Minutes 06-15-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Nelson said that there is $210,000 set aside for a southwest branch. The first part of the plan is to figure out where the money is going to come from and then to figure out the site. This action includes reconstituting the work group. cc. Efland Sewer New Customer Information Packet and Outreach The Board reviewed a "Community Public Sewer Program Package" and considered approving the Outreach Program for property owners in the area of the Efland Sewer expansion. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to communicate to the people on Buckhorn Road that there is a timeframe and that Buckhorn Road is included in it. Planning Director Craig Benedict said that the staff would do this. Commissioner Jacobs asked Craig Benedict to provide the County Commissioners with a history of discussions with the Orange-Alamance Water System. The Board agreed by consensus. Commissioner Gordon asked about the efficiencies of having a larger system since more people would be paying into it. Craig Benedict said that the statement that the larger the system, the more the costs can be spread out is true. There will be a study coming back in the fall about the break-even point. He said that the main thing is that the Efland system is very small and if the system is sent to another entity to maintain, the entity will want as many customers as possible. Part of growing the customer base is in anticipation to work with the Town of Hillsborough or the City of Mebane. Commissioner Gordon made reference to 1-a, and suggested leaving out one of the sentences, such as, "the rates have to increase in order to pay for the ever increasing costs of operations." She said that right now the County is not even recovering the cost of getting the treatment done in Hillsborough. She suggested saying something about this. She also suggested talking about the incentives before putting them in. Chair Foushee said that she supported the first two pages and Commissioner Gordon's point on page 1-a. She said that this first sentence is kind of harsh. Craig Benedict said that those sentences could be deleted or softened. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if there could be different rates for commercial properties than residential properties. Frank Clifton said that the rate structure should be based on a scale that impacts the biggest users of the system. One of the difficulties is that the County does not control the treatment costs. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to Commissioner Gordon's comments and said that the sentence she suggested leaving out could say, "the rates may increase...." He said that the word "incentives" is confusing. He suggested using "favorable financial consideration." Also, in the chart that says, "Connection Incentive," it could say, "Connection Consideration." A motion was made by Commissioner Gordon, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to: -Acknowledge the concept of the "Community Public Sewer Program Package" as presented for distribution to potential customers in the Efland Community, with changes as discussed to paragraphs 3 and 4 (the sentence, "the rates may increase in order to pay for ever-increasing operation"will be reworked or deleted; and the sentence about incentives be changed to "favorable financial consideration" and "connection consideration');