Agenda - 01-22-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 20 In late 2011 and January 2012 Orange County and the City of Durham developed and approved an interlocal agreement: "Interlocal Agreement between Orange County and the City of Durham for Construction and Operation of Water and Sewer Facilities in the Eno Economic Development Zone of Orange County" The purpose was to develop a more formal utility service area within Orange County's Eno Economic Development District area and within the City of Durham's urban service area (also known as their suburban tier). Under normal circumstances, utility extensions would be solely the responsibility of developers. The agreement set forth parameters of water and sewer service, feasibility, design, construction and operation, when Orange County provided utility investments. Future Capital Investment Plan (CIP) projects were programmed for investment in the area. This agreement was a necessary preamble to beginning Article 46 economic development infrastructure investment in the area. The County wanted to ensure that investments would be linked to capital returns and operational responsibilities by the City of Durham once facilities are installed in this jointly designated Orange County and Durham City economic development area. This area has been designated for this land use since the early 1980's. A lengthy engineering feasibility analysis of what area could be served and at what cost was conducted by a jointly approved outside firm (CDM Smith) starting in late 2012. The findings of the study showed that the costs for a large EDD 796 acre district -wide solution were prohibitive at this time due to high off -site (i.e. Durham area) infrastructure costs. This was noted in County CIP work sessions in early 2014. The scope (Section 1) of the original study and conclusions (Section 8) are in Attachment 3. The full report is available on the Orange County website at: tt : / /oran ecou ty c, ov/ lannin / ocu ents/ e ort ove er20l However, a scaled -back program (see Focus Area in Attachment 4) could focus on prime land with interstate visibility with willing property owners who are presently marketing their land. This new study and sewer project will take additional time to accomplish beyond the original timeframe to begin construction of January 2015, but because of a smaller scale, will be easier to accomplish once designed and agreed to by Orange County and the City of Durham. A water extension may also be possible. Therein, this request is to amend the agreement for a new design and construction timeline as noted in Section 12 (shown in Attachment 2). Only 2 additional years is necessary to initiate construction since the design would likely not include a sewer lift station which is time consuming and be designed as a simpler sewer gravity extension of existing Durham facilities near the County border. This 100± acre area is in the far northeast corner of the Eno EDD between 1 -85 and US 70. This is also the most distant part of the Eno EDD from where residents had concerns in 2012. Attachment 2 also contains a "clean" version of the language (e.g., changes are not tracked). Joint staff discussions have found this option a reasonable alternative. Pending Board approval, the amendment will be transmitted for City of Durham approval since Orange County is the requesting party. Orange County/ City of Durham Utility Service Agreement Amendment BOCC Regular Meeting December 1, 2014 Item 7 -c Purpose