Agenda - 10-30-2002 - 1 (AOG) - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 Eric Peterson: What was happening primarily was we were passing through. Durham was selling to Orange-Alamance, and it was getting passed through our system. There have been some other occasions where we have sold directly to Orange-Alamance. Chair Jacobs: And you are still a customer of Durham? Eric Peterson: Yes, we rely on the interconnection, fortunately, between OWASA and Durham, for emergency provisions, and Durham basically kept Hillsborough afloat and we are very appreciative of the support for many years. Once again, in just a few years, it may be that we will be discussing with Durham what type of a timeframe we may need to buy from them on a continuing basis until we are prepared to expand the reservoir and the water plant. B. Orange Alamance Water System _Clark Thomas My name is Clark Thomas, with Pierce and Whitman, here representing Orange Alamance today. I'll try and address these questions one at a time. Orange Alamance is currently serving about 3,400 customers, and that is based on a certain percentage of commercial, industrial, but the majority of it is residential. It is serving the flux of the people between Mebane and Hillsborough. Their system is kind of strung out and it is serving quite a few people in quite a few different areas. Currently they have a water treatment plant drawn out of Lake Orange. The water treatment plant has a capacity of 1.35 million gallons per day and they have three wells. One well is about ready to come into operation right now. The total capacity of the combined wells is around 305,000 gallons per day. The supply that they have varies, of course, based on the river flow and the level. Their current safe yield is at 370,000 gallons a day out of the river. The historical low, based on restrictions, went down to 700,000 gallons a day in 1997 and 1998. The average demand is around one million gallons a day, with the peak at about 1.34 million gallons per day at this time. Based on their current demand and their current supply, they are not meeting their demand. They are having to purchase water, and they are purchasing water from Graham Mebane and also from Hillsborough, and also Durham. Right now they do not have any long-term contracts with these providers. They are buying on an as need basis and as an emergency basis. So maybe this summit will help open some of the doors to extend these talks. Since they are not meeting their current demands, they are going to need some help in the future also. The provisions that they are probably going to explore in the future are to obtain more sustainable water supply will be long-term contracts, maybe installing some more wells, or even the potential purchase of raw water. Thank you for your time. Chair Jacobs: Could you describe for people what Orange Alamance is and where its service area encompasses. Faye Metcalf: Orange Alamance is a non-profit membership organization. It was organized back in 1965 by a group of residents that had a dream of providing water for the rural areas of Orange and Alamance Counties. In June of 1969, that because a reality. They started pumping to the first customers, which were about 350 customers, along the area of Highway 70. And now we have approximately 3,700 customers. But we serve the areas of Efland, parts of Mebane, Graham, Haw River, and Swepsonville. It is a pretty spread out system, but it is all in the rural areas. Chair Jacobs: So it is capitalized by its rates and you have to be a member once you start getting water, is that right? Faye Metcalf: That's correct. Chair Jacobs: And so you are helping them with a long-term plan? Clark Thomas: That's the intention, yes. Faye Metcalf: Actually, they are doing a water resources planning study for us at the current time. Chair Jacobs: What's your timeframe for completing that? Clark Thomas: Soon, hopefully within the next month. Bill Strom: Could you talk about your administrative structure a little bit, or the members? Do the members vote on the directors? I'm more familiar with public water and sewer providers, so it would be helpful to understand. Faye Metcalf: We have a board of directors and we have an annual meeting each year. The membership is allowed to vote on the directors and also they are nominated from the floor, but they are voted on by the membership. We have a board of directors which totals nine.