that an annual fee , billed along with a tax bill , would help take the fear and loathing out of the current inspection " I ' m talking about having an OWASA approach, " Link said . Brown, Halkiotis and Holdway stressed the importance of educating rural residents about regular septic tank maintenance long before any inspections become mandatory - - especially given the air of mystery septic tanks can hold for many newcomers to Orange County . " The education part is key , " Brown said . David Schulman can be reached at 918 - 2022 ext . 377 or dschulma (a nando . com 2 of 3 3 / 12/99 1025 PM