The Alamance County Board of Commissioners approved acquisition of a large property adjacent to the county landfill intended to protect landfill operations from incompatible nearby development and to extend recreational trail connections.

County staff presented the Alston Quarter property as a long-term priority to buffer landfill operations and to complete a segment of the Mountains-to-Sea and Yadkin Valley/Haw River trail connections. The presenter said the county has pursued this property for nearly a decade and that the parcel sits along the county’s existing landfill boundary.

Funding and donors: staff reported a funding plan that included approximately $8.4 million in grant awards, about $3.6 million from the Landfill Enterprise Fund, and a $1.1 million contribution from the landowners present at the meeting. The presenter said the county would not use general-fund dollars for the acquisition.

The presenter described the property as valuable for both operational buffering and recreation. Commissioners asked about potential groundwater or leachate risks; staff said the county’s current landfill operations use modern liners and leachate controls and that they had not completed a dedicated scientific study of leachate migration onto the parcel, but the property’s downhill and downstream position was one reason county staff sought to acquire it.

The board voted to approve the acquisition and a related land-swap resolution necessary for closing. County staff said detailed management, public input and fundraising plans for recreational uses will follow.

Clarifying note: in the presentation the parcel’s size was described with slightly different numbers: an early comment described it as "approximately 750 acres," while a later remark referred to the land as "1,125 acres uncut." Staff materials in the packet and future closing documents will provide the definitive acreage; commissioners approved the acquisition motion and directed staff to proceed.

Ending: Commissioners approved the purchase motion and asked staff to return with final closing documentation and the public-engagement plan for trail and recreational development.