By Rose Laudicina
Staff Writer
Discussion once again turned to trash at a joint meeting between the Chapel Hill Town Council and the Orange County Board of Commissioners last week.
Chapel Hill Town Manager Roger Stancil updated the county on the consultant hired by the town to evaluate Chapel Hill’s solid-waste services but said the town couldn’t provide concrete information on its solid-waste plans until June.
“We see this closing of the landfill as an opportunity to look at our whole spectrum of services,†Stancil said. “Our charge for the consultant currently is that nothing is off topic.â€
Chapel Hill chose to hire a consultant to look at the town’s solid-waste options when the commissioners decided to close the Orange County Landfill by June 30, 2013 and as a temporary solution truck the county’s trash to the Durham waste transfer station.
Chapel Hill officials have said that due to the cost, an estimated $500,000 to $700,000 per year to truck their trash to Durham, they want at least to explore other options.
“I hope that your consultant will come back with information for all of us, and they will help us find a better solution,†Commissioner Pam Hemminger said, expressing her hope that Chapel Hill will share the consultant’s recommendations with the county.
Included in the consultant’s study is Chapel Hill’s partnership with the county on recycling efforts.
Even though the landfill is closing, the county will still be in charge of recycling collection and recently voted to make the switch from double-stream to single-stream recycling.
However, since the consultant’s findings will not come back to the council until June, Chapel Hill will not yet commit to partnering with the county for recycling, prompting the county to postpone purchasing new roll carts for single-stream recycling for the urban areas.
“It is not about questioning our commitment,†Stancil said of the study, “it is about our operations and what is most efficient and effective for our taxpayers.â€
The commissioners and town council also discussed plans for the Greene Tract while talking trash at the meeting.
The Greene Tract is comprised of 164 acres of land in which 104 acres are in a joint partnership between Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Orange County, with the remaining 60 set aside for solid-waste management purposes.
While talks surrounding the use of the Greene Tract, located behind the landfill, have been sporadic, the most recent recommendation from the Greene Tract workgroup was that approximately 84.9 acres should be set aside for a conservation easement and 18.1 should be set aside for affordable housing, said Assistant County Manager Michael Talbert.
Hemminger also reminded the board and council that previously there had been talks about locating the next Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School on the Greene Tract, since vacant land for new schools is limited.
Council member Jim Ward expressed his interest in looking at the Greene Tract as an opportunity for economic development.
“I don’t know this land well,†Ward said, “but my sensitivity to economic development has changed over the last 10 years. I for one would like to explore some portion of the 85 acres of open space.â€
“If we want to reconvene the Greene Tract issue,†Commissioner Bernadette Pelissier said, “we have to involve the town of Carrboro. Is that something people are interested in doing?â€
Both the council and the board agreed to continue discussing plans for the Greene Tract, and the board of commissioners directed staff to draft a letter to send to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education about discussing siting a school on the tract for their next joint meeting with the board of education on April 26.