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Council member Franck stated that there is one clear case of contamination of a well and no <br />clear indication of the cause. However, although the wells are not contaminated by Health <br />Department standards, the water is not pleasant to drink. <br />Council member Capowski stated that he has a well and determined prior to installing this well <br />that he did not want to pay OWASA for water on a monthly basis when he could have good water <br />from a well. He stated that no one with a healthy well would tap onto this line. He wanted to be <br />certain that a significant amount of money would not be spent and then only a few people would <br />choose to tap on. <br />Council member Franck requested that the elected officials not underestimate the potential <br />future effects of an unlined landfill. He asked Mr. David Caldwell, a resident of the area, to speak to <br />the question of how many potential customers are affected. <br />Citizen David Caldwell stated that there are close to 300 homes in this area. The residents of <br />this area have bad water and don't use it for drinking or for laundry purposes. <br />Council member Franck stated that the section that is in the rural buffer is a smaller portion <br />immediately to the left of the inactive (capped portion) and active landfill. The landfill funds will be <br />used in the areas where the issue is public health protection. Those are the areas which slope <br />downward from the Landfill. If part of the concern is for potential future water contamination, that <br />would be to the north into the Rural Buffer. <br />Commissioner Carey asked what portion would be paid out of landfill funds? <br />Council member Franck indicated that the wording of the motion on the floor says "to the <br />extent allowed by law". We would have to look at which wells could possibly be contaminated and <br />those would be the ones paid for out of the landfill fund. <br />Commissioner Gordon stated that she was interested in supporting this general concept, but <br />was not ready to vote for approval at this time. She asked if it could be added into the first paragraph <br />that "the obligation to extend such water mains into the rural buffer will only take effect when the areas <br />currently in the Rural Buffer become a part of a transition area of either Chapel Hill or Carrboro. <br />Council member Chilton indicated that he had developed the wording which suggested how to <br />fund those situations not covered by the landfill funds. He indicated that this may not be the proper <br />use of those funds. There are issues concerning whether it is proper for Chapel Hill to pay for water <br />in an area that will not be included within Chapel Hill's boundary. The language should be changed to <br />delete the 43%-43%-14% formula and substitute the wording "in a manner consistent with North <br />Carolina law." <br />Alderman Gist stated that this discussion is about compensation. She did not feel that <br />including this in the Town of Carrboro's jurisdiction was a valid argument. <br />Alderman Zaffron stated that he understood the concerns about the precedent for not putting <br />this into the Rural Buffer. The Water and Sewer Policy says that water or sewer may not be extended <br />except in the event of a public health emergency. He asked if the definition of public health <br />emergency could be changed to include Landfill within the definition of causes of public health <br />emergency. <br />Mayor Waldorf asked to what extent had it been determined where the contamination was <br />coming from? She asked about contamination of other wells in proximity to the Landfill. Also, was <br />there any presumption about whether other hook-ups along the line would be allowed? <br />Attorney Gledhill stated that his interpretation is that if water were provided, it would be <br />provided to serve everyone in that area who chose to connect. <br />Council member Capowski asked attorney Karpinos for clarification about how much money <br />he would be voting to spend if he voted in favor of this motion. He asked the attorney to discuss <br />Chapel Hill's role in helping people who will never be annexed by Chapel Hill. He commented that the <br />motion on the floor does not address how the three units of government would pay for the portion not <br />covered by the Landfill funds.