Agenda - 03-17-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 1 2 b.OWASA Annual Update Presentation 3 The Board receiveda presentation and information from the Orange Water and Sewer 4 Authority (OWASA) on recent activities. 5 OWASA Board Chair John Young introduced Executive Director Ed Kerwinand several 6 other staff and board members. HesaidOWASA earned the Sustainable Water Utility 7 Management Award in the fall from the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. 8 John Young discussed the preliminary engineering study for sewers in the Historic 9 Rogers Road, which is funded by the County and the townsat a cost of $130,000. He said this 10 study is scheduled for completion in late March. He said there have been no major surprises in 11 the study so far. He said the final cost of the project will not be known until the completion of 12 the construction design. He said anew inter-local agreement is being drafted to keep things 13 moving into the next phase of installation and construction, and once all of this is in place, it will 14 take about 2 years to complete this project. 15 John Young discussed bio-solids management, which is handledat the Mason Farm 16 wastewater treatment plant. He said evaluations are underway to optimize the sustainability of 17 those operations. He discussed the different methods of recycling this material. He discussed 18 the work and partnership with local farmers in this process. 19 John Young reviewed information on rates and affordability. He said the recent 20 refinancing of bonds will yield $2.5 million in savings for customers. He noted that there have 21 been no rate increases for service in the past 3years. 22 He discussed affordability outreach efforts, and he expressed thanks to Nancy Coston 23 at the Department of Social Services and James Davis at the Department of Housing and 24 Human Rights and Community Development for their contributions to this project. He said this 25 has resulted in a new process by which OWASA will not disconnect service to customers 26 actively seeking financial aid for their water bills. He said information is also being provided to 27 the public regardingwater conservation and how to reduce water bills. 28 Chair McKee expressed his appreciation for the sensitivity shown in handling the bio- 29 solids issue and in addressing the affordability concerns. 30 Commissioner Price asked what the aforementioned $2.5 million in savings will look like 31 in terms of its effect on an average customer on a monthly basis. 32 John Young said this will not go into the bills right away. He discussed overall numbers 33 andsaid this would equate to about a one percent savings over a ten year period. He said the 34 average homeowner will likely not notice a direct change to their bill. He said rate and budget 35 decisions will be made this spring. 36 Commissioner Rich asked if the Care toShare Program will replacethe Taste of Hope 37 program. 38 John Young said yes. 39 Commissioner Rich asked how this program is going. 40 Orange County appointee to the OWASA board TerriBuckner saidstaff is a little behind 41 in making the changes to the website, due to the associated costs. She said work is still being 42 done to make this operational, and there have been no changes yet. 43 Commissioner Rich said this program allows people to round theirbillpaymentup to the 44 nearest dollarto help people who cannot pay their water bills. 45 TerriBuckner said some of the wealthier residents in southern Orange County do not 46 get a water bill, so there needs to be some restructuring of the contributions to allow everyone 47 the opportunity to give. 48 Commissioner Pelissier asked about the mitigation tract for forestry management. 49 Ed Kerwinsaidhe believes this is around 100 feet, and he will email the manager with a 50 more specific answer.