Assembly of Governments

There were 3 items on tonight's Assembly of Governments meeting: relocating the IFC shelter operations from downtown, solid waste update, and a small area plan for Rogers Road. I expected the IFC discussion to be the same old same old, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The chair of the IFC board laid out the predicament by explaining how much funding they have lost over the past 3 years (HUD) and how much they need and want to provide the same type of quality facility and programming for men as they do for women. But to do that they need the 3 local governments to work with them. It went round and round (Eubanks Road too far out, don't want to run water/sewer into the rural buffer) with none of the elected officials addressing the request for partnership, until Steve Halkiotis pointed out that all the services that shelter residents need are contained at the Southern Human Services center and that there is plenty of room to put the shelter there. It was such a simple, obvious solution to a problem the community has agonized over for nearly 20 years. Everyone recognized the beauty of the solution and the partnership was formed. The IFC folks left very happy (and surprised).

The solid waste discussion focused on methane. Earlier today I had heard about the fact that the landfill doesn't generate enough methane to make it attractice to the utilities or to justify the investment in capture for onsite use. The elected officials have a very different opinion. They think the new transfer station, the animal shelter, and something else could be powered by landfill methane. And supposedly UNC has contacted the commissioners about piping it to Carolina North. It should be interesting to see which story lies closest to reality. In the meantime, OWASA is already doing it.