Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
r Orange Water and SCwcr Authority <br />` February 11,1999 <br />Page 13 <br />that there are community benefitr in havipg reasonable controls on the extension of OWASA's retail <br />water and sewer tines and services within the southeastern part o[ Orange County and the urban <br />growth area for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro community. <br />Mr. Davis said there was consensus from the local government representatives on the Water <br />and. Sewer Boundary Task Force (Town of Carrboro, Towa o[ Chapel Kill, Town of Hillsborough, <br />and Orange County) that by putting any type;of constraint on the provision of public water and <br />sewer utfiities In areas outside of the urban service areas that the only alternative for providing water <br />and sewer services to new growth -aad development is by using alternative type systems. Patrick <br />Davis said alternative type systems are individual .wells, private community water systems, individual <br />septic systems, or sma[i-scale community-type" wastewater systems. The local government <br />representatives recognized and acknowledged that would be the preferred alternative approach in <br />the outlying, areas. <br />Mr. Davis said corresponding with the decision that the decentralized-type systems in the <br />rural buffer and is the water supply watersheds would be the appropriate approach then brought up <br />the issue o[ what happens in the event the alternative type systems fail and public utilities need to be <br />eztended to correct a failing wastewater system or water supply wells that contain contaminants that. <br />needs an alternative which might, in fact, need to be public water. Patrick Davis said in situations <br />that are dearly determined to be emergency in nature, carefully designed, carefully located and <br />controlled public utilities in the sensitive areas -rural butler and water supply watersheds -could <br />under certain limited situations be acceptable. Mr. Davis said the agreement spells -out some <br />situations in whidt public utility ezteasions might be appropriate in areas that would normally not be <br />considered appropriate for public utilities. <br />Mr. Davis said some of the areas where there has not been consensus have to do primarily <br />with dealing with the intergovernmental agreements concerning wholesale transfer of water or <br />cooperative agreements regard'utg wastewater. service and wastewater treatmeat~and particularly in <br />those instances where it is beyond the Orange County boundaries. Patrick Davis said those areas <br />have significant long-#erm implications not just from a land use planning aad growth management <br />standpoint in OWASA's service area in Orange County as a whole but there is also significant <br />implication from a water and sewer utility provision standpoint -reliability, quality of service, <br />economy of service, and the provision of the backbone infrastructure nceded to meet the planned <br />increases is water and sewer demands that come with the community's growth and development in <br />accordance with the adopted land use plans. <br />Mr. Davis said that he and Barry Jacobs represented the Board on the Water and Sewer <br />Boundary Task Force and they made it clear their opinions were their own and that the full OWASA <br />Board of Directors will state itr opinion at the appropriate lima - ~ , <br />Mr. Davis said the draft agrcement is getting doser to a final agreement. Two meetings have <br />been scheduled for March 1999 with the hope that the Water aad Sewer Boundary Task Force wilt <br />concede its discussions and present a final agreement similar in version and content to the draft <br />February 2,1999 Water and Sewer Management, P[snning aad Boundary Agreement. Patrick Davis <br />Bald there would bt some provisions in the agreement that vrill not have consensus support of all the <br />particpantr on the Task Force. <br />Mr. Davis said the initial issue of a common boundary agreement with the Town of <br />Hillsborough has not been formalized. There are some provisions in the draft agreement that the <br />representatives o[ tl~e Town of Hillsborough said they could not and would not agree to. Patrick <br />Davis said that the elected representatives and staff of the Town o[ Hillsborough stopped attending <br />the Water and SeFVer Boundary Task Force meetings and, therefore, there is concern about-the Town <br />of Hillsborough's commitment to the agreement. <br />21 <br />lD.~-5 <br />