Agenda - 12-02-2013 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 1 Chair Jacobs said the County attorney has sent a letter to the EPA. He said this letter 2 can be emailed to the Board of Aldermen. Subsequently copies of the letter were made and 3 distributed to those in attendance. 4 Alderman Slade asked for an update regarding the Board's position relative to the task 5 force recommendations. 6 Chair Jacobs said the substance of the letter is that the community and municipalities 7 have worked together to reach a place of agreement. He said it was noted that there has been 8 no communication from the EPA in 3 months, and the request was that the EPA allow the 9 Board to move forward with acceptance that an agreement has been reached. 10 Orange County Staff Attorney James Bryan said the EPA has been contacted, and a 11 report will come back to the Commissioners. 12 Alderman Lydia Lavelle noted that the bid for the center came in over budget, and it is 13 being re-bid. She asked for more information on this. 14 Michael Talbert said the size and scope of the project has not changed; however the 15 materials and some of the means of construction have changed. 16 Alderman Lavelle asked if these changes will bring it closer to the budget amount. 17 Michael Talbert said he is certain it will come much closer. 18 Alderman Lavelle said she was part of the area that was annexed to Carrboro previously, 19 and the price was $2000 for each sewer hook-up. She noted that Carrboro has already 20 committed this amount to be paid for residents in their jurisdiction. 21 Commissioner Rich asked how many homes are involved in the $2,000 per house 22 hookup. 23 Lydia Lavelle said the manager would have to be asked this question. She said her 24 guess would be around 120. She said only a few of these are Rogers Road. 25 Commissioner Price said she is optimistic that one of these plans can be chosen to get 26 the sewer line in place. She said it is important to provide the hook up from the sewer line to 27 the home, and the current estimates to the County are well over $2,000. She said most people 28 will not be able to support this. She said her concern is how to make sure these lines are used 29 once they are installed. 30 Commissioner Dorosin stated he had a couple of suggestions regarding the letter sent to 31 the EPA. He feels there is more that can be done. He said the letter concludes with three 32 proposals to the EPA, and he reviewed these. 33 Commissioner Dorosin said he feels it would be more helpful to encourage the EPA 34 toward the second proposal of allowing this to move forward. He suggested the Board provide 35 more detail about what the Task Force has done and the position of the County. He feels that it 36 would be helpful to provide more specifics regarding the County's intentions if this complaint 37 were resolved. 38 He suggested that the Board move forward with discussing the two alternative plans, as 39 well as the issue of not only putting infrastructure in the ground, but also connecting to people's 40 homes. He said this discussion could be framed as being subject to the EPA complaint being 41 resolved, which would prevent the plans from being binding in the event there is no resolution. 42 Commissioner Dorosin referred back to his previous proposal for Rogers Road and 43 suggested the qualifying language regarding the EPA could be added. He said that if the EPA 44 decided that the County has violated the law, it is a requirement of the Title 6 administrative 45 rules to attempt mediation. He said that this mediation can happen prior to the EPA finding, 46 and this will help lift the dark cloud that has been cast over the progress already made. 47 Commissioner McKee referred to the county attorney's letter and referenced the very last 48 line of the second paragraph regarding the EPA allegation. He said the attorney stated that 49 the allegation is "baseless." He noted that the County attorney is quite strong on denying this 50 allegation. He is concerned that by negotiating the County will be effectively agreeing that