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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: September 15, 2015 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-f <br /> SUBJECT: North Buckhorn Sewer— Transfer of Ownership to City of Mebane <br /> DEPARTMENT: Planning, Manager's Office, PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br /> Attorney's Office <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1) System Map Craig Benedict, Planning, (919) 245- <br /> 2) Utility Dedication Form 2592 <br /> 3) Letter from EPA Grant Administration Bonnie Hammersley, County Manager, <br /> Office (919) 245-2300 <br /> 4) Successor in Interest Agreement from John Roberts, Attorney's Office, (919) <br /> EPA 245-2318 <br /> Kevin Lindley, Planning, (919) 245-2583 <br /> PURPOSE: To consider transferring ownership of the North Buckhorn sewer utility <br /> infrastructure to the City of Mebane. <br /> BACKGROUND: The County has a Utility Service Agreement (signed in 2004, expanded in <br /> 2012) with Mebane for provision of water and sewer utility service in the area east of the city <br /> and along the interstate and Highway 70 corridor. In the agreement, Orange County agrees to <br /> turn over ownership and operation of any utility infrastructure built in the agreement's <br /> designated service area to the City of Mebane. In this sense, the County is acting as a <br /> developer of this designated growth area, building a framework of water and sewer <br /> infrastructure from which future development can grow. <br /> The North Buckhorn Sewer project was completed in Spring of 2013 as part of a larger <br /> construction project which included the expansion of the Efland Sewer System. A map of the <br /> North Buckhorn portion of the project is shown in Attachment 1. Though the North Buckhorn <br /> and Efland Sewer expansions were geographically separated, they were bid as a single project <br /> to capitalize on economies of scale for the construction contractor. The project was partially <br /> funded by two EPA grants, which is the reason the transfer of ownership has taken so long after <br /> completion to come before the BOCC. <br /> As part of the application for the grants, the County agreed to several assurances related to the <br /> long term maintenance and operation of the sewer system. In order to transfer the system to <br /> the City of Mebane, Orange County had to request permission from the EPA Grant <br /> Administration staff. When County staff approached EPA staff about the transfer, the EPA staff <br /> had never encountered this situation before. EPA had no objections to the transfer, but had to <br /> develop a document that transferred the responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the <br /> North Buckhorn sewer system to the new owner. The form the EPA developed is called a <br />