Location behind Millhouse Road facility voted down

By Gregory Childress

gchildress@heraldsun.com; 918-1046

CHAPEL HILL -- A town-owned site Orange County is eyeing for a proposed solid waste transfer station has been taken off the table.

The Town Council voted 5-2 on Monday to remove from consideration the site, which is located behind the town's maintenance facility off Millhouse Road.

Monday's vote came in response to a letter from Valerie P. Foushee, chairwoman of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, in which she asked council to decide whether the site was feasible for the proposed transfer station.

The county hopes to have a list of the sites under consideration for the transfer station finalized by Dec. 7.

"In order for the County Commissioners to move toward a final decision, we need for the Town of Chapel Hill to indicate whether the potential to use the town's site is feasible, available, and under what terms and conditions," Foushee wrote.

But council members who voted to strike the site from consideration, along with another 10-acre county-owned site near the railroad crossing off Millhouse Road and also near the town's maintenance facility, cited traffic, environmental and social justice concerns for their decision not to offer the site for consideration.

"To me, this is just not something I want to do," said Councilwoman Laurin Easthom. "It's just over for me in my mind."

Before the council's vote, Foy, who voted against the decision to remove the town-owned and county owned sites from consideration, cautioned that having to transport Chapel Hill's waste to either of the two other sites the county is considering could have a large financial impact.

One of the sites is off Highway 54 west of town, and a fourth option involves an arrangement with the City of Durham to have Orange County's waste hauled to Durham's transfer station near Interstate 85. The council authorized staff to conduct fiscal impact analysis of those two options.

"If we have to haul our garbage farther away, it's going to cost more money," said Foy, who called for the town's staff to review all four sites to determine the impact each would have on the town if chosen.

Council member Mark Kleinschmidt, who is running for mayor, said the council must look at more than just the fiscal impact of the sites. He said there are social, environmental and safety concerns to consider with the sites, and especially the two near Millhouse Road.

The council's decision is a victory of sorts for residents fighting the two controversial locations, which are near the current landfill. Residents have long complained that their Rogers Road neighborhood has shouldered its fair share of the burden of disposing of the county's waste.