Agenda - 06-02-2004-9c - Laserfiche WebLink

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Y~ continued to decline to modify the practice. Should the Town eventually decide to level its in-and out-of-town utility rates, given arevenue-neutral rate base and customer base that is half in and half out of town, in-town customers would receive a 50% rate increase and out-of-town customers would receive a 25% rate decrease., The Town's Water and Sewer Advisory Committee, working with Town officials, has conceived a strategy that it believes could reduce utility rates for all classes of ratepayers. Specifically it believes that an increase in water consumption and sales sufficient to restore or even exceed that lost by the closing of the Flint Fabrics plant would lessen the need to charge the current high utility rates. With stabilized fixed costs (already incurred capital costs for plant expansion, reservoir, etc.) and less significant incremental costs (power, treatment chemicals, maintenance) applied to a higher quantity of sales, rates could decline somewhat. Some increase in consumption will be achieved as the Town moves to serve new development - Waterstone, Churton Grove and others.. The Town also proposes to relax the restrictions on water consumption during dry periods to take advantage of its additional water supply, the cast of which has already been factored into its rate structure. CoordinationlModification of County and Town Water Conservation/Drought Ordinances When comparing dates of adoption or approval, the County and Town water conservation/ drought ordinances predate the Eno River Capacity Use Agreement by more than two years. The Capacity Use Agreement limits haw much water can be withdrawn from the Eno, based on water levels -and quantity of water remaining in storage - at Lake Orange. The water conservation/drought ordinances limit how individual water consumers/ customers can actually use water, based on water levels at Lake Orange. The primary theory behind the ordinances is that a prohibition on non- or less-essential water- consuming activities such as watering lawns and washing cars will lessen the demand on the Eno system. Consequently, water for essential uses, primarily those uses involving direct human consumption, bathing, etc., will be conserved and thus available for a longer period of time. Accordingly, the ordinances work by first establishing a level or stage of voluntary reduction of non-essential water uses and then establishing stages of mandatory reductions which are increasing restrictive an non-essential and finally less-essential water uses. Ultimately, the water conservation/drought ordinances raise (but do not describe or legislate the procedures and practices) the specter of water rationing. Historically, the County and Hillsborough water conservation/drought ordinances have been nearly identical, calling for similar restrictions on water use at the same water levels at Lake Orange. However, in February 2002, the Town amended its water use ordinance to reflect the availability of water supplies to the Town from its West Fork Reservoir. The specific change was to delay going into mandatory restrictions from the Level III condition at Lake Orange (Level 1=full, Level II=24" below full, Level III=37" below full, Level IV=70" below full) to the Level IV condition. Orange County's ordinance was not changed and did not remain consistent with the terms of the Town ordinance. a