Apex: Council to hear a New Hill odor update Tuesday

In Apex, the town council is due an update Tuesday evening on odor complaints from New Hill. The source of the smell is not confirmed.

The Town of Apex calendar lists a regular council meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, at Town Hall, 73 Hunter Street. Regular meetings are in the council chambers on the second floor. The calendar entry does not mention a smell, New Hill, or a treatment plant. This newsroom has not opened a Nov. 10 agenda packet. What follows is the town's Oct. 27 recap, plus what WRAL and CBS 17 reported about Tuesday's briefing.

What the town already wrote down

A recap of the Oct. 27 regular meeting says Mayor Jacques Gilbert asked for an update on recurring odor concerns from residents near the Western Wake Regional Water Reclamation Facility. The town manager's reply, in that recap, was that Cary has put money into remediation and is still investigating, and that no source had been confirmed.

The same document names Randy Vosburg in the town manager's report. It does not schedule a Nov. 10 briefing.

What the stations reported for Tuesday

WRAL, by Bryant Maddrick, reported that Vosburg will brief the council Tuesday on the New Hill complaints. CBS 17, by Mary Smith, reported that leaders will hear from town staff at that meeting about what they are doing. CBS 17's story, as opened here, does not name Vosburg.

Gilbert told WRAL the problem needs attention because it affects neighbors' quality of life. He told CBS 17, "it smelled like a hog farm; it was a very foul odor." WRAL also quoted him making a hog-farm comparison and passing along that some residents called the smell unbearable. WRAL reported a Facebook post, and CBS 17 a social media post, in which he asked followers to respond if they had noticed it.

CBS 17 quoted him putting the number of reports he had received at about 12. WRAL's story does not include that number.

Suspects, not a finding

In the WRAL interview he said he suspects the regional plant, because residents who complained to him in March 2025 believed the smell was coming from there. In the CBS 17 interview he said residents pointed to that plant during a similar episode in March 2025, that Cary crews replaced equipment and the complaints eased, and that the reports came back this year. Those are his descriptions. Neither story shows a lab result or a town finding that names the source.

Cary's own page uses the full name, Western Wake Regional Water Reclamation Facility, and the initials WWRWRF, and it places the plant in New Hill. WRAL shortens the name to Western Wake Regional Reclamation Facility. The initials in the statement Cary sent WRAL match the town's page.

The owner list is not the same in the two accounts. WRAL wrote that Apex and Cary own the plant together and that Cary operates it. Apex's infrastructure page says the plant is jointly owned by Apex, Cary, and Morrisville. This story is not choosing a list.

WRAL quoted him saying he could not rule out the South Wake Landfill, and that he did not believe the landfill was behind these complaints. The station noted its own earlier reporting on landfill odors in Apex and Holly Springs. That history stays with WRAL. It does not settle this week's smell.

WRAL reported that Vosburg is working with Cary town manager Russ Overton. Overton's hiring is a separate Cary file.

What Cary told the stations

A spokesperson gave WRAL a list the town said utilities director Jamie Revels shared inside both towns after Cary learned of the issue on Oct. 20. In that account, the plant is not currently taking odor complaints, and staff who drive nearby areas have not detected any. Cary described seasonal thermal inversions, which can hold a light smell close to the ground, as weather context. It also pointed to paving and other work along Old U.S. 1, and called that context rather than a source finding. Dryer odor controls had been recharged. An extra biofilter, salvaged from a pump station that is no longer in service, had been added. Part of the north headworks biofilter is being rebuilt, with backup controls, including carbon polishing, still in use. Cary said it will keep watching and will address concerns it can substantiate.

CBS 17 heard a shorter version. A representative told the station there were no complaints at the plant, that the utilities director has been in touch with Apex since late October, that staff are monitoring the facility and the controls, and that another biofilter was installed. Inversions, the highway paving, and Oct. 20 are not in that story.

What is still open

No record opened here names the source. Tuesday's briefing had not been given when this page was published. Whether the agenda packet lists the item is unknown here. The plant, the landfill, the road work, and the weather explanation all remain unconfirmed as the cause.

Wake County coverage is on the county page. Other local decisions are in the government section.

Triangle Local is not the town and not an emergency service. Call 911 if someone is in danger. Smell complaints go to Apex or Cary, not to this site.

Photos

Text-only. No meeting, plant, or outlet photographs are used.