Agenda - 09-07-1999 - 10b - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orange Water and Se`vcr Authority February 11, t999 Page 20 William Strom said the notion aL OWASA extending liars into an interest area to remedy an adverse public health emergency has'signiGcant impact on potential for sprawl and potential for making land developable that does not pcrc. Mr. -Strom said his understanding is that the sizing of [roes is a tool .that attempts to restrict tap-ons and avoids unattended consequences of remedying a health emergency. William Strom said he is comfortabic with the language in the agreement that the lines should be sized to address that emergency iC that is passible. i','atrick Davis said a concern was raised with the Piney Mountain Subdivision project. There were engineering sizing. requirements and constraints at the. State of North Carolina level that required the infrastructure to be sized for peaking factors that were mandated by the- State and would impact this issue. Mr. Davis said the fvay to address it would. be to point out that it is sued to serve only the intended use but in accordance With the sizing requirements determined by the State. Patrick Davis said implications should be recognized iC the decision is made to limit capacity. Mr. Davis said there is also a related issue that has to do with improvements and Imes that have excess capacity. For example, the Rangewood Subdivision's Corte main had to be 4", the pump station had to be a certain capacity, and tivhen that is done there is automatically excess capacity because the pump station .is only pumping a certain number of hours during the day. The agreement is structured so that if Orange County wanted to locate a school facility or a human resource center and hook onto the force main to take advantage of the excess capacity, the agreement would prohibit . that from occurring. An investment already made could not be used more cost-effectively to support public facility development. Patrick Davis said there. ought to be the ability to use Lines and facilities that serve public emergencies kn appropriate ways to support essential public facilities. ? Alan Rimer said OWASA could probabky meet the volume and pressure considerations with a 4" water Line to serve a community of houses with problems. Fre protection could be provkded if the size is increased to 6". Mr. Rimer suggested that the beaefitr of fire protection be considered. - Alan Rimer asked Robert Epting if it is possible to restrict who taps oa to water tines. That gets to the point of increased facility needs for the public for fire protection but 'prohibktr houses from connecting. Robert Epting said the Chapel Hill Town Attorney and the Orange County Attorney have a frkendty d'uagreemeat oa than point. Orange County by -its .ability. to require building permitr controls tap-ons. Mc Epting said OWASA could get special authority in that regard if it needed it. however, many developers could see that as a method for limiting development. Robert Epting said iC tap-ons are restricted, how can the [fines be afforded Eo serve a few people Fvho are experiencing the problem if the only way to tuu the (fines is by assessment. Wi[kiam Strom said in response to sizing the Iiaes to accommodate- fire,. there is an "avoid sprawl" mentality. It is in the preambles in Orange County's Comprehensive P[aa, Mr. Strom said that if someone buys a house is the watershed where there is no fire service and the community has a water emergency, he does. not feel an obligation to provide fire service along with rescuing them from a water problem. Orange County can restrict building. permits and control zoning, there is turnover on the various boards and different political will exists. It seems that utility growth takes on a life of . its o~vn and iC capacity is there, it usually gets used over a period of time. Patrick Davis sakd once tines are extended to alleviate a public health Hazard, there. should not be a prohibition on connection oCesscntiak public facilities. The Board was kn agreement that the foklowing arc the unresolved issues: i. Is the Town oC Iii[Isborough in or out and what does tliat mean?; 2. Does tlic [3oard agree that O~VASA s[wuld enter into an agreement to dcGnc the retail service area?; ~. ~~' 32