Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
21 <br /> designated criteria to assist those persons with the cost of connecting to a water or <br /> sewer system. It remains to be determined whether each unit of local government would <br /> operate its own program or whether a joint program would be established. A method to <br /> fund individual homeowner connections to water and/or sewer infrastructure is to create <br /> a community development fund, set up for the benefit of low-moderate income <br /> individual. <br /> If a utility district is created, one of the benefits is that the availability of community <br /> development funds could be limited to property owners within the district. The District <br /> could not distinguish between or have differential sliding scales based on how long a <br /> resident has lived in the Rogers Road Neighborhood. After establishing a policy that <br /> makes funds available for individuals to connect to water and/or sewer utilities, for low- <br /> to-moderate income homeowners, individuals could apply for grants and/or loans to pay <br /> for utility connection charges. No one would be forced to connect to the system, but in <br /> any case the qualifying criteria would not be limited to residents of the District. <br /> Connection cost: <br /> The Proposed Utility District has not yet been formed and a fees structure has not yet <br /> been considered. The current OWASA fee structure could be used as an example of the <br /> fees a new Utility District customer would be expected to pay. A new sewer customer <br /> will be expected to pay for a sewer service lateral, a clean out and service availability <br /> fee; a water customer will be expected to pay for a water service lateral, meter box, <br /> meter, and service availability fee. The estimates are based on a 2,500 sq. ft. house, <br /> pumping out and abandoning a septic tank, a private lateral 150' long, and no internal <br /> plumbing modifications. <br /> Exhibit 6 (Historic Rogers Road Area Estimate Schematic) provides a detail <br /> breakdown of what an individual home owner could expect to pay to connect to both <br /> OWASA water and sewer. In this example, the fees paid to OWASA would be $11,495 <br /> and the estimated cost of a private plumber is $10,850. <br /> 15 <br />