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Chair Carey said that Chatham County is moving down an independent road, and he <br />thinks that the current Chatham County Commissioners realize that they have an impact on <br />Orange County regardless of what Orange County does. He thinks that Chatham County wants <br />to work with Orange County. He said that this is an opportunity to increase awareness and <br />there are no decisions to be made at this time. <br />Bill Strom said that all boards should receive information and be able to ask questions. It <br />is really difficult to come into this format and hear the leaders are not exactly aligned. He said <br />that the information is third hand and he would like to have alignment of leaders. <br />Mayor Foy said that there should be open meetings and everyone should be invited. At <br />this point, the attendees are trying to articulate the impressions of the meeting. <br />Chair Carey said that the information is not third hand because it is directly from <br />OWASA. <br />Dan Coleman said that at the meeting with Chatham County, the Chatham County <br />Commissioners were clear that they saw the intake as advantageous. <br />Mayor Chilton said that it is important to have some mutual assurances between <br />Chatham and Orange Counties about the planning for the future. Whatever the relationships <br />are, they should be two-way relationships, and they should be binding in a way that the results <br />of a particular election could not undo. There should be a legally binding aspect for a <br />substantial period of time. <br />Randee Haven-O'Donnell said that a regional approach is critical. She would also like to <br />see how a regional approach can address the Jordan Lake rules. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that the Chatham County Commissioners have expressed <br />just as much concern about what was done before they took office as Orange County has <br />expressed for the last 20 years. He said that having a mutual understanding of the interests <br />across the boundaries is going to help Orange County. He further clarified how the meeting <br />with Chatham County came about. It was decided to have one more organizational meeting In <br />October before opening it up to all of the boards so everyone would be invited to the meetings. <br />Jim Ward said that UNC is doing a study with OWASA, Cary, and Durham, and this <br />needs to be part of the discussion. <br />b. OWASA Presentation on City of Durham's Request for OWASA to Provide <br />Wastewater Collection Service for 57 Residential Lots in the Blenheim <br />Woods Subdivision <br />OWASA Board Chair Mac Clarke made this presentation. This is a request to consider <br />that OWASA should provide wastewater collection services for 50 residential lots in the <br />Blenheim Woods Subdivision. Durham approached OWASA with this request, because for <br />Durham to handle the wastewater from this new development will require the installation of a <br />pump station. OWASA does not like pump stations, so gravity removal of the wastewater is <br />highly desirable. The topography in this area does support the removal of the wastewater from <br />this new development to the OWASA plant. The OWASA Board discussed this in some detail, <br />and one of the concerns was that this would be a precursor to a larger request in the area <br />because there are other areas of undeveloped land in this immediate vicinity. Durham has <br />assured OWASA that this is a one-time proposal and it is not anticipated that there would be a <br />similar request in the future. He said that OWASA is in the process of upgrading the <br />interconnection between Durham and Chapel Hill to allow for greater volume transfers of water <br />to or from Chapel Hill and Carrboro. He emphasized that this is for emergency use and not a <br />precursor to same regular arrangement to move water in either direction. The upgrade will <br />increase the capability here from 3.5 mgd to 7 mgd. The OWASA Board strongly supports this <br />request and asks the local governments to approve this request because it goes outside of the <br />service area agreement. <br />