AGENDA #7
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement
DATE: August 20, 2001
Attached are alternate resolutions that would adopt the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement.
Two options are included for the Council’s consideration:
Resolution A would approve the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement with the urban services boundary adopted by the Town Council as part of the Comprehensive Plan on May 8, 2000.
Resolution B would approve the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement, as adopted by the Orange County Board of Commissioners on April 17, 2001, but set in motion a process to amend the Agreement to incorporate the new urban services boundary adopted by the Council on May 8, 2000.
We recommend the Council adopt Resolution A.
On April 18, 2001 the Orange County Board of Commissioners requested that Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority consider approving the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement (please see Attachment 1). This Agreement has been revised to incorporate the recommendations of the governing boards of the parties to the Agreement. On April 17, 2001, the Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution approving the Agreement.
The Town Council discussed the Agreement in November, 1999, approving it in concept. At that time, the Council raised questions and recommended modifications that were incorporated into a draft reviewed by the Council on May 22, 2000. On May 22, 2000, the Council adopted a resolution approving the Agreement as drafted at that time.
On July 2, 2001, the Council reviewed the Agreement adopted by Orange County in April 2001. A list of text and map changes to this Agreement is included as Attachment 2. Two issues were raised and staff was asked to bring back additional information to the Council. Responses to these issues are presented below.
Two issues were raised by a Council member at the July 2, 2001 Council meeting:
1) questions about text that was deleted from Section VI; and
2) questions about map changes and the process for amending the agreement.
1. Section VI Text Amendments
A Council member was concerned that the proposed amendments to Section VI.F, Water and Sewer Services Into/Out of Orange County, would remove the entire paragraph, and in so doing would effectively allow sewer extension into Chatham County.
The whole paragraph, or section, is not proposed for deletion. The section is proposed to be amended to delete a reference recognizing the land use implications of public water and sewer service in adjacent counties on jurisdictions within Orange County. According to a letter from Geoffrey Gledhill, Orange County Attorney, this deletion was requested by Carrboro (see Attachment 3).
The original text is shown below with strikethrough text to show the deletion requested by Carrboro:
Recognizing
the land use implications of public water and public sewer service in adjacent
counties on jurisdictions within Orange County, wWater and sewer
service of any of the service providers that are parties to this agreement
shall not be extended outside the boundaries of Orange County without the approval
of the elected boards which exercise planning jurisdiction on either side of
the County boundary. Any extension of lines or service into Chatham County
requires the approval of Orange County, Chapel Hill or Carrboro, and OWASA.
This approval is not required when water and sewer service is required as a
condition of annexation by the towns of Chapel Hill or Carrboro.
We believe that the proposed text as amended does not alter the intent of the section, nor make sewer extension in Chatham County more likely than if the amended text were included in the Agreement.
2. Map Changes
The April 17, 2001 Agreement adopted by Orange County included an updated map with incorrect information. On July 2, we recommended that the Agreement be adopted with the original map of April 17, 1997 (see Attachment 4).
A Council member noted that in May 2000 the Council adopted a new Land Use Plan that changed the urban services boundary. The urban services boundary on the new Land Use Plan does not match the OWASA primary service area included in the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement. The Council member requested information on the process required for using the new map.
In the absence of a signed Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement, Orange Water and Sewer Authority has agreed to follow the Town’s Comprehensive Plan urban services policy for the provision of water and sewer services. OWASA adopted a formal policy concerning the southern area on April 19, 2001, based on the Council’s resolution of March 5, 2001. The policy of OWASA is:
“No structure may be connected to an OWASA water or sewer line that is within Chapel Hill’s planning jurisdiction but outside the Town’s Urban Services Area unless that structure existed before May 8, 2000 and is located on a lot adjacent to an OWASA water or sewer line that was installed before May 8, 2000, or unless necessary as noted above, to alleviate an adverse public health condition.”
We have identified two options for using the revised urban services boundary adopted on May 8, 2000: 1) approve the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement now, contingent upon all parties agreeing to use the new map (see Resolution A); or 2) approve the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement as adopted by Orange County and initiate a process to amend the map at a future date (see Resolution B). The first option would require that the other jurisdictions that are parties to the Agreement re-adopt the Agreement with the new map before the Agreement could be signed. The second option would enable the jurisdictions to sign the Agreement now, and consider amending it.
As noted in the transmittal letter of April 18, 2001 (please see Attachment 1), after adoption and signing of the Agreement by all parties the next step is linking the Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement with the Joint Planning Agreement. Suggested in the letter from the Chair of the Board of Commissioners is an amendment to the Joint Planning Agreement that will require a joint public hearing of Orange County, Carrboro and Chapel Hill, and action by each. Joint planning hearing dates are next scheduled for October, 2001 and April, 2002.
We continue to believe the text changes made since May, 2000 are reasonable. We also believe that the Agreement should include on the map the new urban services boundary adopted by the Council on May 8, 2000 when it is signed, rather than going through the amendment process after the Agreement is in effect. This action would postpone the effective date of the Agreement to allow the other jurisdictions to re-adopt the Agreement with the new map.
We recommend the Council approve Resolution A, adopting the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement, with the Water and Sewer Services Boundary Map (Appendix A) to be that map dated April 17, 1997, and revised to include the urban services boundary illustrated on the Land Use Plan adopted by the Town Council on May 8, 2000.
1. April 18, 2001 Letter and Agreement (p. 7).
2. List of Text and Map Changes (p. 31).
3. Letter of March 7, 2001 from County Attorney (p. 32).
4. Appendix A: Proposed Water/Sewer Boundaries Subject Map (p. 33).
RESOLUTION A
(Manager’s Recommendation)
A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE WATER AND SEWER MANAGEMENT, PLANNING AND BOUNDARY AGREEMENT (2001-08-27/R-11a)
WHEREAS, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, Orange County and OWASA have worked for a number of years toward developing a Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement and have authorized signing the Agreement;
WHEREAS, the work of a task force created to recommend an agreement has been considered on several occasions by each of the governments that will become parties to the agreement; and
WHEREAS, each of the concerns of the governments has been addressed, to the extent possible, in the version of that agreement that is Exhibit A, the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement, as transmitted by the Board of County Commissioners in a letter dated April 18, 2001;
WHEREAS, on May 8, 2000, the Council adopted a 2000 Comprehensive Plan that reduced the Town’s Urban Services Area in the southern area;
WHEREAS, the Council desires that OWASA’s primary service area be congruent with the Town’s urban services area;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council approves the form and the substance of Exhibit A, the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement, as transmitted by the Board of County Commissioners in a letter dated April 18, 2001, with the exception that Appendix A contain the map dated April 17, 1997, rather than the map dated March 29, 2001, and that that map revised to include the urban services boundary illustrated on the Land Use Plan adopted by the Town Council on May 8, 2000.
This the 27th day of August, 2001.
RESOLUTION B
A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE WATER AND SEWER MANAGEMENT, PLANNING AND BOUNDARY AGREEMENT (2001-08-27/R-11b)
WHEREAS, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, Orange County and OWASA have worked for a number of years toward developing a Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement; and
WHEREAS, the work of a task force created to recommend an agreement has been considered on several occasions by each of the governments that will become parties to the agreement; and
WHEREAS, each of the concerns of the governments has been addressed, to the extent possible, in the version of that agreement that is Exhibit A, the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement, as transmitted by the Board of County Commissioners in a letter dated April 18, 2001;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council approves the form and the substance of Exhibit A, the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement, as transmitted by the Board of County Commissioners in a letter dated April 18, 2001, with the exception that Appendix A contain the map dated April 17, 1997, rather than the map dated March 29, 2001.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council requests, pursuant to Section II.D of the Agreement, that Carrboro, Hillsborough, Orange County and OWASA, as parties to this Agreement, amend the map included as Appendix A of the Agreement to reflect the urban services boundary on the Town of Chapel Hill’s Land Use Plan, dated May 8, 2000.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council authorizes the Town Manager to transmit this request to Carrboro, Hillsborough, Orange County and OWASA, along with a copy of the Town’s 2000 Land Use Plan showing the Urban Services Boundary.
This the 27th day of August, 2001.