MINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING HELD BY THE MAYOR

AND TOWN COUNCIL OF THE TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL,

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1996 AT 7:00 P.M.

Mayor Waldorf called the hearing to order. Council Members in attendance were Joyce Brown, Joe Capowski, Mark Chilton, Pat Evans, Richard Franck and Lee Pavao. Council Member Julie Andresen was absent excused. Also in attendance were Town Manager Cal Horton, Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos, Assistant Town Managers Sonna Loewenthal and Florentine Miller and Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson.

Mayor Waldorf requested a status report from staff regarding Hurricane Fran recovery efforts. Mr. Horton reported that one Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had begun to assist with clean-up efforts earlier in the day. He also said that as many as three additional crews might be sent to the Town to assist in recovery efforts for two or more weeks. Mr. Horton said it was important for citizens to continue to exercise caution, especially when driving at night in areas which might have downed power lines or large debris piles. He also reported that the Town would begin chipping, rather than burning, much of the storm-related debris coming to the landfill. Mr. Horton said he had learned today that FEMA would soon be opening a disaster assistance office in the Timberlyne area of the Town. He said staff would furnish specific information on this matter to the Council and citizens as soon as it became available.

Noting that she had visited the landfill earlier in the day, Mayor Waldorf said that landfill was working long and hard to handle the large amount of debris coming to the landfill. She called upon the Manager for an introduction to this evening's hearing.

Mr. Horton said there were generally three groups of issues: (1) What kind of solid management organization was desirable for Orange County, (2) If a landfill were to be sited, then how should this proceed? and (3) questions about how solid waste should be managed.

Ed King said he hoped that his grandchildren would have resources, land and environmental standards which would be of a better quality than those at the present time. Mr. King also said he favored raising citizen's consciousness about consumer responsibility relative to the waste stream. He encouraged the Council and citizens to think about changing their consumptive habits in recognition of the needs of future generations, utilizing tools such as "green" building codes and recycling program policies. Mr. King suggested that the Town might become a leader in developing these types of policies in North Carolina.

Dan Coleman expressed concern that there appeared to be a wedge between local governments relative to the restructuring of the landfill organization. Mr. Coleman stated that the national Greens movement utilized a consensus seeking process wherein all delegates spoke with an equal voice. He said this model was supplemented with facilitative type processes to achieve consensus among the organization's members. Mr. Coleman suggested that the local governments might wish to consider using such an approach to address the question of landfill organization. Referencing the concern of some persons that "environmentalists" might control the proposed new landfill governing board, Mr. Coleman said he hoped that all people would think of themselves as environmentalists who were also fiscally and socially responsible individuals.

Noting that he had served on the resource group to develop an integrated solid waste management plan, Mr. Coleman stated that the group had proposed a plan which emphasized source reduction and reviewed the solid waste hierarchy of reduction, reuse and recycling. Mr. Coleman also said he hoped that local elected leaders would carefully weigh the amount of time, thinking and energy which had gone into the development of the integrated solid waste management plan. He stated that proposals to pursue an incineration alternative would be getting away from Orange County's principal solid waste goal, to reduce the amount of waste at the source.

Betty Maultsby said the community's top priority should be to prevent waste. She stated that not aggressively pursuing waste prevention goals would cost up to an estimated $84.00 per ton to collect additional materials, excluding processing and disposal costs. Ms. Maultsby said that the second priority should be recycling. She noted that about 44% of mixed household and commercial waste was composed of paper waste, a portion of which was recyclable using mixed-paper recycling programs being employed by Chatham and Durham counties. Ms. Maultsby suggested that an emphasis should be placed on increasing participation and efficiency rates in the area's existing recycling programs. Finally, Ms. Maultsby expressed her support for disposal of wastes in a publicly-owned landfill in Orange County or through a joint regional efforts. She also expressed her health-related opposition to incineration of wastes and her support of equal Town representation on an intergovernmental solid waste authority in Orange County.

Virginia Barron, a resident of Maryland Lane, said she that and her family spent their summers on an island in Maine which had recently been forced to choose between lining its community landfill or sending its refuse to the mainland via barges. Noting that the latter option was chosen, Ms. Barron stated that the island put in place a very aggressive and well-organized recycling and waste reduction program which was saving taxpayers’ money. Ms. Barron said she believed that the Town could learn a lot from the example of this island community and make strides in the handling of wastes and recyclable materials.

Bonnie Norwood expressed concern about the post Hurricane Fran burning of wood debris at the Orange County Regional Landfill. She said that smoke from this activity made it difficult for herself and other area residents to breathe properly. Ms. Norwood also related that she had recently sped to her home in the belief that smoke from the burning pile might have instead been her home on fire. Ms. Norwood said she did not appreciate having to experience the trauma of Hurricane Fran and the burning of wood wastes in her community within such a short time span.

Roger Barr expressed concern that there was no financially-related information in the materials provided to the Council and citizens in this evening's materials. He urged the Council to work with other local governments to develop a year by year financial plan for landfill-related matters, including all anticipated operating and capital costs. Mr. Barr requested that an emphasis be placed on keeping costs as low as possible, on estimating future tipping fees and projecting income from private haulers and other sources. He also asked that separate budgets be formulated for waste disposal and recycling and that the landfill's governing authority be directed to keep meeting minutes. Mr. Barr also requested some truly independent analysis of solid waste operations and a review of the landfill project which would use the same standards as for a private development project.

David Caldwell requested that the Town Council make wood available to needy community members, rather than burning wood debris from Hurricane Fran at the County landfill facility. He expressed concern that no one had checked with area residents about potential respiratory or fly ash problems arising from burning of the wood pile. On behalf of his neighborhood's residents, Mr. Caldwell thanked the American Red Cross for their assistance of food, water and ice, and community volunteers and area utility crews for their quick response to the community's needs. Mr. Caldwell requested that burning of wood at the landfill be stopped, with the wood being stored for needy persons in the future.

Linda Carver asked the Council to keep an open mind to solid waste options such as the one referenced by Ms. Barron in her remarks. Expressing appreciation to local elected officials for their efforts to reduce and recycle wastes, Ms. Carver said she believed it was fallacious to use tipping fees to fund recycling programs. She also expressed concern about a proposal to have a future landfill owners group type organization which would be insulated from voter input. She stated that any such entity which could decide to issue bonds should be directly accountable to the electorate. Ms. Carver stated that the proposed landfill site would adversely effect poor, minority, women and children in the area. She also stated that the proposed site had the highest watertable of the finalist sites and a low depth of bedrock, contributing to greater levels of soil erosion. Ms. Carver said that Duke University and SEAL, a group of local residents, were initiating efforts to block siting of the landfill.

Peter Todd, representing the Orange/Chatham Chapter of the Sierra Club, said his organization supported a target of fifty percent waste reduction for both economic and environmental reasons. Mr. Todd stated that the Sierra Club was strongly committed to helping Americans kick their wasteful habits. He said that the fifty percent reduction goal was an aggressive step toward making this type of behavior modification. Finally, Mr. Todd urged the Council not to move ahead with any incineration type alternatives, which would result in negative environmental impacts on residents of such areas.

Stating that he had been following the area's solid waste related processes for a number of years, Mark Marcopolis expressed his disappointment with the processes to date. Commenting on the possibility of turning the solid waste process over to Orange County, Mr. Marcopolis said that County government did not really represent all citizens because only a small minority of Democratic voters elected County commissioners in their primary. Mr. Marcopolis said he found it really discouraging that the possibility of incineration as an option had reentered recent discussions. He also stated that incineration was a polluting technology which went against the grain of self reliance and fiscal wisdom. Mr. Marcopolis commended the staff for presentation a good report about the viability and practicality of the VEDCO incineration option. He also suggested that the Town needed to examine communities around the nation which had achieved waste reduction goals of forty to fifty percent and how this might be put into practice locally. Mr. Marcopolis said that area residents looked to their elected leaders to find wise solutions to solid waste related questions.

Patrick Mulchey, a resident of Bingham Township, said that the first proposal for reorganization of the landfill owners group would be an independent agency of eight members, fifty percent of which were private citizens. He stated that this body could potentially set tipping fees, issue bonds and set policies with no oversight from the Town Council as a whole. Mr. Mulchey said this type of structure, similar to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, was not desirable. He stated that a second option would be for Orange County to take control of the landfill and set policies, tipping fees and issue bonds without any oversight by the Town Council. Mr. Mulchey said his proposal was to have equal representation of each governing body, with private citizens possibly being appointed to one of the two seats from each governing body. He said the proposed body could make decisions on some policies and tipping fees, but the majority of the governing bodies would need to approve the Landfill Owners Group proposal relative to major policies, fee increases and the issuance of bonds. Mr. Mulchey urged the Council to give strong consideration to his proposed organizational set-up.

Debbie Whalen said she believed that many more County residents would have attended this evening's hearing if it were not for recovery efforts tied to Hurricane Fran. Ms. Whalen expressed concern that solid waste managers were being asked to be manager and referee relative to solid waste matters. She also said that the current administrative path gave a disincentive to reducing volumes of trash because these revenues were needed. Ms. Whalen said she had a number of concerns relative to the landfill site selection process and the composition of the site selection committee. She stated that no representative from the site 17 area served on, or was invited to serve on, the selection committee. Ms. Whalen stated that the commitee's members did not have a solid waste management plan to govern the site selection criteria they used. Stating that site 17 would likely be the subject of long-ranging litigation, Ms. Whalen suggested that local elected officials should explore other opportunities relative to waste disposal options, including smaller possible landfill sites. Ms. Whalen also said she found it difficult to understand why the Town had not taken a stronger stand to protect the interests of citizens in the Town's northwest area. She stated that only Town of Carrboro officials had taken steps to protect the interests of individual citizens. Ms. Whalen said she urged all of the Council Members to make up their own minds about the solid waste management plan and site selection and to protect the interests of all members of the community.

Before opening comments and questions from the Council on general solid waste matters, Mayor Waldorf requested an update from the staff regarding burning of the large amount of debris at the landfill. Mr. Horton said it was the staff's strong desire to stop burning as soon as it was operationally feasible to do so. He stated that the major impediment in this regard was the lack of adequate space to store the amount of debris being brought to the landfill facility.

Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said that about twenty percent of the debris loads brought to the landfill were being stockpiled for mulching in the future. He noted that an emphasis would be placed on mulching the maximum amount of debris possible. Mr. Wilson stated that the extraordinary volumes of debris being sent to the landfill necessitated continued burning in the near term.

Stating that Mr. Caldwell had made a good point about people being able to use the wood waste as a resource, Council Member Brown requested the staff's comment on this matter. Noting that the Town did not have adequate staff or machinery to separate debris materials, Mr. Horton said that the best way to accomplish this would be for separation of materials to take place at the source. He added that some loggers and people collecting hardwood for potential firewood were gathering some of the wooden debris from Hurricane Fran.

Mr. Caldwell said that many residents had separated their debris piles neatly by the roadside. Mr. Caldwell also stated that although the Town planned to stop burning of debris as soon as possible, he was very concerned about the respiratory well-being of many of the area's residents. He also urged the Town to develop good storm debris contingency plans for handling major storms in the future.

Bonnie Norwood suggested that a little bit of advertising might help to get the word out to community residents about the need to sort their debris loads. Ms. Norwood also inquired why the former landfill site on the north side of Eubanks Road could not be used for temporary storage of storm-related debris piles. Mr. Horton noted that this site had been capped off and was not available for storage or any other uses. Mr. Horton added that the Town would welcome any group which would like to collect and distribute firewood to needy persons in the community.

Council Member Brown inquired about the use of the Neville tract or other undeveloped spaces for storage. Mr. Horton said it was not possible access the Johnson property because there was no existing all weather surfaced road into this area. Mr. Wilson added that there would be similar problems accessing the Neville tract. He also said it would be necessary to remove live trees from this property in order to make room for storage.

Mayor Waldorf asked the staff to summarize the overall situation. Mr. Horton stated that although there was plenty of firewood available throughout Orange County for potentially needy persons, the Town did not have any personnel available to assist with these efforts. He said that existing Town personnel were being used to remove wood and tree debris from resident's homes.

Council Member Brown asked whether or not it was possible for staff to be more definitive about when burning of wood would be stopped. She also suggested the possibility of using the construction demolition waste site as a temporary storage site for logs and firewood. Mr. Horton said this site did not have a very large area for storage. Mr. Wilson added that the construction demolition area was a rather small area which was filling rather rapidly. Mr. Wilson also said he did not think that it would be possible to find a place to store a significant amount of brush.

Council Member Evans emphasized the importance of being cognizant of weather conditions (wind speed, etc.) when burning was taking place.

Referencing the potential reorganization of the Landfill Owners Group, Council Member Capowski requested staff's comment on risk and liability matters, especially whether or not it would be possible for individual governments to withdraw from the authority once debt was incurred. Mr. Horton said that depending upon the type of organizational structure employed, a local government body could be legally bound. He also said another aspect was that anyone who participated in the operation of a landfill was going to have a liability exposure under existing laws. Town Attorney Karpinos expressed his concurrence with these observations.

Council Member Chilton said under the current proposal, it would be impossible to withdraw from the organization or to withdraw liability if there were any outstanding debts owed by the four investors or owners of the landfill. He added that the agreement could also be modified with the consent of all parties.

Referencing the solid waste management plan, Council Member Capowski thanked the staff for preparing a very helpful lexicon to answer basic questions. Council Member Capowski suggested that the integrated solid waste management plan needed to be kept simple and to appeal to the average Town resident.

Council Member Capowski inquired whether or not "universal collection" meant that all governments in Orange County would use the same methods for waste collection. Council Member Chilton said that "universal collection" referred to the fact that every home and business throughout Orange County would have access to direct trash collection.

Mayor Waldorf inquired whether or not any cost estimates had been projected relative to universal collection. Council Member Chilton said these costs would be dependent upon whether a concession, franchise or other model were utilized. He noted the Orange County Commissioners would be making this difficult decision. Mayor Waldorf inquired whether or not it was correct that this type of system would only work if the tipping fees were low enough for some private hauler to provide the service, pay the tipping fees and dump in Orange County. Council Member Chilton said that this was generally the correct notion.

Council Member Capowski inquired whether or not it was correct that the Town would not give up any autonomy in making decisions about refuse collection. Stating that this was correct, Council Member Chilton said that Orange County could decide on its own whether or not it wanted to adopt a system of franchises.

Council Member Capowski inquired how many people would possibly utilize a centralized composting system. Council Member Franck noted that the Town of Cary and OWASA were contemplating the construction of a composting facility to dispose of sludge at the end of the wastewater treatment process. He also said it appeared that the Orange Regional Landfill would be able to deliver compostable material to this facility. Council Member Evans inquired whether any cost estimates had been made relative to independent or separate pick-up for this item. Council Member Franck said he did not believe there had been any cost projections to date on this item. Council Member Evans said she had a hard time considering these possibilities without any cost estimates. Council Member Chilton noted that the proposed plan did not anticipate any kind of regularly scheduled collection of yard wastes. Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson noted that brush collection would be left to local discretion relative to how this was handled.

Mayor Waldorf inquired whether or not it was correct that collection methods would be a local cost while disposal costs in some fashion or another would be a county cost. Council Member Chilton said the latter would be a regional cost.

Solid Waste Planner Blair Pollock indicated that there was some data in the Weston report relative to the costs of composting facilities. Ms. Maultsby indicated that these costs ranged between $3 million and $3.6 million.

Council Member Evans read a letter into the record of the hearing from former Town Council Member Jim Protzman:

“Dear Chapel Hill Town Council,

After two years of close observation and study I would like to contribute to the landfill debate with some outside perspective. I’m sorry I could not be here tonight to present my comments in person. First, please resist the opportunity to create another agency to manage the landfill. There is no legitimate case to pursue this direction. This area is the responsibility of the county government which is well prepared to represent the interests of the citizens of Orange County.

Second, you must implement some kind of scaleable pay as you go system. The ideal system is the one that will require the least amount of capital improvements for engineering, retro-fitting and bureaucracy. Simple is better.

Third, do not under any circumstances place the landfill on Eubanks Rd. This land is critical to the long-range build out of Chapel Hill. We are an island bounded by the rural buffer and neighboring jurisdiction on all sides. To sacrifice hundreds of acres of land, land that could be used for jobs, affordable housing and public parks is unthinkable.

In closing, I am one that agrees that the process in which the landfill owners group has been involved over the past four years to site a new landfill and come up with a waste management plan has been flawed. We paid a fortune to a consultant who gave us little substitutive guidance knowing full well that the hard decisions are political ones not technological ones. And with regards to landfill siting we stacked the deck with such extreme criteria that no site in Orange County is suitable. The ideas that I have discussed here have been debated within the landfill owners group for years. The fact that we are still in gridlock over them should be sufficient to put an end to the discussions about creating the “son/daughter of landfill owners group alternative”. Landfill siting and management are the proper jurisdiction of county governments. If anything, these are super-regional issues that cut across county lines. Thanks for your consideration,

Jim Protzman”

Noting that she had visited the landfill this past Saturday to drop off her storm related debris, Council Member Evans said when the landfill on the northern site of Eubanks Road was planned, it was anticipated that the site could be used for a park or golf course in the future. She noted that present regulations did not permit such reuses. Council Member Evans also said that the Greater Triangle Regional Council was discussing a number of regional issues including water treatment, open space, transportation, water resources and possibly, solid waste. She noted that Duke University would come back with a preliminary report in December regarding the preservation of Duke Forest as open space, rather than for potential use as a landfill site.

Council Member Evans reiterated her support for aggressive pursuit of a regional approach to solid waste matters, including consultation with Chatham and Durham and other counties. She also emphasized the importance of getting citizens involved in understanding solid waste issues and how they might be impacted in the future.

Council Member Evans inquired how much space would be freed up at the landfill from the University's decision to dispose of ash wastes elsewhere. She also asked what this space could be used for, how long the life of the landfill would be extended by this change in plans and what the fiscal impact would be.

Mr. Wilson said there was no final audited figure relative to the undesignated reserve. He also said the rough estimate was $400,000 for the undesignated reserve. Mr. Horton added that there were other reserves for other purposes and that these were referenced in the Town's annual financial report and budget.

Mr. Wilson also reported that for the past four months ash had been going to a special area at the landfill which was approved by the state and had formerly been comingled with construction and demolition wastes. He noted that as of June 1, 1996, the landfill had an estimated capacity of three years in the construction and demolition portion of the site. Mr. Wilson also said that the impact of the discontinuation of ash tipping at the landfill had yet to be analyzed by local government managers and the Landfill Owners Group. He stated that some of the options included raising tipping fees, reducing or eliminating programs or using designated or undesignated reserve funds.

Council Member Chilton inquired whether or not it was correct that the Town Council would have an opportunity to review, as a group, whatever was recommended by the Landfill Owners Group. Mr. Horton said this was correct, adding that staff would bring the Council a range of options and seek the Council's and other local government bodies advice on the matter. Council Member Evans inquired whether formal action by other governmental bodies would be required to pay for the ash-related shortfall. Mr. Horton said not necessarily, noting that this depended on how the shortfall was funded.

Mr. Horton said that staff was able to provide detailed cost information on any proposals and options desired by the Council, including legal and land costs. He also stated that staff could project tipping fees.

Council Member Evans inquired whether it would be most appropriate for options to be initiated by the Council or the Landfill Owners Group on options such as incineration, landfilling and regional cooperation. Council Member Chilton said he thought the best approach would be for the landfill owners group to pose these questions as a group or come to some agreement as a group as to what questions to pose or alternatively have the manager’s staff do this without taking up too much of the landfill staff’s time. Council Member Evans inquired whether members of academic institutions might help with matters. Council Member Chilton said he believed that the Council would have more control over the speed Town staff moved at as opposed to graduate students from Duke or UNC.

Council Member Chilton said the Council should have some say over what kind of disposal capacity would be desirable. Noting that Orange County did not dispose of anywhere near the tonnage that the Town did and consequently the County paid lower overall tipping fees, Council Member Chilton said the effect of waste disposal on the County tax rate was much less than the impact on the Town's tax rate. Council Member Chilton also said that the Town had too much at stake to let Orange County take over the entire solid waste organization.

Council Member Chilton said he thought that Mr. Mulkey's idea to give the individual member governments a veto or at least a more direct input into the issuance of bond indebtedness was an interesting one. Council Member Chilton said he was eager to explore this possibility with other partners in the existing Landfill Owners Group organization. He also expressed his support over the next few years to allow only elected officials to serve in the proposed new organization, rather than having some private citizens serve on the authority. Noting that some people had raised the desirability of proportional representation, Council Member Chilton said he felt it was best to be more oriented toward negotiation, not taking positions, but rather to try and appreciate one another's interests. Council Member Chilton also said he did not favor proportionality strictly based on population because he was a little unclear as to what the proportion for the county's delegation would be. He also expressed reservations about basing representation on fiscal investment relative to future board representation. Council Member Chilton expressed his support for exploring a representation set-up other than two members from each of the local governments. He also said it was very important to have a decision making board which would have representation from all local governments to decide difficult and complex issues such as disposal capacities and how to proceed with a solid waste management plan.

Noting that she had recently spoken to the Town Attorney about solid waste organizational matters, Council Member Brown said she thought that the Institute of Government had put together a very good document regarding the General Assembly and its latest rulings regarding solid waste. Council Member Brown said she thought it was important for the Council to pay attention to the fact that the governing body of each unit of local government was responsible for assessing local solid waste collection services. Council Member Evans requested a clarification of this matter by Town Attorney Ralph Karpinos. Mr. Karpinos said that the general point was that the default agency with responsibility over health matters was historically and by statute, was counties. He also said if no one else did anything, it would fall upon county governments to assume responsibility for health-related matters which would include matters related to sanitation. Council Member Brown said she thought that the Council needed some interpretation from the Town Attorney relative to the new law. Council Member Brown said that the new law plainly did not require counties to provide services to other units of local government within their county. She requested a future follow-up report from the Attorney regarding the implications to the Town of this new law.

Council Member Brown said she concurred with much of Council Member Chilton's earlier remarks. Noting that she did not personally agree with everything in the report, Council Member Brown also said she thought it was important to consider matters such as options for representation on a new authority/board. Council Member Brown stated that it was very important for all governing bodies to continue to work together. She also suggested that it would be a good idea to have some agreement about issues, including the integrated solid waste management plan, before requesting extensive information about anticipated costs. Council Member Brown said it would be helpful to have information about the assumptions which went into estimating such numbers in the future.

Noting that the selection of site seventeen as a future landfill site was a unanimous decision by the Landfill Owners Group and a majority decision by the Town Council, Council Member Brown said she did not want to be solely remembered as someone who had simply supported this siting recommendation. Council Member Brown said some of the areas she was most supportive of, and had been working hard for were: waste reduction, waste prevention, waste education and encouraging reuse and recycling to the greatest extent possible. She expressed hope that matters would continue to go in the direction recommended by the citizens group and Landfill Owners Group relative to the integrated solid waste management plan.

Noting that he had received a draft of the agenda for the September 30th Assembly of Governments meeting, Council Member Franck encouraged any Council Member with suggestions to contact him.

Mayor Waldorf said that Mr. Barr had raised some good points in his earlier remarks.

The session concluded at 9:08 p.m..