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26 <br /> 1 Slide #8 <br /> Orange County Primary Service Area <br /> • Orange County does not operate a water system and no <br /> longer operates a sewerage system <br /> — (former Efland system was transferred to the City of <br /> Mebane in the early/mid 2010s). <br /> • Idea for Orange County Primary Service Areas(PSA) <br /> was for Orange County to coordinate with providers to <br /> operate systems within the County's PSAs. <br /> — Former agreements with the Cities of Mebane and <br /> Durham <br /> • Agreements now defunct <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> NORTH CAROLINA <br /> 2 <br /> 3 Perdita Holtz emphasized that Orange County does not operate a water system and no <br /> 4 longer operates a sewer system. She explained that the idea for Orange County's primary service <br /> 5 area was for Orange County to coordinate and partner with providers to operate systems within <br /> 6 the county's primary service area, so there were former agreements with the cities of Mebane and <br /> 7 Durham, but those agreements are now defunct. <br /> 8 Commissioner Fowler asked why those agreements are defunct. <br /> 9 In Durham's case, Perdita Holtz explained that there was a sewer system study done in <br /> 10 the mid-2000s that determined that sewer expansion into the Eno Economic Development District <br /> 11 (EDD) was not going to be financially feasible because of capacity constraints further down the <br /> 12 line within Durham. In Mebane's case, she said Mebane is currently covering the areas that were <br /> 13 included in the service agreement, like the Buckhorn EDD, and took over the former Efland system <br /> 14 that was Orange County's. She said it is understood that they will continue to serve those areas, <br /> 15 so the service agreement was sunset. <br /> 16 Commissioner Carter asked if these agreements timed out or if formal notice of withdrawal <br /> 17 from the agreement was required. <br /> 18 Perdita Holtz said these agreements had termination dates that went into effect unless the <br /> 19 agreements were renewed. <br /> 20 Chair Bedford asked if her memory is correct that Orange County Planning staff has <br /> 21 recently contacted Durham and confirmed that they still do not have capacity. <br /> 22 Perdita Holtz said there were some attempts in 2020 to work with Durham, but efforts <br /> 23 fizzled out. <br /> 24 On a related note, Cy Stober shared that Mebane has initiated a study with Orange- <br /> 25 Alamance's Water System to look into consolidating the two systems. He said the report from that <br /> 26 study will be delivered sometime in the next year. <br /> 27 Commissioner McKee said he recalls that Durham was not interested in pursuing an <br /> 28 agreement. <br /> 29 Chair Bedford agreed. <br /> 30 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if leadership in Durham has changed since the last <br /> 31 attempts. <br /> 32 Cy Stober said there were staff changes, and council members have changed as well. He <br /> 33 said that Bryant Green was with the City of Durham at the time, so he may be able to share more <br /> 34 information. <br />