trash

"Personally I'm really tired of municipal problems being solved by putting them in rural areas," he said. "I would encourage Mayor Chilton to come back with a site in Carrboro." ~ BOCC Member Barry Jacobs, quoted in the News & Observer February 23, 2012

Now I admit to coming late to the party although I have been paying attention to this issue for several years (yeah, years if you can believe it). But it seems to me that Mr. Jacobs, for whom I have great respect for his years of service, missed a crucial point that could alter his perception on this issue.

I went to the OCBoCC meeting on Monday about the transfer station. I came away more convinced than ever that locating a transfer station in a rural farming or residential area is a bad idea. I think a lot of good reasons for it being a bad idea were put forth, and as I took notes I realized that the OCBoCC all know most of these arguments and reasons not to do this, so rehashing it is not of any particular benefit. What I think has not been done yet is to put together an outline/timeline of an alternative that involves all of the potential players and describes the benefits with an end goal in mind.

So, rather than rehash, I thought I could take a stab at a plan for a plan. Obviously the outline below is a strawman (the 21st century equivalent of the back of a napkin) and needs refinement. A lot would need to happen and a lot could happen in parallel. I think you'll get the gist though.

First:

Convince yourselves and the community at large.

WTE makes sense looking down the road five to seven years when tipping fees increase and as the county grows.