HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 02-03-2015 - 4b
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ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date:February 3, 2015
Action Agenda
Item No.4-b
SUBJECT:
OWASA Annual Update Presentation
DEPARTMENT:PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N)No
County Commissioners
ATTACHMENT(S):INFORMATION CONTACT:
Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board, 245-
January 16, 2015Letter from OWASA 2130
Board Chair John A. YoungBonnie Hammersley, County Manager,
245-2300
Ed Kerwin, OWASA Executive Director,
968-4421
John A. Young, OWASA Board Chair,
968-4421
PURPOSE:
To receive a presentation and information from the Orange Water and Sewer
Authority (OWASA) onrecent activities.
BACKGROUND:
OWASA Board of Directors’ Chair John Youngwill make apresentation to
the Board of Commissioners on recent OWASA activities and specifically addressing the topics
outlined in the attachment.OWASA Executive Director Ed Kerwin will be at the meeting, and
Orange County’s appointees to the OWASA Board, Terri Bucknerand Michael Hughes, have
also been invited to attend.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no financial impact associated with receiving the presentation.
RECOMMENDATION(S):
The Manager recommends that the Board receive the presentation
as informationand provide any feedback as necessary.
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ORANGE WATER AND SEWER AUTHORITY
A public, non-profit agency providing water, sewer and reclaimed water services
to the Carrboro-Chapel Hill community.
January 16, 2015
Chair Earl McKee
Orange County Board of Commissioners
PO Box 8181
Hillsborough, NC 27278
Dear Chair McKee:
We are pleased to submit this report on our services and initiatives in 2014for your February 3,
2015meeting. I request a couple of minutes to make brief comments about our work and will be
available to receive feedback and answer questions.
Preliminary engineering study for sewers in Historic Rogers Road
OWASA entered an interlocal agreement with Orange County in June 2014 to do a preliminary
engineering study for extending sewers in the Historic Rogers Road Area. In the summer and
fall of 2014, we worked with the Jackson Center to inform residents about plans for the study
and to get permission from 57 owners to go on their land to gather information needed for the
study.
Our consultant, URS Corporation (URS),is checking the topography at several locations, getting
soil samples and checking the location of underground utilities in the study area. URS will use
the information to evaluate the potential routes for sewers and update the preliminary estimate of
costs (initial preliminary estimate was about $5.8 million). Our cpreliminary
engineering report is on schedule for completion in March 2015.
To keep the project moving, our staff is working with County staff to draft a new interlocal
agreement for the next phase of the project including design, bidding, permitting and installation
of sewers. We understand the importance of this project and we will continue to work with
County staff to provide our assistance.
Biosolids Management
We are conducting a two-part study of biosolids management. The first part, which staff
recently completed, was a comparison of the social, financial, and environmental performance of
land application of liquid biosolids versus dewatering all of our biosolids for recycling at a
private compost facility.A copy of ishere.
On January 8, 2015, after receiving comments from several citizens including several Orange
County farmers participating in our program,we agreed to continue recycling liquid biosolids on
farmland through 2015, and continue recycling about half of our biosolids through composting of
dewatered biosolids.
400 Jones Ferry Road Equal Opportunity Employer Voice (919) 968-4421
Carrboro, NC 27510-2001 Printed on Recycled Paper www.owasa.org
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Chair Earl McKee
January 16, 2015
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Later this year, staff will evaluate additional options for further optimizing our biosolids
management. We will continue to keep our stakeholders informed and to solicit their feedback.
Rates and financial management
In June 2014, for the third consecutive year, we adopted a budget with no increase in monthly
rates for water, sewer or reclaimed water services.
We are meeting all of our financial performance objectives and continue to have excellent credit
ratings. Our recent refinancing of $25 million in bondswill save our customers about $2.5
million over the next 17 years. A news release on this topic ishere.
Affordability outreach
As part of our service affordability efforts, in the spring of 2014 we initiated an Affordability
Outreach Pilot Project to engage the community/target groups with information about how to
reduce OWASA bills. We have been working with representatives from more than a dozen local
social service and housing agencies on this initiative, and are very appreciative of Orange
revising OWASA processes to help customers avoid service disconnection for non-
payment while the customer is seeking financial aid;
giving the agencies water conservation/bill reduction information for their clients; and
reviewing water use at several affordable housing locations to identify cost-effective
opportunities to reduce bills, including conducting field audits at selected properties.
We have completed 19 water use audits in support of this effort, and we have been pleased to see
a relatively high percentage of low-flush and high-efficiency toilets installed in several older
residences we have visited. We believe that in many of those homes, water leaks and behavioral
practices are key factors contributing to high water use and high OWASA bills for those
customers.
Care to Share Customer Assistance Program
On August 28, 2014, we changed the name of our customer assistance program to Care to Share
as recommended by an inter-agency work group. The change is part of an initiative to increase
donations to the program, which helps OWASA customers when they are unable to pay a
water/sewer bill.
We are working on graphics for new Care to Share webpages. In 2015, we will implement a
marketing plan for Care to Share and will seek assistance from and collaboration with
organizations including local governments. Care to Share is funded with donations because we
cannot use OWASA revenues to fund or promote Care to Share.
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Chair Earl McKee
January 16, 2015
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Energy Management
We recently completed major energy efficiency improvements at our Mason Farm Wastewater
Treatment Plant (WWTP), which accounts for about 60% of our total use of electricity. Those
improvements have resulted in about a 30% reduction in electricity use at the WWTP, thereby
enabling us to save more than $120,000 a year while also reducing the greenhouse gas emissions
associated with our energy use. We featured this project in our latest issue of the Blue Thumb
(our customer newsletter),which is here.
We will soon be developing an Energy Management Plan, which is Strategic Initiative #5 of our
Strategic Plan. That plan will guide our future energy management, energy efficiency, and
renewable energy decisions, actions, and investments. We will keep you updated and seek your
feedback as we proceed with this important effort.
Long-Range Water Supply Plan and Jordan Lake access
We will update -Range Water Supply Plan. One of the first steps of this
process will be to update our water demand projections. OWASA will work with our local
governments and UNC staff to incorporate their growth projections into the analysis.
,
On November 142014, we applied to the NC Division of Water Resources toretainour Jordan
Lake allocation of about 5 million gallons per day (for use in extended droughts and operational
emergencies). The NC Environmental Management Commission may decide on allocation
requests in November 2015.
On November 13, 2014, we received information from OWASA staff on options toaccess our
Jordan Lake allocation. Staff will incorporate this information in the draft update to our Long-
Range Water Supply Plan.
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI)
In accord with our Strategic Plan, we will in coming months evaluatethe feasibility of
implementing AMI technology, which uses radio equipment and meters which can be read
water use including indications of a potential water leak. Community engagement will be an
important part of our process, but we agreed on November 13, 2014 to defer the engagement
process until we receive the results of the feasibility study in 2016.
Forestry Management
In accord with the Federal permit for the Cane Creek Reservoir, we are implementing a forestry
management plan provided by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission for our 490 acre Cane
Creek mitigation tract. From August through November 2014, our contractor carried out the
plan on 407 acres of the tract (the remaining acres had been previously managed). The
management included no cut areas around streams and at property boundaries near occupied
homes on 151 acres, thinning on 201 acres and final harvest on 43 acres. Small hardwood
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Chair Earl McKee
January 16, 2015
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openings were done on the other 12 acres where the best oak and hickory trees were left to help
regenerate those areas.
In 2015 we plan to reshape the road and logging decks to ensure proper drainage away from the
streams on site and to seed them with a wildlife friendly mix. We will also spot treat a hardwood
stand to encourage the development of oak and hickory trees.
The NC Forest Service (NCFS) is monitoring water quality on the mitigation land. The NCFS
and US Forest Service will use the data to evaluate the effectiveness of forestry best management
practices.
Strategic Planning
Following a public engagement process to solicit and carefully consider feedback, the OWASA
Board adopted a new Strategic Plan on March 13, 2014 for Fiscal Years 2014 through 2017 with
seven initiatives:
1.Provide reliable and high quality supply of water for the next 50 years
2.Engage the community
3.Implement a new customer billing and financial management system (if justified)
4.Adopt financial management policies and budget decision processes to ensure affordable
services and fiscal sustainability
5.Implement an Energy Management Plan
6.Implement Advanced Metering Infrastructure
7.Develop a plan and policy framework for long-term management and disposition of
OWASA lands
A copy of our Strategic Plan ishere.
We would be happy to provide you greater detail on any of our initiatives or to arrange a tour of
our facilities. Just let Ed Kerwin, Executive Director (ekerwin@owasa.org or 919-537-2411) or
me know.
Sincerely,
John A. Young, Chair
OWASA Board of Directors
c: Mayor Lydia Lavelle, Town of Carrboro
Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, Town of Chapel Hill
Ms. Bonnie Hammersley, Orange County Manager
Mr. Roger L. Stancil, Chapel Hill Town Manager
Mr. David Andrews, Carrboro Town Manager
OWASA Board of Directors
Ed Kerwin, OWASA Executive Director