Minutes - 12-12-2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Expansion of the Efland Sewer System In answer to a question from Commissioner Brown, Craig Benedict said that, regarding the Efland sewer system, the priority is to find out the commitments from the bond program. The next priority is to determine where and when to expand sewer in Efland, or to develop some kind of sewer extension policy. The staff is still actively working on objective two with the Orange Alamance water system. Objective three has to do with the transportation system. It is projected that Mt. Willing Road will be the most over capacity in the Efland area, because the two 90-degree turns cannot handle the traffic movement from Efland-Cedar Grove Road. There will have to be some sort of improvement in the near future. Objective four has to do with the intensity of the land uses. If we have water, sewer, and roads, then we need to work on the intensity of the land uses. Efland has more potential than most places for development. This is where we get into discussion of identifying areas within Efland for possible increases in density where water and sewer facilities are focused. The County Engineer, the Economic Development Director, and the Planning Director will provide a report to the Board in a couple of months about recommendations for development patterns in the Efland area. This area is probably the prime land use issue within rural Orange County that is being addressed at this time. There are 672 subdivided lots in the pipeline in Cheeks Township, where typically there are 300 in any rural area in any given year. He distributed a map showing the projects that have been approved in the last ten years and a list of those that are being reviewed for approval at this time. Commissioner Brown asked Craig Benedict what the County Commissioners could do about the growth in the Efland-Mebane area. Craig Benedict said that we could try to get a commitment from Orange-Alamance or limit growth because the infrastructure is not available. There could also be a change in land use so that the impacts are lower. Commissioner Brown would like for these to be proposed by Craig Benedict. Craig Benedict said that no one was asking for rezoning in the Cheeks area and everything that has been approved has met the regulations of the Zoning and 5ubdivisian Ordinances. He said that he could provide recommendations for the Efland area based on scenarios of the availability of water and sewer. Commissioner Jacobs said that a sewer service area should be defined and that a sewer expansion policy should not be developed. He said that everything depends on the availability of water. We would have to get this water from Mebane orOrange-Alamance. Craig Benedict said that he would start with identifying the area and then developing an expansion policy. Commissioner Gordon made other changes, which were so noted by Craig Benedict. She would like to do what the bond referendum said, but she would also like to know what else should be done, what it will cost, and how it will be done. Regarding the goal outline and the goal statement, she suggested including environmental impacts in the statement. Craig Benedict said that there is a certain amount of money left in the band program. The money can be spent on expansion for service which was outlined in the bond program, or the money can be leveraged for grants. Commissioner Carey asked about the delay that would be expected if they were to try to leverage this bond money to get bond grants. County Engineer Paul Thames said that the deadline for grant applications is March 2001. In order to be eligible to receive the grant you have to have a complete set of construction documents and be ready to begin construction. There is no way to get everything done by March 2001. However, everything could be ready far a March 2002 grant period. He said that even if the County Commissioners approved a plan at this time, it would be late in the summer or early fall before a contract could be let. Then because of the weather, it would be spring 2002 before anything could be constructed. So it makes sense to work toward applying far a grant in March 2002. Chair Halkiotis made reference to a problem in a mobile home park across from Hanco Products and said that he feels we need to help some of the citizens in that area that have waited for a long time for something to be done about water and sewer. There are a lot of failing septic tanks in that area that he has seen firsthand.