AGENDA #4i

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

 

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

SUBJECT:       Water and Sewer Boundary Agreement

 

DATE:             July 2, 2001

 

 

Attached is a resolution that would authorize adoption of the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary Agreement.

 

BACKGROUND

 

On April 18, 2001, the Orange County Board of Commissioners requested that Chapel Hill, Hillsborough, and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority consider approving this 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 which 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 (please see Attachment 2 for a summary of the minutes and copy of the resolution).

 

DISCUSSION

 

Over the last year, the County has continued to receive comments from governing boards and made additional changes to the Agreement.  A listing of substantive text changes made since the Council last saw the Agreement follows.  Please see Attachment 3, letter of March 7, 2001, for an explanation of changes prepared by Geoffrey Gledhill, attorney for Orange County.

 

  1. Section III. Definitions.   The definition of a “primary service area” has been amended to refer to the Water and Sewer Service Boundary Map in Appendix A, and to include language referring to future amendments to adopted plans.

 

  1. Section IV. Boundaries.    The Section IV.B., Adherence to Boundaries has been amended to add a new section IV.B.2.  This section notes the areas in which the Orange Water and Sewer Authority presently provides water and sewer service outside of the OWASA Service Area.  Per the letter from Geoffrey Gledhill, the intent of this section is to “grandfather” OWASA’s water and sewer services in the Heritage Hills, Rangewood and Piney Mountain subdivisions.

 

  1. Section VI. Limitations on Service.  The Section VI.F., Water and Sewer Service Into/Out of Orange County has been amended to delete a reference to recognizing the land use implications of public water and sewer service in adjacent counties on jurisdictions within Orange County.  According to the letter from Geoffrey Gledhill, Carrboro requested this deletion.

 

  1. Section VII. Water Transfers and Wastewater Transfers.  Section VII.B., Non-Emergency Water Transfers, has been amended to include in the title a parenthetical phrase that “(this subsection shall not apply to the Town of Hillsborough until January 1, 2005.)”

 

  1. Section VIII. Linkage to Other Agreements.  This section has been amended to add the OWASA agreement and the policy related to the Rangewood Subdivision and the Heritage Hills Subdivision and the OWASA-Orange County interlocal agreements related to the Piney Mountain Subdivision sewer service (parallels the change creating a Section VI.B.2 noted above).

 

Map Changes

 

We note that a new map, dated March 29, 2001, is attached to the agreement that the Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted on April 17, 2001.  This map appears to have several differences from the 1997 map previously attached to the Agreement (please see Attachment 4).  On advice from the County Attorney and Town Attorney, we recommend that the Council consider adopting the 1997 map, rather than the March 29, 2001 map that the Board of Commissioners adopted.

 

We also note that the 1997 map does not include the revised urban services boundary south of Chapel Hill that the Council adopted in May, 2000.  The map shows this area as an OWASA primary services area, defined in the Agreement as:

 

“An area (as shown on the Water and Sewer Services Boundary Map, which is Appendix A) where water and/or sewer service is now provided, or might reasonably be provided in the future, according to adopted plans and future amendments to adopted plans (herein referred to as ‘service area’).” 

 

We believe that this designation will not have a significant impact on service provision in that area in the near future because the Town’s Comprehensive Plan sets local policy for the provision of water and sewer services.  The map could be amended in the future to accurately reflect the current urban services boundary. 

 

In the May 2000 Town Council discussion of this item, a council member requested clarification on the location of the rural buffer between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough (please see Attachment 2).  We verified that the 1997 map correctly shows the rural buffer line as contained in the Joint Planning Agreement.

 

We believe that it is more important to adopt the Agreement now, with the April 17, 1997 map, than to start the process over to correct the single map discrepancy on the April 17, 1997 map.  The attached resolution reflects this recommendation. 

 

NEXT STEPS

 

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 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.

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

We recommend the Council approve the adoption of the attached resolution 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, showing the Town’s urban services area.  We believe the changes made since May, 2000 to the text are reasonable. 


A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE WATER AND SEWER MANAGEMENT, PLANNING AND BOUNDARY AGREEMENT (2001-07-02/R-5)

 

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 to this resolution;

 

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.

 

This the 2nd day of July, 2001.