Agenda - 04-12-2005-10a - Laserfiche WebLink

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OWASA March 29, 2005 ORANGE WATER ~ SEWER ALITI~ORITY Qgality Service Since 1977 Chairman Moses Carey, Jr. Orange County Post Office Box 8181 Hillsborough, NC 27278 Mayor Kevin Foy Town of Chapel Hill 306 North Columbia Street Chapel Hill, NC 27516 Deaz Chairman Carey, Mayor Foy and Mayor Nelson; Mayor Micbael Nelson Town of Carrboro 301 West Main Street Canboro, NC 27510 Attached for your information is a letter which OWASA sent last week to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (WRC) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) on March 24, 2005. We wrote this letter because WRC staff very recently advised us that it has now read OWASA's 23 yeaz-old permit documents, and has concluded that OWASA should open its Cane Creek Reservoir for waterfowl hunting and the entire Mitigation Tract for small game, turkey, and deer -without the previously negotiated restrictions to primitive firearms only (azchery and muzzle loaders). WRC contends that anything less will put OWASA in violation of the COE permit that authorized the Cane Creek Reservoir to be constructed, and the WRC has threatened to "take the matter to the next level," that is, directly to the COE that OWASA is in violation of its pernut, OWASA's Board, staff; and Counsel disagree with WRC's position, and have advised the COE of its position. The Mitigation Tract was acquired prior to construction of the Cane Creek Reservoir, to provide replacement habitat for animals displaced by construction of the Reservoir, to comply with a condition of the 1981 federal dam pemvt authorizing construction of the Cane Creek. Reservoir. Another condition of the federal dam permit requires OWASA to allow fishing and hunting on the Reservoir, without mentioning the Mitigation -Tract. WRC believes that OWASA should have been required to allow fishing and hunting on the Reservoir and hunting on the Mitigation Tract, but that, by mistake, the pernut only mentioned the Reservoir. Over the last two or three yeazs and until quite recently, OWASA staff had been working with WRC staff in negotiations to resolve the disagreement about what hunting activities should be allowed to satisfy that permit condition. OWASA staff and WRC officials had agreed to propose, and had presented to the community in several public meetings, a schedule of very restricted hunting activities (black powder 400 Jones Ferry Road Equal Opponunig' Emplo~'er Voice (919) 968-4421 PO Box 366 Printed on Recycled Paper FAX (919) 968-4464 Carrboro, NC 27510-0366 n'o'ne on'amorD