Agenda - 11-02-2006-7b - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 2, 2006 Agenda Item No. "7-- b SUBJECT: U Neuse River Basin Association DEPARTMENT: Planning & Inspections ATTACHMENT(S): 1) Cost Breakdown Among Jurisdictions 2) UNRRA Letter to NC DENR PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) ~~ INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Altieri, Comprehensive Planning Supervisor, 245-2579 Terry Hackett, Erosion Control Officer II, 245-2588 PURPOSE: To receive a presentation from Chris Dreps, the Coordinator of the Upper Neuse River Basin Association (UNRBA) regarding UNRBA and its request for additional funding. BACKGROUND: In summary, the Upper Neuse River.Basin Association (UNRBA) is requesting funding assistance from all participating local governments in the Basin to complete a Stakeholder ("Outreach") Process as part of the Falls Lake Nutrient Management .Strategy. Specifically, Orange County is being asked for a target contribution of $3,835, half of which could be paid this fiscal year ($1,917) and the remaining half in the 2007-2008 fiscal year budget. Attachment 1 provides a cost breakdown among participating jurisdictions. Following is additional background information regarding this request: A Nutrient Management Strategy (new regulations) is being developed by the NC Division of Water Quality (DWQ) for the Falls Lake Watershed, which includes the Eno River. This new Strategy is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2009. At this time, there are few details on potential new rules but Planning Staff anticipates that the current County ordinances may be restrictive enough to meet potential rules in the majority of the County's jurisdiction. However, there may be additional reasons for Orange County's participation in this effort, which are discussed later in this section. The problem that the UNRBA has is that the process being used by DWQ to develop the Falls Lake Nutrient Management Strategy does not include stakeholder input/public outreach beyond that which is required by NC State Statutes. This is due to the limited staff and funding resources of the DWQ. Therefore, in January of this year, the UNRBA requested $51,252 from the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to fund a stakeholder process to guide the development of the Nutrient Management Strategy for Falls Lake (Attachment 2, UNRBA letter).