(Click here to see the graphic at full size.)
Ten months after the Orange County Board of Commissioners reopened the search process for a new waste transfer station site" the search has come down to seven potential locations.
Eubanks Road which was originally slated to house the transfer station is ranked fourth on the list after the board applied criteria which factored in economic and environmental considerations.
Olver Inc. the consulting firm hired by the commissioners to conduct the search will recommend in Tuesday's work session that the top seven sites move on for a decision based on community-specific criteria.
Olver plans to gather public input in meetings held near potential sites during September and October and the company plans to present these findings to the board in a later work session.
A sample public input form submitted to the board by Olver asks residents to rank the relative community importance of factors like impact on air quality environmental justice and proximity to schools churches and recreation sites.
Although the top sites are all logistically feasible within the constraints of the criteria some could soon be eliminated because of community concerns.
Rogers Road resident Neloa Jones — who has advocated for the elimination of the Eubanks Road site since the board re-opened the search last November — said she still fears the transfer station could end up in her neighborhood" which has been home to the Orange County Landfill since 1972.
""We should not have been on the list"" Jones said.
That just proves to us that perhaps they didn't get it. This community should have been excluded.""
The commissioners are expected to approve the recommendations for the seven locations today and make a final decision on the site of the waste station in a November meeting.
ATTEND THE WORK SESSION
Time: 5:30 p.m. today
Location: Southern Human Services Center
Info: www.co.orange.nc.us/OCCLERKS/agenmenu.asp
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
