Economic Development Districts
A committee to help pass the sales tax referendum has been created with representatives of the Orange County Board of Commissioners, the Chapel Hill Town Council, the Carrboro Board of Alderspersons, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools Board of Education, Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, The Partnership for Children, the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce, the Orange County Schools Board of Education, the Greater Chapel Hill Association of Realtor, and Orange County Justice United.
I am serving on the Campaign for Jobs and Schools committee as a representative from Orange County Justice United. Justice United discussed the referendum at one of it’s full meetings and voted to endorse it. We are supporting the sales tax because funds raised in this way will reduce the exorbitant sewer and water rates for our lower income neighbors in the north of the county and will also reduce the tax burden on county homeowners, while supporting our schools.
I don’t think anybody in Orange County is happy that we are planning to send our trash over the horizon to a giant landfill in some poor God-forsaken community.
I don’t think our county leadership is happy about becoming beholden to a giant waste corporation that will have us by the short hairs when they want to raise the hauling rates somewhere down the road. And you don’t have to be psychic to know that fuel costs are only going to rise.
The current plans for a transfer station harness us to an unethical and increasingly expensive boondoggle. Our best bet is to avoid getting hooked into this unpredictable system by siting our own landfill in Orange County.
First, we have to adjust our perspective and realize that solid waste represents an economic opportunity. The waste stream provides many materials that have a useful purpose. Plus we’ll save money over the long run by avoiding the inevitable price hikes from waste businesses and fuel cost escalation.
From Orange County:
The Orange County Planning Department will host a public
information session for residents, property owners, businesses and others
interested in the Eno Economic Development District (EDD).
The EDD location is in the general area of Highway 70 and
Interstate 85 near the Durham
County line.
The information session will be held on Tuesday, May 13,
2008 at the Planning and Agricultural Building, 306 Revere Road in
Hillsborough. The session will be
held as an “open house” and those interested may drop by anytime between 4:00
and 7:00 p.m.
To learn more or to see a copy of the DRAFT Eno EDD plan,
visit the website,
http://www.co.orange.nc.us/planning/admin_Eno_EDD_SAP.asp
or call Perdita Holtz, Special Projects Planner, (919)
245-2575.
Date:
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 - 12:00pm to 3:00pm
Location:
Planning and Agricultural Building, 306 Revere Road, Hillsborough
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