Agenda - 02-15-2005-7b - Laserfiche WebLink

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5 MEMORANDUM TO: Board of Directors THROUGFI: Ed Kerwin FROM: John Greene DATE: June 3, 2004 SUBJECT: Reimbursement Policy At the request of the Chapel Hill Town Council, we received a March 17, 2004 letter from Cal Horton, Town Manager, asking that OWASA consider implementing a policy that would allow recovery of some of the water and sewer infrastructure cost by those who install mains with capacity in excess of the applicant's own development need (Attachment 1).. OWASA's current Water and Sewer Extension Policies (Attachments 2 & 3), adopted in .January 1990, require that water and sewer main extensions "be made in a manner to appropriately serve individual customers and to allow for future orderly development of the water/sewer system to serve other customers". The policies further state that the applicant, whether as the benefiting party or acting as the developer of a subdivision, commercial or industrial property be responsible for: 1) The cost of installing all water/sewer system components within or by their property. 2) The cost of connecting water/sewer mains between their properties and the existing water distribution sewer collections system and/or improvements of existing mains, booster stations and appurtenances. 3) The initial financing of service extensions both inside and outside the property of the applicant with reimbursement to the applicant for costs in excess of their proportionate share as provided by reimbursement policies of the Authority. 4) Providing easements and right-of--way, sufficient for the construction, operation, repair and expansion of the water/sewer systems, including sufficient isolation from adjoining facilities within or without the boundaries of such easement or right-of--way. OWASA requires that water and sewer extensions constructed by third party developers be designed, ]ocated and constructed so that the facilities can provide service to the developer's project as well as adjacent properties and support future development within the service area (orderly development). This requirement sometimes results in the developer being required to construct, at his/her cost, water and sewer mains of a size in excess of the minimum required size, Water and sewer mains constructed within the system that are in excess of 8-inches in diameter are generally considered to be sized in excess of a development's needs. These installations could ultimately support future growth and development beyond those of the applicant. Currently there is no mechanism by which an applicant/developer can seek reimbursement for installing water or sewer mains that are sized beyond the needs of their development. Prior to the elimination of reimbursements in 1999, OWASA had a policy (Attachment 4) that provided for the reimbursement of funds to an applicantldeveloper where they had constructed and extended water and sewer mains of a size in excess of'their own development's need.