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enforcement capabilities to report inappropriate use of the land. The Wildlife Resources <br />Commission does have law enforcement capabilities and could monitor the use of the land. <br />Mark Marcoplos made reference to the reimbursement policy and said that the Chapel <br />Hill Town Council approached them with this issue in regard to their public works facility <br />because they will be running pipes out in the northern part of the service area. Until 1999, there <br />was a reimbursement policy, but it was not used much. The end result was that a lot of <br />developers got paid twice -once from buyers and once from the reimbursement from OWASA. <br />OWASA began to charge by house size rather than just footage. The Town came to OWASA <br />regarding the school running out into the northern area. The OWASA board discussed it and <br />there was consensus that the policy did not need to be changed at this time. It is a very <br />complicated issue. He said that it is a growth catalyst when pipes are put in. He said that <br />OWASA is comfortable with the status quo at this point. <br />Commissioner Gordon thanked Mark Marcoplos and Bernadette Pelissier far their <br />service on the OWASA board. She asked about the hunting and if it is a given that there should <br />be hunting as opposed to some other recreational uses. Mark Marcoplos said that it stems from <br />the initial agreement that there be hunting at the reservoir. Hunting was linked at the beginning <br />to the creation of the reservoir. <br />Bernadette Pelissier said that with the mitigation land, initially they should have been <br />obliged to provide hunting on the mitigation land. Something happened and it was not put in the <br />permit. It got put in that hunting should be required on the reservoir lands. Instead of allowing <br />hunting on the reservoir lands, the Wildlife Resources Commission is willing to ga to the Army <br />Corps of Engineers and develop a formal agreement that if OWASA provides hunting on the <br />mitigation land, they do not have to provide it on the reservoir lands. They want to provide a <br />small hunting program, see how things go, and then consider other uses during the off-season. <br />Commissioner Gordon commended OWASA for their water conservation goal. She is <br />sure that the Commission for the Environment would be very interested in talking with OWASA <br />about this. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that the County Commissioners asked about the <br />reimbursements because the County is about to embark on some expensive projects from the <br />point of view of water and sewer. She understands how difficult it is to recognize the difference <br />between public entities and developers. <br />Commissioner Jacobs asked for a reminder about the possibility of splitting the usage <br />of the mitigation land between low-impact recreation during the non-hunting season and leaving <br />it open for hunting during hunting season. He asked about the ultimate factor in not proceeding <br />in this direction. Bernadette Pelissier said that she does not know what transpired, but access <br />became an issue. There is only one access point and they did not want to infringe upon the <br />neighborhood with the potential traffic. <br />Commissioner Jacobs suggested that both staffs talk about the majority of the year <br />when hunting is not allowed and see if there are some opportunities for hiking or low-impact <br />recreational facilities. He said that there was a park in Mecklenburg County that managed this <br />balance. <br />Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the reimbursement policy and said that he is <br />not satisfied with the status quo. He would like to see further discussion on this. He said that <br />he thinks most of the cons for the previous policy seem surmountable, especially if it is a public <br />entity that is being asked to put the money up front. He understands the reservations, but it <br />would be useful for both governments and some members of the staff to talk about whether <br />these are insurmountable problems. He said that this is a lot of money for the two governments, <br />and it is the same people who are going to be paying it who are represented by the OWASA <br />board. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that the Commission for the Environment does have a <br />water resources initiative that will be brought forward to the Board of County Commissioners <br />