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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 04-20-1993 - VII-A 1. ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Action Agenda Item No. V.TS-A ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: April 20, 1993 SUBJECT: OWASA REPORT DEPARTMENT: COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC HEARING YES: NO: X ATTACHMENT(S) : YES - REPORT INFORMATION CONTACT: MOSES CAREY TELEPHONE NUMBER - Hillsborough - 732-8181 Chapel Hill - 968-5401 Durham - 688-7331 Mebane - 227-2031 PURPOSE: To report to the Board of County Commissioners and to demonstrate the capabilities of their GIS system. BACKGROUND: At the County Commissioners goal setting retreat in December, 1991, the Board asked that OWASA provide them with information quarterly. This report covers six months. RECOMMENDATION(S) : Receive the report for information. • 2. Orange Water and Sewer Authority 400 Jones Ferry Road I OWASA l P.O. Box 366 J Carrboro, NC 27510 'ems/ (919) 968-4421 REPORT TO THE ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MARCH 23, 1993 Cane Creek Reservoir As you probably know, OWASA opened the Cane Creek Reservoir recreation area last December. Public response has been enthusiastic, with usage far above previous seasonal levels recorded at University Lake. We hope to host an open house at Cane Creek for the entire Orange County community later this year. In the meantime, feel free to contact our staff if you'd like to arrange a personal visit. (And, don't forget that University Lake is now closed.to the public, scheduled to reopen when major dam renovations are completed next year.) In accord with its longstanding policy of ensuring the primary use of OWASA's reservoirs as public water supplies, the Board of Directors voted to prohibit the use of all private watercraft at Cane Creek, as well as gasoline motors, except for safety, patrolling, and scientific purposes. The Authority does provide rental rowboats, canoes, and electric trolling motors. Regarding watershed protection at Cane Creek, OWASA staff continue to collect monitoring data from the lake and its tributaries, and we're proceeding with appointment of an advisory committee to assist with the Cane Creek watershed study. It is unlikely that any firm recommendations will be established before late in the 1993 calendar year, but I would remind you of two earlier findings about Cane Creek: The 1989 Camp Dresser McKee University Lake Watershed Study took a preliminary look at land use/water quality issues in the Cane Creek watershed, and indicated that a satisfactory level of protection might be achieved in Cane Creek with less stringent land use constraints than An Equal Opportunity Employer 3. OWASA Report to Orange County Commissioners March 23, 1993 Page 2 recommended for University Lake. The principle reason for the difference is the greater depth and volume of Cane Creek Reservoir, which enables it to assimilate a larger pollution load with less apparent degradation than would occur at University Lake. Current County regulations require 80,000 square foot minimum lots in the Cane Creek critical area (within about a half mile of the reservoir), but allow 40,000 square foot lots throughout the rest of the watershed. These current regulations are less stringent than is suggested by the preliminary Camp Dresser McKee examination. The proposed study will provide definitive information on which to base future land use regulations for the Cane Creek watershed. Another Cane Creek issue in which the Board of Directors maintains a keen interest is the potential landfill site adjacent to OWASA property at the reservoir. As transmitted to you and the Landfill Siting Committee last year, Orange Water and Sewer Authority remains firmly opposed to locating a landfill at Cane Creek. Capital Projects My last report to you noted that OWASA's Capital Improvements Program includes more than $30 million dollars in projects for the five year planning period. Construction is underway on a number of them, including the $1.2 million dollar Bolin Creek sewer line expansion in Chapel Hill. A similar project is now being designed for the Booker Creek interceptor. OWASA's sewer system performed remarkably well during the 3-inch rainfall of March 4. The wastewater treatment plant continued to produce high quality effluent without experiencing any process upsets or washouts, despite receiving the highest single day flow on record at the Mason Farm Plant. OWASA-Hillsborough Pipeline 4. OWASA Report to Orange County Commissioners March 23, 1993 Page 3 At its March 11 meeting, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to decline the Town of Hillsborough's most recent offer to purchase the northernmost three miles of the 16-inch treated water pipeline that interconnects the OWASA and Hillsborough water systems. Despite some differences of technical opinion between our staff and Hillsborough's, the Board's decision was based primarily on the policy finding that short term financial benefits to the Authority of selling a portion of the pipeline would be outweighed by the potential costs of compromising a segment of an areawide water transmission network that will become increasingly important in years to come. The difference in cost between the Town's offer to purchase the pipeline and the estimated construction cost of installing a new 12-inch main to Hillsborough's southern service area was found to be only about 15 percent. We are confident that Hillsborough has the ability and commitment to resolve its southern service area distribution problems in the near future.