Agenda - 03-09-1999 - IIA - Laserfiche WebLink

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• ORANGE COUNTY Board of Commissioners Action Agenda Item Abstract Meeting Date: March 9, 1999 Subject: WTMP Expansion Proposal Action Agenda Item No. H. A. Department: HEALTH Public Hearing Yes X No Budget Amendment Needed Yes X No Attachments(s): WTMP Expansion Proposal Information Contact: System & Inspection Estimates Health Director's Office X2411 Scenarios for Fees/General Fund Division Telephone Number Letter from OWASA Hillsborough - 732 -8181 Applicant Guide to Environmental Health Permits Chapel Hill - 968 -4501 Mebane - 227 -2031 Durham - 688 -7331 Purpose: To review the proposal for the Wastewater Treatment Management Program (WTMP) Expansion and consider inclusion of the proposal as a BOCC adopted goal. If approved to go forward, additional work needs to be done regarding funding methods and detailed costs. • Background: The current Wastewater Treatment Management Program (WTMP) was approved by the Board of Commissioners in 1995. The program inspects non - municipal discharging wastewater systems and municipal sludge sites. These are commonly called "alternative systems" and include low pressure pipe systems, pump conventional systems, large systems, discharging sand filters, and non - municipal package plants, in addition to sludge application sites. That program has been in operation and that Board goal is complete except for the financial surety rules which are in the County Attorney's hands, and the delinquent fee actions which the attorney has advised us not to pursue at this time. In June 1998, the Board of Health formed an ad -hoc committee to prepare a proposal for an expansion of the WTMP to include gravity flow septic systems in the WTMP framework. These are commonly called "conventional systems." The impetus for this expansion came from two separate meetings in late springlearly summer of 1998. In a joint BOCC and OWASA meeting and in a subsequent Board of Health meeting it was recognized that existing failure rates are not likely to improve without action and that centralized wastewater disposal will not be a repair option in many areas of the county in the foreseeable future. The ad -hoc committee included representatives from OWASA, the BOCC, the Board of Health and the health department staff. The Board directed the committee to look at three components for the expansion; education, homeowner incentives and periodic re- inspections. The attached proposal was developed by the committee and presented to the Board of Health for action at their November meeting. The Board of Health thoroughly discussed the proposal and chose the Water Quality Critical Areas of the county as the preferred starting point of the program and felt that a hybrid model of funding would be an appropriate option. The plan has a heavy emphasis on homeowner education —both at the onset of the program and as part of the continuing effort. Since the Board of Health meeting in November, additional staff work has been done that estimates the numbers of systems within the Water Quality Critical Areas and in the watersheds as a whole in order to better predict the phase -in need for staffing. • 1