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the reservoir. He is not sure how the issue was resurrected. OWASA was pleased with the <br />low-impact hunting proposal far the 50Q acres and thought there was an agreement. Then, on <br />April 8t", the Executive Director of the Wildlife Resources Commission sent a letter saying that <br />the proposal did not meet the conditions and that they were going to finalize their program, <br />publish it, and post the reservoir and the mitigation lands effective this fall. The Board of <br />Directors is meeting tonight and taking public comment, and the recommendation of the <br />subcommittee is that the Board only approve a very low-impact hunting program on the <br />mitigation property and that it not adopt a hunting program an the reservoir itself. <br />Chair Carey asked about an appeal process. <br />Ed Harrison said that there is a wildlife commission that reports to the Wildlife Resources <br />Commission itself, which is composed of about 17 people appointed by the Governor. His <br />impression, based on past experience, is that OWASA will have to appeal this to the actual <br />commission. He thinks that OWASA has in its favor the public rules governing the classification <br />of water and reservoirs. <br />Joal Hall Broun asked what would happen if someone was hiking and was shot and <br />killed by a hunter. Pat Davis said that it is their understanding that OWASA would not be liable. <br />The land would be posted with notice of when the hunting would take place and the hunting <br />would be by permit only. This is definitely a concern. <br />Pat Davis thanked the County Commissioners for the letter of support. <br />Jacquelyn Gist asked the Carrbora staff to compose a letter similar to the County <br />Commissioners' letter. <br />2) Update on Utility Assessment Policy <br />County Engineer Paul Thames said that last summer the Town of Chapel Hill asked <br />OWASA to initiate ar reinstitute a reimbursement policy for sharing the cost of extending utility <br />lines to serve municipal projects. Orange County requested the same initiative in February. <br />The OWASA board has had a utility reimbursement policy in the past, but abandoned it in <br />1999. The original policy was to cover only the incremental costs of upsizing lines over the <br />minimum sizes. Orange County is looking at extensive utility casts associated with school <br />construction, park development, etc. He made reference to attachment 1-A-2, which is a letter <br />from Ed Kerwin, Executive Director of OWASA, to the County and Tawn Managers. OWASA <br />has been discussing reinstituting the utility reimbursement policy and has found by consensus <br />that they would not be able to do it at this time. Ed Kerwin has suggested that the Towns and <br />the County evaluate an assessment policy for funding some utilities. This would allow them to <br />share the costs of upsizing and installing lines. He said that there are some problems with this <br />funding and also some risks associated with it regarding the requirement of public hearings, <br />easement condemnations, annexations, etc. <br />Joal Hall Broun said that she was on the OWASA board when the policy was changed in <br />1999. She has always thought that the business model was not serving. She said that when <br />OWASA was created, the people who lived in Orange County had paid for it with the bonds, and <br />continue to pay their monthly water bills. She feels that this is an unfair policy, as it relates to <br />governmental entities. She said that the University got at least a $1 million ride for the Dean <br />Dome. She said that the assumption that all of the governmental entities in the County are rich <br />is false. She read the last paint on the letter, "Reimbursement through assessment is more <br />consistent with the principles of `benefited parties pay' and `growth pays for growth."' She said <br />that growth has never paid for growth and it never will. She said that if OWASA can give UNC <br />$1 million, then it could give the Towns a break without ruining its financial strength. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that if the Chapel Hill Tawn Council and the Orange County <br />Board of Commissioners have both asked OWASA to re-think their policy, then he would <br />strongly suggest that OWASA reconsider this policy. He also served on the OWASA board and <br />