Agenda - 11-17-2015 - 6a - Minutes

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11 1 Commissioner Price asked how this responsibility could be assigned to staff, if the 2 County is not eligible for the grant. 3 Bob Jessup said the grant would be awarded to the district. He said who writes it is 4 irrelevant. He said County staff or another assigned group can administer the grant, while the 5 district is considered the recipient. 6 Bonnie Hammersley said the Board could assign County staff towards the district. 7 Commissioner Dorosin said the three advantages are 1.) charging differential rates, 2.) 8 potential developers can help subsidize the cost of the infrastructure, and 3.) eligibility to apply 9 for other funding resources. He asked if Bob Jessup could identify any disadvantages. He said 10 it seems that the setting up of a new administrative structure carries some administrative 11 burdens. 12 Bob Jessup said in practice the Board could include district items on its agendas, or 13 gavel in and out as the district board. He said the burdens are insignificant. He said rather 14 than considering disadvantages, one could consider the alternatives. He said the alternatives 15 would be to do nothing, pay OWASA to do it all, cooperate with Carrboro and create a new 16 water authority, or do it all as a County, but not have access to alternate financing. 17 Commissioner Dorosin asked if the Board can amend the district. 18 Bob Jessup said parcels could be added as long as noticed and hearings are held. He 19 said the parcels do not have to be contiguous. 20 Commissioner Rich asked if water would still be bought from OWASA, and if so, where 21 would the money come from to cover the difference for the reduced rates. 22 Bob Jessup said that would be a general fund obligation. 23 Commissioner Rich asked if, with this information, it would be possible to split costs with 24 Carrboro to make up the difference. 25 Bonnie Hammersley said if that was the intention, this district could enter into some type 26 of agreement with municipalities about the costs. 27 Bob Jessup said a separate tax rate could be charged in the district, and after a period 28 of development it may be more beneficial to levy a tax. 29 Bonnie Hammersley said this has been looked at as a financial tool, not to be funded by 30 the general fund, but to look at alternate resources for financing to cover the subsidies. 31 Commissioner Rich asked if the Managers' initial discussions only involved the 86 32 current properties, or if there was an expansion. 33 Bonnie Hammersley said the district has not yet been defined, but it will not change 34 anything for these 86 properties. 35 Commissioner Rich said there was a suggestion in SWAB to do districts, and it was not 36 well received. She said a strong educational element will be important if this process moves 37 forward. 38 Commissioner Price said if the district does move forward, would the Board be able to 39 apply grants to pay for the hook ups for the water and sewer. 40 Bob Jessup said yes, grants can be used to do this if there are such grants available. 41 Bonnie Hammersley said any kind of grants available for this purpose are being 42 pursued, and there would be more access to these funding resources as a "district' as opposed 43 to a "county". 44 Commissioner Jacobs said he has an incomplete recollection of asking OWASA to 45 change its policies on government extending utilities and then the government not being able to 46 recoup the cost of installation from developers. He said OWASA was not interested in 47 changing its policy. 48 Commissioner Jacobs said the County could structure the district so that entities that 49 came in after the district was created would have to reimburse the body politic, not only pay an 50 assessment fee.