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6 <br /> <br />County Commissioners would be supportive, and possibly use the social justice fund to fund <br />their capital building request over several years. <br /> <br />4. Proclamations/ Resolutions/ Special Presentations <br /> <br />a. OWASA Annual Update Presentation <br />The Board received a presentation and information from the Orange Water and Sewer <br />Authority (OWASA) on recent activities. <br />Ray DuBose, Orange County Appointee to the OWASA Board, said they value this <br />annual opportunity to present to the BOCC. <br />Ray DuBose, Robert Morgan, OWASA Board Chair, and Todd Taylor, OWASA General <br />Manager, reviewed the following information: <br /> <br />The North Carolina Drought Monitor currently classifies central North Carolina including <br />Orange County as being in a moderate drought. The OWASA Board and staff are closely <br />monitoring conditions and we continue to encourage wise use of water resources. <br /> <br />As of January 17th, our reservoirs (Cane Creek Reservoir, University Lake and Quarry <br />Reservoir) were 63% full, which is lower than normal for this time of year. Since 1990, the <br />lowest level for our reservoirs on January 17th was 41% full in 2008, during our last severe <br />drought. <br /> <br />We have a Water Shortage Response Plan and a Drought Response Operating Protocol, <br />which guides our decisions to ensure we work proactively with the community in response to <br />increasingly severe drought conditions. Each year, we want to see our water supply capacity at <br />100% by the spring, so we anticipate improvement within the next month or so. If not, we will <br />take action to seek additional conservation from our customers and consider our Jordan Lake <br />supply option. <br /> <br />Advanced Metering Infrastructure/Agua Vista <br />Significant progress was made last year on our Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project <br />called Agua Vista to include: <br />• Wrapping up vendor selection and contract negotiations. <br />• Executing the installation contract with our preferred vendor. <br />• Installing a portion of the network infrastructure. <br />• Substantial completion of software integration. <br />• Staff training. <br />• Development of the community engagement plan and materials. <br />• Upgrading a small quantity of meters with OWASA staff to reinforce training and test <br />processes. <br />• Processed a small quantity of bills utilizing AMI reading data. <br /> <br />The key benefits of the project are: <br />• To improve customer access to water use information, <br />• To make for more efficient and effective billing, <br />• To allow early detection of possible water leaks, and <br />• To enhance operational efficiency. <br />