Orange County NC Website
2 <br />In late April 2009 the County received a letter from the Town inviting comments on its Task <br />Force Report by June 30. The County Report and Town Report shared similar findings and <br />conclusions which should be integrated to form a common strategy for implementation. At its <br />meeting on June 16, 2009 the BOCC authorized a cover letter from the Chair and accompanying <br />summary comments from County staff on the Town Report to be transmitted to the Town. The <br />BOCC also tasked County management to create a framework for a review and reference of <br />both the Town and County Task Force reports in anticipation of the formal appointment of an <br />intergovernmental work group. <br />Attachment I is a Comparison of Rogers Road Small Area Plan (Town of Chapel Hill) and <br />Rogers Road Community Enhancement Task Force (Orange County) Recommendations <br />Attachment 2 is a composite map. <br />Public Utilities <br />Historically -dating back to the 1997 "Report of the Landfill Owners Group/Landfill Neighbors <br />Working Group" -the provision of public utility services has been central among requests from <br />representatives of the Rogers Road community. The 1997 Report was foundation material for <br />the 1999 Inter-local Agreement for Solid Waste Management and the precursor to the County <br />making public water available to much of what was termed the Historic Rogers Eubank <br />community in 2000. For background purposes, staff has compiled an historical review of County <br />investments made in public utilities for the area and an update on most recent efforts by the <br />County to address. <br />Attachment 3 is a Historical Review of County investment in the Expansion of Water Service in <br />the Rogers Road Neighborhood. <br />More recently the Housing and Community Development and County Engineer worked with <br />OWASA on preliminary due diligence for a Letter of Interest to secure Community Development <br />Block Grant (CDBG) funding for sewer services in the Rogers Road community. Construction <br />and connection costs to serve an estimated 50 households were approximated at $3.3 million. <br />CDBG application guidelines required the presence of severe sewer needs in order for the <br />potential project to qualify for funding. Severe needs are defined as: no on-site wastewater <br />disposal system, the presence of privies, evidence of straight piping, failed septic systems, or <br />the failure of a public sewer system. None of these conditions could be documented. The project <br />was therefore determined not to meet CDBG guidelines and a Letter of Interest was not <br />submitted under the June 30, 2009 deadline. Housing and Community Development will be <br />completing its income survey of the community and continuing to investigate alternative funding <br />sources. <br />A BOCC request for "Potential Partnership and Federal Planning Grant to Provide Water and <br />Sewer Services to the Rogers Road/Eubanks Road Community" presented in May 2009 to <br />Congressman David Price was favorably received and remains outstanding. A federal planning <br />grant would be the first step in forging a partnership including the County, the Towns of Chapel <br />Hill and Carrboro, and OWASA to help engineer and design a comprehensive service plan for <br />the community. <br />