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

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BO.A.RD 1 November • BACKGROUND — Earlier this year, the Orange County Board of Health sanctioned the formation of an ad -hoc committee to explore the expansion of the Wastewater Treatment Management Program. The Board directed the committee to look at 3 components for the expansion; education, homeowner incentives and periodic re- inspections. The full committee met twice and there was one meeting of a workgroup. The report from the committee detailing options for the 3 components along with a full education plan was presented to the Board of Health on November 19,1998. After deliberation, the Board decided which options it wanted to be presented to the Board of County Commissioners at their December retreat. WHY IS THIS EXPANSION NEEDED — 1 . To protect and promote public health and preserve natural resources by: • Protecting watersheds and all other surface waters. • Protecting groundwater. • Lessening the chance of disease transmission from failing septic systems. 2. To lessen the financial impact of repairing individual septic systems by: • Extending the average septic system life countywide. • Preserve all available repair strategies on individual sites. 3. Public sewer extensions into certain areas of the County will not be a viable option in most instances in the future. Septic systems must then be viewed as a perpetual utility, not a stopgap until sewer arrives. BOARD OF HEALTH DECISIONS FOR — 1. Entry into the Program: The BOH chose option 3 (Water Quality Critical Areas) as the preferred starting point. The following reasons were cited: • This approach best effects the actions necessary to meet the goals of protection and promotion of public health for all citizens of the County and to preserve the natural resources by tackling older neighborhoods with higher rates of failures and also by starting with the water quality critical areas of the designated watersheds and expanding the coverage outward from the impoundments. Both rural and town dwellers benefit immediately from this approach and may realize cost savings over the long haul from increased average septic system life or relatively lower water treatment costs. ® The latest draft of the Water: and Sewer Boundary Task Force agreement allows for sewer extension only in dire circumstances in many areas of the County. This approach may be the best method for discovery of situations that are degrading but are still fixable so that public sewer extensions are not indicated. It also sets the stage for those systems going in, either new or replacement, to realize a maximum life span and provides better assurance that all repair strategies are kept intact.