Minutes 02-05-2013 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Alan Rimer said the feeling is that this lies in the hands of the county and county staff. He said if staff continues to endorse this and if the Board of County Commissioners endorses it, then OWASA would support whatever decisions the Board of County Commissioners make. Commissioner Price questioned whether OWASA has had any further conversations with citizens since their open houses last fall. Michael Hughes said there has not been any contact with the neighbors and he said OWASA's position is that they will work with county staff on whatever is proposed and whatever the Board proposes. Chair Jacobs said there is a technical group with TJCOG to look the Jordan Lake rules and he said there is no representative that represents the rural area. He said the Board of County Commissioners wrote a letter several years ago expressing concern that, starting at current levels, reducing nitrogen loading on farms in the rural buffer, it would be impossible to have agriculture in that area. He wondered if OWASA was plugged into that study or aware of the letter. Ed Kerwin said they do not know. Alan Rimer said this topic has been around for a long time and Orange County does a great job with management of over-fertilization. He said the Soil Conservation Service works closely with the farmers and there are more conservation easements along strings of water bodies in Orange County than any other county in the state. He said this speaks to why the rural voice of Orange County needs to be heard. Chair Jacobs referred to page 3 of their agenda item, the forestry management issue that caused interest previously. He urged OWASA to get as much constructive public participation as they can when this comes back. Alan Rimer said this issue has been shelved with no sense of urgency at this point but they did learn some lessons. Commissioner Pelissier questioned whether the DROP has to be revised with population growth. Alan Rimer said this document was modified up to the point it was adopted by their board and it gets refined on a regular basis. Commissioner Dorosin asked about the Rogers Road issue. He said his concern is that the longer they delay in providing water and sewer there, the higher the costs will be and he noted that the cost estimate has risen from 4 million to 5.8 million in the last few years. He said, costs can be prohibitive, by other options. He asked if OWASA is against alternatives like gravity sewer and if that is their policy, he wondered how that might be changed. Alan Rimer said these are not policy matters, but are matters related to system operation. He said OWASA does have sewer pumping stations and they are not opposed to them, however it is problematic to put a pump in a house. He said it requires maintenance and most people, just like with septic systems, do not maintain them. Part of this maintenance is the need for a duplex system in the event of a failure. He said an alternative solution would be a vacuum sewer, but this is not the answer in an area like Rogers Road. He said that doesn't mean that alternatives can't be looked at; however the number of lots and the location need to be considered. He said several of the lots are problematic and analysis has shown that the cost will be about $180,000 per lot. He said that once the final configuration is agreed to and there is an understanding of the area to be served, OWASA will then go back and look at it to bring forward the costs for different systems. He said the decision then lies with the Board of County Commissioners and what they are willing to pay. He said that OWASA's job is to present the options and the County will need to make a decision that best serves the people and makes economic sense for the taxpayers.