Agenda - 01-16-1999- 3 - Laserfiche WebLink

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implementation of the WTMP expansion. The granting of this benefit would be strictly at the discretion of the owner of the particular impoundment, either OWASA, the Town of Hillsborough or the City of Durham. Each governing board would be approached and asked about its willingness to entertain such a move before any details are worked out. It is probably not feasible to consider this approach in the case of Jordan Lake because of the multi jurisdictional watersheds and water allocations. Volunteers for Entry into the Program — It was suggested that one incentive to draw existing systems into the program could be the waiving of fees for the first consultation and inspection for volunteering owners. Sliding; Fee Scale — This incentive was mentioned not only in the context of having differing fees for various size /types of systems, but also when the ability to pay is a factor. At this time, Environmental Health does have varying fee charges in permitting of systems based on the design wastewater flow of the'structure and this procedure can easily be extended to re- inspections. Generally, all.systems sized at 600 gallons per day and under are assessed like fees and those above that figure are based on the total gallonage. The issue of developing sliding fee scales based on ability to pay presents a different challenge however, as there is no staff ability in place for qualifying applicants. Even if some method of initial qualification evolves, the ability and mechanics for re- certification' for each round of inspections is onerous and problematic. I0- Entry into the Program - There seemed to be consensus on new and repaired systems being automatically entered into the program and that taking on all systems in the county immediately or in a short period of time is not practical. Volunteers will always be accepted as staffing allows, even without the expansion being approved. Requiring entrance for properties having just been transferred was also discussed, but there was no agreement on this option because the housing turnover rate for rural Orange county was not known by any member of the committee and therefore the impact of this requirement is not known. Staff will try to extract some figures from the overall county turnover rate and then estimate the yearly number of homes this requirement would affect. The mechanics for this requirement are still discussed below. New Systems — In the current WTMP rules, all newly installed alternative and pump systems are automatically entered into the re- inspections cycle as part of the permitting process. The main classes of systems which now require entry are low pressure pipe systems (LPPs), pump conventional systems and large residential Page 6 of 12