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9 <br />Stone Quarry Update <br />August 28, 1998 <br />Page 2 <br />Background <br />OWASA first presented plans for expanding its Quarry Reservoir at a meeting with local <br />elected officials in late 1988. If the American Stone Company were allowed to expand <br />its active quarry operation onto OWASA -owned property east of Bethel- Hickory Grove <br />Church Road, the company would deed the empty pit to OWASA at virtually no cost for <br />use as a raw water reservoir with up to 3 billion gallons of additional storage capacity <br />(equal to the volume of the Cane Creek Reservoir) by the year 2030. OWASA entered <br />into several contracts, including the Four -Party Agreement, in 1990. These were <br />contingent on the issuance of necessary governmental permits, including amendments to <br />the Joint Planning Area Land Use Plan and Map, which requires approval by the elected <br />boards of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Orange County, plus other actions subject to Orange <br />County approval. <br />The first of three joint hearings and other public meetings was held in October 1991. <br />Questions about the need for the project and concerns by neighbors were raised. <br />Answers and explanations provided at later hearings and meetings resolved some, but not <br />all, of those concerns. <br />The Carrboro Board of Aldermen determined in August 1994 that they would take no <br />further action until American Stone, OWASA, and citizens opposed to the quarry <br />expansion had undertaken a mediated dispute resolution process. Both American Stone <br />and OWASA agreed to participate in mediated discussions, took steps to proceed, and <br />agreed to pay the necessary costs. Mr. Andy Sachs, Public Disputes Coordinator of the <br />Dispute Settlement Center, agreed to act as mediator and proposed a working outline for <br />the process. <br />Mediated discussions did not begin, however, for another 18 months. OWASA was told <br />that the delay was due to organizational requirements of citizens opposed to the project, <br />including their need to designate who would participate on the citizens' behalf in the <br />mediated discussions. <br />Mediated discussions began in June, 1996 and continued through 21 separate sessions <br />over the next 10 months, effectively airing a range of substantive issues and establishing <br />an improved basis of trust and understanding among the participants. <br />After the discussions ended in April 1997, American Stone continued to communicate <br />with Citizens Against Quarry Expansion in an effort to more formally document those <br />issues in which all parties had reached agreement and those that remained unresolved. <br />Successive revisions of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) drafted by American Stone <br />were exchanged with the three- person citizens group. <br />On September 11, 1997, both OWASA and American Stone signed the Memorandum of <br />