HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 06-07-2011 - 8bORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: June 7, 2011
Action Agenda
Item No. 8 -
SUBJECT: Central Efland -Phase 2/Northern Buckhorn Easement Condemnation
DEPARTMENT: Planning PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) 0
ATTACHMENT(S):
1. Map Showing Easement Parcels for
Central Efland
2. Map Showing Easement Parcels for
Northern Buckhorn
INFORMATION CONTACT:
Craig Benedict, Planning Director, 245-
2592
Kevin Lindley, PE, Staff Engineer, 245-
2583
John Roberts, County Attorney, 245-2318
PURPOSE: To consider authorizing County Staff to initiate condemnation of the private
easements required to construct and maintain the Central Efland and Northern Buckhorn sewer
extensions if these easements cannot be procured voluntarily.
BACKGROUND: The County has been working towards construction of an extension to the
Efland sewer system and an extension of the City of Mebane's sewer system into the Northern
Buckhorn community for several years. The County has obtained the permit for the project and
has begun advertising the project for construction bids. The County still needs to secure
several construction and maintenance easements for the sewer lines that need to be installed
as part of this project. This needs to happen before the project can be authorized by the State
to award the construction contract.
Because the County is applying for a State Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan from the Construction
Grants & Loans division of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR), staff is operating on a regimented schedule for permit approval, easement
acquisition, bidding, etc. Orange County has to receive the Authorization to Award the contract
for this project from the State by August 1, 2011. As part of the application for the Authorization
to Award, the County must submit a document stating that all of the easements and rights-of-
way have been obtained, or are in the process of being condemned.
Orange County staff has had a series of community meetings with explanatory handout
materials tailored to each property owner. Staff has met in the field with property owners as
well as responded to phone call inquiries. Unfortunately, many properties are within the control
of estates or extended families so communication has been more difficult. Local church
representatives have helped to the degree they could to locate contacts in the communities.
Even with the authorization by the BOCC to offer connection incentives to easement holders
2
and the agreement to honor the "original" agreement from the mid-1980s, staff has not been
successful at obtaining many of the easements. At this time, it is anticipated that approximately
one-third of the 41 necessary easements will need to be condemned to meet the deadline of
August 1, 2011. While it is likely that given ongoing negotiations, almost all easements could
be obtained voluntarily, the upcoming hard deadline due to the SRF loan time schedule does
not give the County the flexibility to pursue that option.
Missing the August 1, 2011 SRF loan deadline would put the County back to the beginning of
the SRF loan process. This would mean having to re-apply to get the project on the funded
project list. Since the County first applied to be included in the SRF loan program, the amount
of competition for funds has greatly increased and the application process has become much
more competitive. There is no guarantee that this project would be chosen again for the funded
project list, which would mean the County would need to find an alternate source for the $3.5
million in SRF loan funds that were anticipated through this program.
Staff is continuing to work diligently to acquire all necessary easements voluntarily. Also, the
County is only condemning. construction and maintenance access easements for the sewer
lines, not entire parcels. The maps, provided at Attachments 1 and 2, show the entire parcel
from which the easement will come. However, in many cases, the easement only covers a
sliver of land along the edge of the highlighted parcel along the North Carolina Department of
Transportation road right-of-way.
If the BOCC approves the condemnation of easements as an option, the North Carolina
statutes require the County to give 30 days notice to all potentially affected property holders
prior to proceeding with any condemnation action. This would give all affected property owners
time to proceed voluntarily before condemnation began. Staff is instructed to resort to
condemnation proceedings only if reasonable negotiations based upon fair market value are not
successful.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The condemnation process requires a deposit into an escrow account
equal to the amount the County anticipates offering for the easement properties. At this time
the easement value is being determined by an independent consultant.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends the Board authorize staff to proceed
with condemnation procedures for easements that cannot be acquired voluntarily.
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