Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
K <br />DRAFT <br />The Chapel Hill Town Attorney has confirmed that there are only two possible legal <br />options for the Town to consider a capital contribution to a County Water & Sewer <br />District: <br />1. If the Town of Chapel Hill were to annex unincorporated territory within the <br />County Water & Sewer District. <br />2. If the Town of Chapel Hill established an Extraterritorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) <br />including territory within the unincorporated areas of Orange County (Rogers <br />Road Neighborhood). The action of establishing and ETJ could be initiated by the <br />Town and requires approval by the County. <br />NCGS 153A -376 <br />The County and the Towns have limited statutory authority to pay for or subsidize <br />connection costs. NCGS 153A -376 authorizes counties to engage in health and welfare <br />programs for the benefit of low and moderate income persons. Pursuant to this authority <br />a program could be established whereby grants or loans are issued to persons who <br />meet designated criteria to assist those persons with the cost of connecting to water or <br />sewer within the County Water & Sewer District. The qualifying criteria could apply only <br />to residents within the County Water & Sewer District. A program of this nature would <br />not work to connect every home in the County Water & Sewer District but would be <br />limited to the residents meeting the criteria. <br />Summary <br />Orange County Board of Commissioners can create and fully fund a County Water and <br />Sewer District. A District can include territory lying within the corporate limits of a town if <br />the town agrees by resolution to be included in the district. There is no legal obligation <br />for the Towns to participate in the funding of a County Water and Sewer District. The <br />Town of Carrboro has explicitly stated its intentions of contributing not more than <br />$900,000 for the Town's portion of the Community Center and cost of the Sewer <br />Project. The Town Chapel Hill has only two possible legal options for the Town to <br />consider a capital contribution to a County Water & Sewer District and the Town has not <br />yet considered either option <br />