Agenda - 05-05-2009 - 4l - Laserfiche WebLink

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OWASA April 7, 2009 ORANGE WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY Valerie Foushee, Chair Board of Commissioners Orange County Post Office Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Mark Chilton, Mayor Town of Carrboro 301 West Main Street Carrboro, NC 27510 Quality Service Since 1977 Kevin Foy, Mayor Town of Chapel Hill 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Chapel Hill, NC 27514 SUBJECT: REQUEST FOR REVISIONS IN LOCAL WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCES TO REFLECT CHANGES IN OWASA'S WATER CONSERVATION STANDARDS Dear Chair Foushee, Mayor Chilton and Mayor Foy: On behalf of the OWASA Board of Directors, I am writing to request that your governing boards revise your respective water conservation ordinances to incorporate changes in OWASA's Water Conservation Standards (Standards) that were approved by the OWASA Board of Directors on March 26, 2009. To enable the new Standards to be in place and publicized before we enter the typical hot and dry season of the year, we respectfully request your approval of revised ordinances this spring. The Board of Directors' resolution of approval and the revised Standards are attached, along with an overview of the key changes and a summary table showing the applicable requirements for each Water Shortage stage. As noted in the resolution, the Standards will go into effect when your three governing boards have approved revisions to the local conservation. ordinances. The local conservation ordinances are a cornerstone of our community's water shortage response strategy. Your coordinated approval and implementation of consistent conservation .ordinances throughout our service area has been a key to the success of our drought response and conservation efforts. The changes to the Standards incorporate many of the comments received from the local governments, business community and our customers during and after the 2007-2008 drought. The Board of Directors approved the Standards following the discussions with local elected officials on February. 25, 2009 and with the Carrboro Board of Aldermen on March 10, 2009. Based on those meetings, as well as the public comments received over the past several months, we believe there is broad support for the new Standards. As discussed at the February 25th and March. 10th meetings, the new Standards retain some basic, essential conservation requirements, while also giving our customers more flexibility in deciding how to use drinking water under normal conditions and during water shortages such as droughts. The Standards are reinforced by our conservation rate structure and our system of water rate surcharges that are implemented during declared water shortages 400 Jones Ferry Road Equal Opportunhr F.mplorer Voice (919) 968-4421 Carrboro, NC 27510-0366 Printed on Rerycled Paper FAX (919) 968-4464 3 rvx~w.omusa.org