Orange County NC Website
Barry mentioned the Shearon Harris facility. Another goad example of what seems to be a lack of <br />information. And together, the more we can learn in knowing how to respond that's certainly going to be key. <br />Challenges and uncertainties, aggressive capital improvements. The leaders in the water and <br />sewer industry across the country say an aging infrastructure is the number one concern. A lot of our CIP is <br />in place to address just that. These aren't big numbers for Durham, I don't think, but for our utility these are <br />big numbers. In the next five years, we're expecting to spend $94 million, and aver the next 15 years, $260 <br />million. And a lot of that is replacing and renewing aging water and sewer pipes for our system. At the <br />wastewater treatment plant, we may have to remove nitrogen from the effluent infuser, so that's something <br />that is part of a special study right now and we're paying very close attention to. And then there are so many <br />things to monitor such as water consumption, the growth in the area, the assumptions we made in the master <br />plan and projections and keeping that up to date. With that, I'll stop and answer whatever questions you may <br />have. <br />Chair Jacobs: Could you talk a little about how your seasonal rates work and also about how you <br />came up with the methodology far charging based on square footage that didn't cost you revenue? <br />Ed Kerwin: The seasonal rate, we hired a consultant, and we're happy to share that report with <br />anyone. We looked at a number of different conservation rate structures, and what the OWASA board <br />selected was the seasonal rate. We are projecting that there will be three percent reduction in demand <br />because of this rate structure. On May 1St, our commodity charge went from $2.90 for a thousand gallons to <br />$4.08. It went up a lot and it's going to stay there through September. Then the commodity charge is going <br />down to $2.16, much lower than it had been at the uniform rate. And again, based on our study and looking <br />at assumption patterns, about 70% of our residential customers, when they add up 12 months of bills, the <br />annual bill will be the same and maybe even a little less. But far those customers that use a lot more in the <br />summer for irrigation ar other purposes, they are going to be paying higher rates. The bill will look higher <br />from May through September and they'll be higher over the year because they want make up those savings <br />in the off-peak because they consumed mast water during the peak. So that's the principle of that seasonal <br />rate. <br />Question: Ed, I don't mean to put you on the spat, but the University uses a lot of water for <br />evaporative cooling, does this rate apply to them as well? <br />Ed Kerwin: We have the same rate for all of our customers, including and especially the <br />University. The University has 250 different accounts with us. And like dorms, they're going to be getting a <br />break because a lot of their water is used when it's cheaper. But the other customers such as cooling or <br />irrigation, those bills are going to be higher. When the University looked at it as a whole, they concluded that <br />it was fair and reasonable and necessary that OWASA do this. In fact, a representative of the University <br />spoke at the public hearing last year in support of making this change, even knowing that some of their <br />accounts are really going to see it and other accounts where there is actually some benefit. And for those <br />accounts that see that impact, they'll have added incentive hopefully to find ways to further reduce or reuse or <br />recycle or seek other methods. <br />Bill Strom: One of the early slides you put up, you shaved your service area boundary. Given <br />that Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Orange County have an agreement in place that restricts annexations, my <br />impression is that this is a pretty firm service boundary for you that OWASA can't really anticipate that that <br />service boundary is going to change. Can you talk about if that is an opportunity or a challenge and haw <br />that's affected all the long-range planning that you've done and just sort of share the experience of that reality <br />with everybody here. <br />Ed Kerwin: Well, with this red line setting and establishing our service area, it really removed a <br />lot of uncertainty from our plan because we didn't have to wander how big of an area we might serve in the <br />future. It was clearly defined. And over the next 50 years, the projections are that there will essentially be a <br />doubling of the number of customers in our service area. I think the towns' and the County's plan went out 25 <br />years. We try to stretch it out twice that long, making certain assumptions -working with the planning staff, <br />and the towns, and the County -because new water resources just don't happen overnight. They can take <br />20 years sometimes to put in place. But far the utility, it really simplified and removed a lot of uncertainty <br />about how big of an area we will have to meet in the future. And the towns and the County pretty strongly <br />agree with that defined area and with the new water and sewer boundary agreement that Barry mentioned, it <br />also talked about if there are failing systems or other health issues in the area surrounding the service area, <br />there is a collaborative process to go through of how to address that need. <br />Bill Strom: Has there been any unanticipated consequences on the financial side? Has that <br />affected your ability to borrow money or banding, anything like that? <br />