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Millhouse Road site move was rude, unecessary

Posted on June 4, 2009 by Staff

Rick Kennedy

With all that money in Chapel Hill, you would think the town could afford some manners for its mayor.

Yet here we are, considering a waste transfer station site proposed by Mayor Foy, an action all his own, conceived without consulting the town council, commissioners or citizens. Fortuitously for him, the site is owned by Chapel Hill, yet outside town limits. Not even one of his constituents would be affected by his proposal.

Disbelief abounds as Mayor Foy once again foists upon this modest part of the county yet one more of the ugly necessities that keep a community running, burdens that would precipitate conniptions anywhere else. To prove this is no exaggeration, consider a partial list of what lies within a thousand yards: the original county landfill and its proposed expansion, Chapel Hill public works facility, Chapel Hill bus depot, Chapel Hill impound lot, Chapel Hill park-and-ride lot, county animal shelter, county construction and demolition landfill, county recycling facility and the county solid waste management facility. Mayor Foy also proposed it as a location for the Chapel Hill homeless shelter. To reiterate, none of these facilities are within Chapel Hill, although they are the ones to reap the bulk of the benefits.

To a sincere soul, this little patch of Orange County has certainly done its share when it comes to putting up with what no one wants. These things must go somewhere, but doesn’t our moral compass tell us that we should share the weight of our communal obligations?

In a 2007 decision, Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Orange County endorsed the moral resonance of this argument by giving to residents of Rogers Road by the landfill protection from a waste transfer station. The endorsement, however, did not extend to Millhouse Road, ground zero for Foy’s plan, even though it is also adjacent to the landfill. The moral dissonance of that disparity is striking, yet Foy parlays the disparity to political advantage.

To appreciate this contention, consider the way Foy perpetrated his proposal, using the urgency of the situation as a weapon to win his way. He has waited until the latest possible moment to offer up this parcel. Why else wait until now to offer it? For those who doubt this, look back to see how the original landfill location was chosen almost 40 years ago and study how the massive landfill expansion proposal proceeded 15 years ago. The strategies are exactly the same. 

Furthermore, a few weeks ago, Foy invited Rogers Road residents to tour his proposed site, but he did not invite homeowners immediately adjacent to the parcel, even though they would be the ones most severely affected. Foy explained that he only invited Rogers Road folks because the agreement restricting the location of a transfer
station applied only to them. He added that if it didn’t meet their approval, then his proposal was a nonstarter.
Some say, though, that the mayor contacted only Rogers Road to obliquely offer quid pro quo, their endorsement of his site for an implied promise to promote water and sewer projects benefitting them.

A testament to their character and certainly an unpleasant surprise for Mayor Foy, the representatives of Rogers Road handed to the mayor, in the middle of the tour, a letter declaring his proposal absolutely unacceptable. To add to evidence of their character, Rogers Road has since petitioned Chapel Hill to include Millhouse Road in the area identified as their community. If Foy was sincere with his reasoning for inviting only Rogers Road residents on his walkabout, then his site is no longer viable because of that opposition. We can expect, though, their opposition to be suddenly irrelevant, and we can also expect the tweaking and tormenting of the other site-selection criteria.

If Mayor Foy is sincere, wanting to explore all options for a transfer station, he should ask UNC to consider one on Carolina North. After all, Chapel Hill persuaded UNC to preserve hundreds of acres there. A few acres more for a transfer station isn’t much more to ask, especially when UNC prides itself with its environmental-sustainability efforts. To do otherwise reveals all the sustainability talk to be bluster.

It all distills down to a matter of decency and fairness, a matter of accepting responsibility. It is exceptionally disheartening to witness this flaunting of what is fair and decent by a community that boasts a progressive philosophy and liberal leanings. From the view on this side of the town limits, Mr. Mayor, those boasts are not true, and the people out here deserve better from you.

1 thought on “Millhouse Road site move was rude, unecessary”

  1. Pingback: Millhouse Road site move was rude, unecessary « Rogers-Eubanks Coalition

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