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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 19840913~~ '7 I N U T E S OP.ANGE COUP'TY BOARD OF CObI1•-ISSIONERS SPECIAL PIEETII~7G SEPTEMBER 13, 1984 1 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in special session on 5eptem- be[ 13, 1984, at 7:30 p.m. in the Commissioners' Room (later moved to the Superior Courtroom) in the Courthouse in Hillsborough. North Carolina for the purpose of discussing the feasibility of the Efland Sewer Project. Commissioners Present: Chair ~•lillhoit, and Commissioners Shirley Marshall, Ben Lloyd, Elorman R7alker and Richard l~dhitted. nnnm Opp TSE EFT•AND SEj^?ER SUR51 T N f T A T $~'• r - COI3S ID ERAT IO2d Kenneth Thompson, County fLanager, gave the bacl;r~round on the Efland Sewer Project. The Board of Commissioners had requested that a survey be done to indicate the number of people who would be willing to tie onto the sewer. The survey took into account what each individual household would encounter in the way of cost. Thompson highlighted certain parts of the report: (1) site conditions -- the survey substantiated that the septic problems are disbursed to a level in the area study that e::ceeds septic problems countywide; few people are on tvells; (2) connection costs - cast from the septic tank to the stub out; (3) attitude on receiving sewer service - out of 239 improved parcels. 179 parcels agreed to receive sever service; - (4) water usage - estimated monthly water usage from a minimum of.3,000 to a maximum of 74,D00; (5) cast of sewer treatment - minimum cost of 515.20 with a maximum cost of 5328.00 a month. and (6) anticipated revenue - the annual revenue based on l79 customers totals 549,234; based on 233 the estimated revenue totals 559,384•. The town of Hillsborough will be Contacted to determine if additional tap-ons can ba made from the agreed upon-212 properties without the owners having to pay a tap on fee. Chair :°7illhoit noted that no decision had been made to add other users beyond the 2l2 and requested a breakdown on the 212. He requested additional information an the effect of the project cost and per unit cost when adding the l4 parcels on Southern Drive. Thompson indicated a cast of 515,500 to add these 14 parcels. The incomes in the additional homes would rot overturn the income qualification of the study area for the loan. Chair taillhoit indicated that the 515,500 would be an additional cost to the project and the only advantage would be the additional 5150 in revenue a year through the monthly user fee. 233 would be paying off the debt instead of 215. Commissioner I•Iarshall questioned not having a decision from Hillsborough for addinr~ the additional 51 parcels without a tap fee. Thompson indicated the rates would have to be set to balance the revenue and cost. Commissioner I.4arshall questioned the estimated growth of 60 additional homes a year as being too high. Thompson indicated the capacity of the line as 380,000 gallons per day; estimated usage is 1200 gallons per day. Commissioner T•~hitted questioned the repayment of the S13G,000. ~~ 2 Thompson noted that the developer would pay for the e::tension of the line; Hillsborough has set the tap fee at 5400. Commissioner t~Thitted pointed out in conjunction with the project the Board needs to set policy for the e::tensien and size of the line and tap fees. An agreement with the Town of Hillsborough as to the volume they are vvilling to - treat needs to +~e negotiated. Thompson e~splained that the 5200,OD0 loan amount is needed ir. addition to the local money and the FT3A grant to nay for the construction cast. This loan would be obtained by general obligation sewer bonds. The 5136,ODD would go __ into an enterprise fund with payback through future tap fees. Pay'aack of the ' 515,000 b?anlcet tap fee would be built into the rate at five cents per 1,000 . gallons for the first 13.3 years. • Commissioner tahitted noted among other alternatives two ways to handle the blanket tap fee amount: (1) increase the grant or (2) increase the 5136,D00 loan amount. Chair T•7i11hoit indicated that the only enforcement to collect the monthly sewer bill is through Orange-Alamance and if the dwelling is on a well the County has no enforcement for collection of the monthly fee. T~1''FI7~ FQR_~CIS2ON 1J _ ~'.~RT~a?~L~QT,3~~ArI AhTD GRAAIT OFFER ~..- _Ir~~'Z'ER OF 2N'~'~'NT TO i~1EET CONDIT3ONS Thurmond Murphy, representative of FxA, indicated the County would not be obligated until the issuance of bonds. The next step would be final -'. plans and specifications and advertisement for bits. Commissioner i2arshall asked the length of time the Board has to give FHA the specifics they need and i4urphy indicated they would give the Board the time they need to wor{: out the project. Commissioner t•7hitted indicated that issuing net debt bonds is a fair- ly normal practice with counties and municipalities. The law, without the vote of the people, allows issuance of 2/3 of the debt retirement for the previous fiscal year. Because Orange County has never issued net bebt reduction bonds, Commissioner tdhitted indicated that the Board needs to establish the criteria or conditions that Orange County will use in .the issuing of such bonds. It is quite clear that a health hazard exists in the Efland Estates area which should be listed as one criteria. P.nother would be the critical condition that exists at Exland School. The issuance of net debt reduction bands should be reserved for emergency situations only and have very specific purposes. Gledhill noted that the Bond Counsel is concerned that before you incur a debt that all the people in Orange County are responsible for repaying, that you have public purposes that affect all the people in Orange County. t4otion was made by Commissioner t•7hitted, seconded by Commissioner -- ti`dalker that as a matter of policy the issuance of general obligation .bonds under the net debt reduction rules by Orange County be e~:ercised only when there e~:ists a health, safety and welfare hazard and/or to construct a capital facility needed to protect the health, safety and welfare from emergency conditions. VOTE: UNAPIIP•iOUS. Commissioner *9hitted noted there are other policy issues that should be addressed at a later time before other decisions are made. Thompson indicated that the figures on the Letter of intent to meet conditions will be adjusted to reflect the operating budget fees, ~u~ 3 h2otion v:as made by Commissioner Tr'7hitted, secondec+ by Chair t4illhait to approve the letter of intent and authorize the Chair to sign. VOTE: UNAP7II~5OUS. A T A ,.7 7 r9otion was made by Commissioner Idarshall, seconded lay Commissioner t,7hitted to approve the recuest for obligation of funds in the amount of 5200.000 at an interest rate of 7.75ro and to set the amount of the grant at 5598,300. VOTE: UNAP:IT•'lOUS. ~ n7 E E I•Zurphy commented that the operating budget did not need to be adopted at this time. No action was taken. Commissioner t~7hitted c:irected the staff to prepare additional information: (1) the list of conditions under which the County would extend w loan of this type far a project. (2) an extension policy based on the agreement with Hillsborough. (3) future tap fees and in particular the five cents on the rate per thousand. Chair willhoit suggested a mechanism be worked out that would assure the collection of fees. Commissioner I_arshall suggested a policy be worked out with the Town of Hillsborough that v;ould apply to all requests received. T•'Iax Kennedy spoke on behalf of the Orange County Board of Education and expensed appreciation for the IIoard's efforts in initiating the process and the steps taken. Lindsey Efland spoke on behalf of the community expressing appreciation for the action taken thus far .by the Board. Chair t•]illhoit expressed appreciation to the Board of Education and to the citizens in the community for their participation. AAJOURLII~iEP7T t~Tith no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was .adjourned at 9:30. Don tVillhoit, Chair Beverly P_. Blythe, Clerk