Agenda - 01-24-2013 - 7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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34 3. The $900,000 that Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County agreed to pay to the Landfill Fund for the 100+ acres of the Greene Tract that were not conveyed to Orange County cannot be used to pay for either the construction of a community center or the extension of sewer lines to the Rogers Road area. The Green Tract was acquired using landfill funds, and the $900,000 is being paid back to this enterprise fund. Such funds can only be expended to cover the costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the landfill. 4. Proceeds from the sale of the 100+ acre portion of the Greene Tract now owned jointly by OC, CB, and CH can be used in the same manner as other unrestricted general funds. Thus, Carrboro could use these funds to extend sewer lines to unserved areas within Carrboro's corporate limits. 5. The towns and the county could appropriate funds to subsidize the cost of actually connecting homes to a sewer line, once that line has been constructed. In order to be able to point to specific statutory authority to provide such subsidies, it would be preferable to limit the availability of such subsidies to low and moderate income property owners. The attorneys do not recommend that the contractor engaged by the county and/or the towns to extend the lines be directed to construct lines connecting individual properties to the public lines because this work involves actually getting into the plumbing systems within individual homes and poses significant risks of unexpected complications and claims of damages. 6. The managers propose that a "County Sewer District" be created for the Rogers Road area as well as adjoining areas that do not have sewer, and that the district use the special assessment process to recoup some of the costs of extending sewer service to these areas. Presumably, the proposal is referring to a County Water and Sewer District created pursuant to Article 6 of G.S. Chapter 162A. Such a district would be a legally separate municipal corporation, but the governing body of the district would be the Orange County Board of Commissioners. Such a district could issue its own bonds to raise the capital to cover the cost of extending the lines. Assessments could be based on various criteria listed in G.S. 153A -186, including "the area of land served... at an equal rate per unit of area," which would mean that properties with greater development or redevelopment potential would pay more than smaller properties, but the statute does not provide a way to exempt from the assessments specific properties based on criteria not listed in the statute. Thus, if the objective is to extend sewer lines at little or no cost to the longstanding owners of properties in the Rogers Road area, but to recapture some of the cost of extending the lines when properties in this area are developed or redeveloped, the special assessment process appears to be a useful tool. An alternative might be to establish the District and have the District issue its bonds to raise the cost of extending the lines. Carrboro could contract with the District to pay for the cost of extending the lines to serve properties that are within the town. The District would contract with OWASA to operate and maintain the lines and to bill the customers in the same manner as other OWASA customers. (An amendment to the WSMPBA would probably be needed). Then the District could establish a fee — call it a service line extension fee — that would be designed to recoup some of the costs incurred by the District in extending the lines. ( OWASA has an "availability fee" that is designed to recoup the cost of the treatment plant and major outfalls, but