Orange County NC Website
To:Ma.Kadny SWw at Orange County From:Noonan C.ChndN Fax:(919)4994171 Vole:kV191 499.6171 Page 2 of 6 Friday,duly 21,1996 1.16:14 PM ' <br /> 4 <br /> July 27, 1995 <br /> Petition for Remission of Administrative and Legal Costs <br /> To the Orange County Board of Commissioners <br /> and the Board of Directors of OWASA <br /> from <br /> Piney Mountain Homeowners Association <br /> Piney Mountain subdivision off of Mount Sinai Road <br /> in the Rural Buffer of Orange County <br /> i <br /> It has been two and one-half years since we, as Piney Mountain property owners, <br /> first learned that there were serious problems in renewing the operating permit for the low <br /> pressure pipe system("LPP System")in our community operated by North State Utility <br /> Corporation('North State"). Since then we have undertaken extensive efforts to resolve <br /> our wastewater system crisis. We have engaged engineers and soil scientists. We have <br /> coordinated complex negotiations and agreements with Chapel Hill, Durham, Carrboro, <br /> Orange County and OWASA to investigate the nature of the problems with the LPP <br /> System and to arrange for an alternate way of disposing of wastewater from our <br /> subdivision. We made appearances before the N.C. Utilities Commission and in fact filed <br /> the petition that led to the appointment of emergency operators for all North State LPP <br /> Systems throughout the State. We were the first group to go through the maze of cost- <br /> consuming requirements to seek and receive a grant from the Environmental Management <br /> Commission("EMC"). We filed a two lawsuits: one against the State of N.C., and a <br /> second against the subdivision's developer, engineer and North State. <br /> We are proud of our leadership role in helping our state and other communities to <br /> address the crisis in North State LPP systems. We are proud of our success as a <br /> community in solving our own wastewater crisis by marshaling human and financial <br /> resources, and in remaining united despite many disunifying factors. We are proud of the <br /> first-class wastewater system which we are contributing to OWASA, the value of which <br /> exceeds$500,000, including both new construction and repair of the existing collector <br /> system. We are proud that our specifications for the new system went far beyond <br /> statutory and regulatory requirements in including an odor control system which resulted <br /> in a total of$45,600 in extra construction costs(for the odor control system, road <br /> widening and an additional well). We are proud to contribute to the beauty of the Rural <br /> Buffer by obtaining a transfer from North State of the land previously used for nitrification <br /> fields and dedicating this land to open space, greatly exceeding the open space <br /> requirements of the Rural Buffer. We are proud of the good working relationships we <br /> have established with the staff of both Orange County and OWASA, and we thank them <br /> for their cooperation and good will in helping us through this process. <br />