23 Aug August 23rd, 2010 Minutes
THE THREE HUNDRED-EIGHTY SEVENTH SESSION OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMAN
VILLAGE OF ALAMANCE
August 23rd 2010 – 7:00 PM
Present: Mayor Bundren, Mayor Pro-Tem Sharpe, Alderman Jones, Alderman Crouse, Alderman Slaughter, Alderman Clemmons, Alderman Tichy, Clerk York.
Alderman Clemmons gave the invocation.
Alderman Tichy moved to approve the July 26th meeting minutes and Alderman Slaughter seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS
Plaid Day
Clerk York explained to the Board that the entertainment lineup for the Plaid Day Festival is now set and six vendors have reserved their tables. There are also 5 food vendors. Clerk York told the Board that Ms. Lynn Pownell will delight the festival goers by doing live demonstrations of how plaid fabric is made. Ms. Pownell will set up her loom on the ball field near the vendors. A walking tour will also be an historical feature of the festival this year. The walking tour will begin at Gary Rutledge’s house and move down by the dam. A reenactment will take place near the dam to allow visitors to peek into the past and learn more about the history of the Village. Clerk York then reminded the Board that tickets are still being sold for $1 each to raffle off the $500.00 Apple I PAD. Drawings for door prizes will be held throughout the day. A dunking booth and inflatable slides will be set up for all to enjoy. Mayor Bundren said that the Copper Top Horse Farm will also be at the Festival.
CDBG Project
Marc Reich approached the Board and explained that he and Clerk York have obtained some of the needed easements for the CDBG project. Three easements are still needed to proceed with the project. Clerk York told the Board that there are three residents that do not want to hook on to the new sewer line being built. These residents do not wish to hook on and incur a monthly sewer bill. If these residents do not connect on to sewer now while the grant is covering the cost but decide at a later time to connect then they will be subject to the normal connection fees. Mayor Bundren asked if we could force them to connect. Atty. Bateman said that we could, but then we would have to require all properties in front of a sewer line to connect. Atty. Bateman said that a memorandum should be kept on file that these residents were offered the opportunity to connect and chose not to do so. Mayor Bundren asked Atty. Bateman to send letters to the three residents that do not want to take advantage of the sewer line coming in and explain the added future cost if they decide to hook up to sewer at a later date. Atty. Bateman stated that the resident that has city water will be required to tap on to the new sewer line if the Village has a policy that requires them to do so.
Second Connection Project
Marc Reich explained to the Board that the rock has been excavated and the pipe has been pulled back through. The bore is in and passed the air test. It will likely be two weeks before the contractor will have his utility crew back on site. It is expected to take only a few weeks after the utility crew comes back to the project to then set the meters and get the necessary testing complete.
Report on Cabin Pump Station Access Road
Clerk York explained to the Board that he had spoken with Chuck Sadler of USDA. The loan period would be for 40 years at between 3.25% and 4% interest. There is a possibility that the Village could receive grant money for a portion for the project. It will depend on the amount of grant the Village qualifies for as well as the amount of grant funds available. The next step would be to schedule a meeting with Mr. Sadler, Mr. Reich and himself to discuss the possible grants that the Village could qualify for to help with the cost of the Cabin Pump Station access road project.
ORC Report
Danny Duncan spoke to the Board regarding the ORC report in Mr. Allred’s absence. He explained that a new relay had been installed at the pump station on Hwy. 62. The water seal is also bad at pump #1 and #2 at that pump station. Pump #2 will be removed 1st. It will be resealed and then reinstalled. After that, pump #1 will then be removed, resealed, and then reinstalled. This will prevent both pumps from being out of service at the same time. Mayor Bundren asked if the THM/HAA5 water results had come back yet. Clerk York said that he had received only one set of results and that they were high.
Mayor Bundren then asked if Clerk York had obtained numbers regarding the repair situation at the NC 62 pump station. Clerk York said that the wet well is 33 foot deep. Therefore, pulling these pumps will be more involved compared to the other pump stations. One contractor has already looked at the job and two others are coming out in the next few days. He explained that if the Village had a back up pump then both pumps could be pulled and rebuilt at the same time. The pump is 7 1⁄2 horse power and would cost $8,200 to purchase. Mayor Bundren stated that she believed the Village had a spare pump. Alderman Crouse stated that he believed the Village had a spare pump as well. He said that Mr. Rodney Holt, who had installed the current pumps in the NC 62 pump station, had gotten a deal on a spare pump. Clerk York stated that he could go back over his records and previous meeting minutes to determine if a spare pump had been purchased. Alderman Clemmons said that he would like to see more quotes on spare pumps. Clerk York said that he would get more quotes for a spare pump. Clerk York would like to pull one pump at a time and get them fixed.
Fred Hoy asked about the possibility of putting in a siphon system. This would eliminate the need for the NC 62 pump station. Mayor Bundren asked Mr. Reich to look into the possibility of a siphon system for NC 62 along with the proposed gravity line for the
Cabin Road outfall. With that said, Mayor Bundren confirmed that Clerk York would begin pulling the pumps as soon as he received numbers.
NEW BUSINESS
Snow Removal Contract
Clerk York presented a quote from Carl Norris construction for snow removal. Mayor Bundren asked if the contract presented to the Board was for the same amount as the previous year. Clerk York said that he believed that it was. Mayor Bundren asked if Mr. Norris has a contract with the county to remove their snow. Clerk York did not know if they did. Mayor Bundren said that the Village could end up low down on the list of priorities when it comes to snow removal if Mr. Norris already has a contract with the county. Alderman Clemmons would like Clerk York to obtain a few more bids on snow removal so the Board had more companies to compare rates. Clerk York will look into other companies and report back to the board.
Lawn Maintenance at NC 62
Pump Station Clerk York said that Mr. Byrd has asked to increase his fee for mowing the NC 62 pump station from $40 to $50. He feels it is worth $50.00 or $60.00 due to the steep terrain. Mayor Bundren said that she is pleased with the job Mr. Byrd has done at the NC 62 pump station. She has hired Mr. Byrd to mow her yard. Alderman Clemmons moved to give Byrd’s Lawn Care $50.00 instead of $40.00 to mow the NC 62 Pump Station. Alderman Slaughter seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously.
Finance Report
Clerk York stated that $851.60 in interest had been earned on the CD that the Village purchased from Carter Bank. The new CD that was purchased was bought at a rate of .5. This new rate is less than half of the previous rate of 1.10%. Alderman Clemmons said that Carter Bank had been paying non-public funds interest rates. The new rate is more in line with rates for other public funds. Alderman Clemmons stated that these interest rates will be this low for quite a while.
OTHER BUSINESS
Public Comment
Sue Dayton approached the Board and explained that she is on the staff of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. Mrs. Dayton went on to state that the company she is employed with has been in business for twenty five years to assist companies around North Carolina and the South East that are threatened by polluting industries. Sue Harder, an Alamance County resident, approached the Board and explained that she is with a local chapter under the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League called (C.A.N.)
Clean Air Now. Sue Dayton asked the Board to consider signing a resolution that calls for all medical waste incinerators in the state of North Carolina to come into early compliance (2012) with new EPA rules regarding chemicals released into the environment. There are two medical waste incinerators located in North Carolina. One is located in Graham, NC and the other is located in Mathews, NC.
The medical waste incinerator located in Graham, NC called Sterecycle is at present releasing levels of lead into the environment at a level that is 5.6 times the new EPA standards. Mercury is 10.6 times over the new standards set by the EPA. Early implementation of these new EPA rules would help protect our air, families and environment. Sterecycle burned over 27.2 million lbs. of medical waste from twenty two states last year. Several of these states do not allow burning of medical waste so it is shipped here to Alamance County to be burned. Many of these pollutes are know to cause birth defects in developing fetuses as well as several forms of cancer. (Alderman Jones entered the meeting at this point)
Mrs. Sue Harder stated that Sterecycle is an international company that boasts about being environmentally conscious. Mrs. Harder believes that if pressure is placed on them by the signing of this resolution they may come into compliance early. She read a list of several local politicians and Boards that support their effort. This company is self regulated and only receives scheduled visits once every two years to test their stacks. Sometimes the company has a power failure. This causes their filters to fail and so they have to release their smoke. This is called a bypass event. The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League would like to see fewer bypass events. Mrs. Dayton said that the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League would like the medical waste incinerator companies to do more recycling of paper and plastics and less burning.
Mayor Bundren asked what the Board’s pleasure was concerning the resolution. Fred Hoy asked if the Alamance County Commissioners had voted to support this resolution. Mrs. Dayton said that only Eddie Boswell had voted to support the resolution. Mrs. Dayton also stated that the City of Graham did not vote to sign the resolution to move the compliance date up to October 6, 2012 for Sterecycle. Alderman Tichy asked Mrs. Dayton if the date of 2012 was even obtainable for this medical waste incinerator company. She stated that yes it is very obtainable. Alderman Tichy stated that he has dealt with the EPA over the years and has never seen a standard that is easy to meet on time. He is concerned that cutting so much time off the original timeline and still expecting the medical waste incinerator company to comply could be very costly.
Alderman Tichy stated that he is opposed to seeing this area become noncompetitive because the incinerators cost more ahead of other areas. He feels that the EPA would have speeded this up on a federal level if it was feasible to do so. Mrs. Dayton explained that the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League is trying to do this on a State level. Alderman Tichy stated that medical waste could end up being dumped illegally as a result of speeding this process up. Mrs. Dayton explained that the EPA is working with Hospitals to better segregate waste so that dumping does not happen. She said that this issue affects our air. She said that the number of cancer rates have risen around the area
near the medical waste incinerator in Matthews, North Carolina. They believe that with the support of localities, the new standard can be implemented and met by the local incinerator in Graham. The incinerator can not be completely blamed for the cancer but she feels the new rules need to happen sooner than later. Alderman Tichy said the resolution will put North Carolina business at a disadvantage as opposed to other states. Mrs. Dayton said that many states do not allow incinerators. Mayor Bundren said that the Board usually allots only 15 minutes for public comment. It does not look like the Board will make a decision tonight. Mayor Pro-Tem Sharpe asked to table this item until the Board could research the issue more. Alderman Clemmons said that he does not know enough information about the other side. Mayor Bundren thanked Mrs. Dayton and MS. Harden for attending the meeting.
Alderman Clemmons moved to adjourn the meeting and the motion was seconded by Alderman Slaughter. The motion passed unanimously.