11:20 p.m. Dec. 8 - Due to a reporting error, this story incorrectly stated that county commissioners were considering a second site off Millhouse Road for a waste transfer station. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
Members of Carrboro’s Board of Aldermen defended the Rogers Road community, speaking out against continued traffic of the county’s trash through their neighborhood.
The county is slated to decide Monday where to put a waste transfer station because the landfill in the historically black and low-income community is expected to reach capacity by 2012.
At a packed meeting Tuesday, the Aldermen called on the Board of Orange County Commissioners to remove a location near the community, which has hosted a landfill for almost four decades, from the list of possible areas.
Other locations being considered are a spot in Bingham township off N.C. 54 and another site off Millhouse Road.
The county commissioners originally intended to put the station at the same location as the landfill, but protests by the Rogers Road community forced the county commissioners to search for a new location in 2007.
Olver, Inc., the consulting firm hired by the county, determined the Bingham township location to be the best option last year.
Former alderman Mark Dorosin, senior attorney at the UNC Center for Civil Rights, questioned the county’s addition of the Millhouse Road location, also known as the Paydarfar site.
“Two months ago this Paydarfar site had been introduced, despite the fact that it doesn’t meet the criteria set forth by the private consulting firm,” Dorosin said.
The Paydarfar site is 2,500 feet away from the current landfill.
Rev. Robert Campbell, who has been pushing for expanded services for Rogers Road residents for years, said it is a step in the right direction to have the Board of Alderman support his community on the issue.
“It’s a great accomplishment to have one of the municipalities step forward with a resolution,” Campbell said.
Aldermen sworn in
The board also swore in its recently elected members Jacquie Gist, Randee Haven-O’Donnell and Sammy Slade.
O’Donnell will remain mayor pro tem, which she’s held since John Herrera resigned in August.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
