AGENDA #8c

 

BUDGET WORKING PAPER

 

TO:                  W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

 

FROM:            Roger Waldon, Planning Director

 

SUBJECT:       Status Report on the Provision of Sewer to the Piney Mountain Road Area

 

DATE:             April 30, 2003

 

 

This paper responds to a request for a status report on the provision of sewer in the Piney Mountain Road area.

 

BACKGROUND

 

On March 4, 2002, the Council received an information report responding to a petition from Ms. Mildred Council concerning the provision of sewer in the Emily Road/Partin Street neighborhood in the Piney Mountain Road area (please see Attachment 1).  This report recommended that residents of the area petition the Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) for the provision of public sewer.

 

On April 24, 2002, we provided the Council with a Budget Working Paper describing the status of the Town’s Water and Sewer Assistance Fund (please see Attachment 2).

 

In the summer of 2002, staff attended an informational meeting sponsored by Orange Water and Sewer Authority with property owners in the area concerning the assessment process.

 

On September 23, 2002, the Council adopted a resolution redesignating the $192,000 previously reserved for the Morgan Creek neighborhood and expressed its intent to make these funds available to such neighborhoods as may apply for assistance (please see Attachment 3).

 

On January 29, 2003, a representative of the neighborhood, Mr. Major Geer, spoke at the budget public forum and asked for help with the cost of the project.  He also noted that six of the houses are within 300 feet of an OWASA-maintained pump on Apple Street, and wondered if those six houses could hook up to that pump.

 

STATUS

 

To date, we understand the neighborhood has not submitted a petition to the Orange Water and Sewer Authority to begin the assessment process.

 

Recently, OWASA has assessed the possibility raised by Mr. Geer at the January 29, 2003 public hearing about connecting the six houses on Apple Street.  A copy of OWASA’s April 24, 2003 agenda material is attached (please see Attachment 4).  This information report concludes that OWASA’s planned phase-out of the North Forest Hills Pump Station in fiscal year 2004-05 will have the potential benefit of allowing three to four Apple Street lots and one Piney Mountain Road lot to directly connect to gravity sewer.

 

This report also notes that the alignment for gravity sewer under consideration to replace the pump station would also provide the basis for extending sewer to other currently unsewered lots, and possibly reduce the costs for residents, should they elect to pursue extension with an assessment.

 

CONCLUSION

 

The recent report to the board of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority raises the possibility of connecting a portion of Apple Street to gravity sewer, and offers the potential for extension to other parts of the neighborhood, due to the Authority’s contemplated phase-out of the North Forest Hills Pump Station in fiscal year 2004-05.

 

ATTACHMENTS

 

  1. Memorandum to Council of March 4, 2002 (p. 3).
  2. Budget Working Paper of April 24, 2002 (p. 28).
  3. Memorandum to Council of September 23, 2002 (p. 33).
  4. Orange Water and Sewer Authority Agenda Item:  Report on the Potential Phase out of the North Forest Hills Pump Station, April 24, 2003 (p. 49).