Minutes 01-20-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

� purchase any property for transmission lines. Chatham County will probably demand some type of water service for the people that live along those lines. OWASA can make the same demands of Orange County if it tries to remove its 1 million gallon a day allotment. He would like to know the intent of the Board because language can be modified to allow OWASA to enter into an agreement with Chatham County if necessary to get the transmission lines that are needed. Commissioner Gordon said that even her language may still be too broad with respect to whether or not customers outside of Orange County will be served or not. She said that it would be important to understand that Orange County is part of a partnership and the partners are supposed to be cooperating in obtaining their requested alllocations. She thinks the Board needs a review of the issues and how specifically to craft this language. Commissioner Yuhasz made reference to Commissioner Gordon's comment about serving customers outside of Orange County and asked if this was something that the County should not do. Commissioner Gordon said that she does not want to do it without knowing what they are getting into. She does not think that the Board understands what the consequences will be and the County Commissioners need to get more information on the entire agreement before making any decisions. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he does not see a problem given that the County can set the boundaries within the agreement to allow the possibility of transferring water out of the County. Craig Benedict said that this is the only section that was the focus and no boundaries were changed at all. The map from 2001 is the same. He made reference to page 13, Section F, which says that Orange County can only serve its customers. Chair Pelissier said that she had been told that the impetus for this change was related to the Jordan Lake allocation process and that if OWASA did not make the change, then that would put OWASA at greater risk of not getting this allocation with the new process. She saw some materials on the relevant website and she did not understand it to say that there would be greater risk for getting an allocation. She would like some clarification on what role that may play. Executive Director of OWASA Ed Kerwin said that the State has opened an allocation process for Jordan Lake and the Jordan Lake partners are regionally looking at the needs. This will end up in a process to make a formal request of the State for possibly a new allocation. In OWASA's case, it wants to retain its existing allocation, which is equivalent to 5 million gallons a day. OWASA has to demonstrate the need for that. In OWASA's case, in 2010 it completed an update of the 50-year water supply plan. He said that it is extremely important that OWASA justify the need and show that it has the support of local governments and that there are no impediments that would keep them from accessing their allocation when needed. Frank Clifton said that this is a first step and there are some concerns long-term about water allocation for Orange County. As the County begins to expand in Mebane and Durham to extend utilities along I-85 and US 70, it will be important to make sure there is enough capacity to serve these developments. The staff is going to recommend that the County apply for an additional 1 million gallon allocation. Hillsborough is also intending to apply for an allocation. John Roberts said that there are other sections that protect from providing service outside of Orange County, but this proposed language preempts that, and he read, "Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent OWASA from entering into agreements as necessary to provide for water transfer." He said that he brought this to the Board's attention because the original agreement was clear that it did not want service outside of Orange County.