AGENDA #5b

MEMORANDUM

TO: Mayor and Town Council

FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT: Update on University Materials Salvage and Recycling Programs

DATE: January 14, 2002

At the November 12 meeting, the Council requested that we send the University a copy of materials from the Orange-Chatham Chapter of the Sierra Club. The submitted materials included an article describing efforts at the University of North Carolina at Asheville to reuse materials from old dormitories that are being demolished. A copy of the materials sent to the University is attached (Attachment 1).

Nancy Suttenfield, University Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration, responded and explained that UNC-Chapel Hill had initiated a similar program. As explained in the attached letter, a waste specification procedure was included in the construction contract for the renovation of Murphey Hall. The University has access to a materials reclamation firm in Raleigh, which takes mixed loads of construction debris and finds markets for 60-65 percent of the incoming materials (Attachment 2). Reaction to the program has been positive, and Vice Chancellor Suttenfield indicates that similar procedures could be implemented with future projects.

ATTACHMENTS

1. November 14, 2001 Letter to Nancy Suttenfield from Cal Horton (p. 2).

2. November 28, 2001 Letter to Cal Horton from Nancy Suttenfield (p. 5).