Agenda - 12-13-2005-7a - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 13, 2005 Action Agenda Item No. ~- 4 SUBJECT: OWASA Policy for Reimbursing Costs for Building-in Excess Capacity in Utility Line Extensions DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): November 3, 2005 OWASA Staff Memorandum INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul Thames, 919-245-2303 PURPOSE: 1) To present the BOCC with the latest information on OWASA's discussions relative to revising its policy far reimbursing costs related to building in excess capacity in utility line extensions (as requested by the BOCC and the elected boards of Chapel Hill and Carrboro); and 2) to allow the BOCC to provide comments that can be transmitted to the OWASA board for its discussion of this issue at its meeting of December 15, 2005. BACKGROUND: By a December 20, 2004 letter to Mark Marcoplos and Bernadette Pelissier, Orange County s representatives on the OWASA Board of Directors, BOCC Chair Moses Carey requested that the County representatives make a report on OWASA activities and issues at one of the BOCC's February 2005 meetings, Commissioner Carey specifically asked that Mr, Marcoplos and Ms. Pelissier be prepared to discuss "a reconsideration of OWASA's policy for reimbursement of public entities that pay to extend water and sewer lines, as has been requested by Chapel Hill", Mc Marcoplos and Ms, Pelissier did, in fact, report on the OWASA Reimbursement Policy at the February 15, 2005 BOCC meeting, According to Mr. Marcoplos and Ms, Pelissier, OWASA, until 1999, had a reimbursement policy that essentially provided for a reimbursement over aten-year period to an applicant/ developer for the incremental costs of upsizing water and sewer lines (to a size larger that the industry standard 8" line") necessary to provide for additional and orderly development of the utility systems, The source of funding for these reimbursements was front footage (fronting on the utility line[s]) and acreage assessment fees applied to other utility customers who connected to the utility systems extended and financed by the applicant /developer. This policy did not allow the applicant/developer to recover any costs for the minimally sized 8" water or sewer line extensions. In 1999, OWASA stopped calculating assessment fees based on acreage and front footage and began basing its fees on home size (square footage) or water meter size (non-residential use),.