CHAPEL HILL - With strong opposition to the two most likely sites inside Orange County, officials are also looking outside the county for a place to haul residents' trash.

Next month Orange County leaders hope to meet with Durham's city manager to talk about the possibility of a joint transfer station effort in that city.

The meeting comes amid a flurry of activity on the transfer station front.

* On Tuesday, the Orange County Board of Commissioners agreed to consider 32 acres owned by Chapel Hill north of the Town Operations Center on Millhouse Road. An evaluation of the site will run parallel to a wetlands analysis of the 143-acre Howell site on N.C. 54 west of Carrboro, the other site being considered for a solid waste transfer station.

* Also last week, Chatham County announced it may build new landfill in that county -- and possibly ask other governments to make it a regional disposal facility.

A new landfill in Chatham County would not eliminate the need for a transfer station here, Orange County Solid Waste Director Gayle Wilson said.

And it's way too early to guess how talks with Durham will pan out.

"No deal or near deal exists," Wilson said. "The meeting is an exploratory discussion to determine if there are joint or mutually beneficial opportunities regarding transfer of waste."

The Durham transfer station, in an industrial section of East Club Boulevard, was built when Durham's last landfill closed. You have to drive through the transfer station property to get to a road leading to the old landfill.

"It was never intended to be a permanent situation," Deputy City Manager Ted Voorhees said Friday. The driveway recently needed repairs, the trash compactor is aging and trucks often line up because it wasn't designed well.

"It certainly needs certain improvements if we're going to continue to use it," Voorhees said.

A meeting between the two governments to discuss an upgrade or expansion could take place in early June.

In the meantime, Orange County will continue to focus on the two sites now in discussion for a transfer station.

Organized opposition

A year-long search led to the Bingham Township site off N.C. 54. On Tuesday, resident Raymond Kirby delivered a petition signed by more than 1,000 residents urging the county commissioners to site the transfer station closer to Hillsborough, Chapel Hill or Carrboro, Interstates 40 or 85 and near utilities such as water, sewer and rail.

Orange County Voice spokeswoman Bonnie Hauser said the county should find a location that's "not in anybody's backyard."

The commissioners also heard several complaints Tuesday about the Millhouse Road site from close neighbors and residents of the historically black Rogers Road who say it's still too close to their neighborhood. In the name of environmental justice, the commissioners have already promised not to site the transfer station at the current landfill, which neighbors have endured since 1972. Some residents north of Eubanks Road say they should also be included.

"It's not just race," said Blackwood Mountain Road resident Garry Carver. "[Millhouse Road] was part of the neighborhood when the landfill was put in. It has always been part of the neighborhood and it still is."

Millhouse Road's Kathleen Schenley agreed.

"I may live a mile from Rogers Road, but I have always considered myself a part of that community, and our community has had enough," she said. "To endorse this plan would be a betrayal of promises made to our community that we would not have to endure the county's trash forever."

No formal offer

The Chapel Hill Town Council has not yet formally agreed to let the county use the Millhouse Road land.

Mayor Kevin Foy merely floated the idea after staffs from the towns and the county discussed ways of saving money on the project. Dennis Howell is asking $3 million for the N.C. 54 site, triple its tax value.

"The location of the transfer station has major budgetary impact for Chapel Hill," said Town Council member Bill Strom, who co-chaired the Rogers Road Small Area Plan Task Force last year. "I need to understand the emotional and social impact on the residents."

Foy has said savings from using the Millhouse site could provide some funding to begin installing public water and sewer on Rogers Road, something residents have requested for years.

"I think they're being crazy not to embrace that idea because otherwise there's no money to help them," said Strom. "We're talking in the neighborhood of $50 million in order to configure the water and sewer the way they want it.

"It's an enormous amount of money," he said. "You've got to start somewhere."

mark.schultz@nando.com or 932-2003

WHAT'S NEXT

The Orange County Board of Commissioners has reports due at the following meetings:

June 16: Evaluation of Millhouse Road site, 7 p.m., Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road, Chapel Hill

Aug. 18: Wetlands analysis of Howell property on N.C. 54; 7 p.m. Battle Courtroom, Orange County Courthouse, Hillsborough

CHATHAM MEETINGS

Chatham County will hold four meetings next month for residents to hear more about long-term waste-disposal options.

The county now hauls its trash to a regional landfill in Sampson County. But a study says a landfill could save up to $195 million over the next 45 years.

The study said the county has limited options: continue hauling out of the county, build a new landfill for just Chatham County, or join other governments in a regional landfill.

The meetings will be:

* 10 a.m. June 2 at the Western Senior Center, Siler City

* 7 p.m. June 11 at the Central Carolina Community College, Multipurpose Room, Pittsboro

* 7 p.m. June 16 at the Harper's Crossroads Community Center

* 7 p.m. June 25 at the Moncure Fire Department

STAFF WRITER MARK SCHULTZ