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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-04-1993 - VII-B 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Action Agenda Item No. 1/]I-B ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 4, 1993 SUBJECT: Report - Outdoor Privies in Orange County DEPARTMENT: Housing/Comm. Dev. PUBLIC HEARING YES: NO: x ATTACHMENT(S) : INFORMATION CONTACT: Tara L. Fikes Report Extension 2490 TELEPHONE NUMBER- Hillsborough - 732-8181 Chapel Hill - 968-4501 Mebane - 227-2031 Durham - 688-7331 PURPOSE: To provide additional information regarding the prevalence of outdoor privies in the County and propose strategies to alleviate this problem. BACKGROUND: During the September 7, 1993 BOCC meeting, the Board expressed the need to include the problem with outdoor privies in the County in the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) . Further, the Board desired to discuss this matter before the second public hearing on the CHAS scheduled for October 14, 1993. Therefore, staff has developed a brief discussion paper regarding this issue for further Board discussion. RECOMMENDATION(S) : As the Board decides. 2 REPORT OUTDOOR PRIVIES IN ORANGE COUNTY This report serves as a discussion paper regarding the incidence of outdoor privies in Orange County. The paper presents information regarding identification, possible solutions and potential barriers to reducing the number of outdoor privies in Orange County. IDENTIFICATION The 1990 Orange County Census data reports a total of 279 dwelling units which lack complete plumbing facilities. (Complete plumbing facilities means a dwelling has hot and cold water piped directly into the dwelling, has a flush toilet and a bathtub or shower inside the dwelling. ) Of the 279 units, 13 are in Hillsborough (all 13 units are listed as vacant) ; 15 in Carrboro ( 6 of which are vacant) ; and zero in Chapel Hill . Preliminary computations show that the majority of the units which lack indoor plumbing are in the Cedar Grove township. By comparison, in 1989 the N.C. Rural Communities Assistance Project and the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center published a report "Living without the Basics" which estimate that 1052 dwelling units in Orange County which lack complete plumbing. This estimate was based on 1980 census data. Due to the limited information requested by the 1990 Census questionnaire, the latter estimate of 1052 -units is considered by local staff to be a more accurate reflection of this problem in Orange County. To date, there has been no comprehensive house-to-house survey conducted in the County to identify the total number of outdoor privies. This is considered to be the only way to accurately identify the number of outdoor privies in the County. This could be accomplished by several methods. 1 . Conduct a house-to-house survey to determine the number of units being served by outdoor privies. It is estimated that given eight interviewers it would take approximately twenty weeks at a cost of approximately $200 , 000. 2 . Survey human services clients receiving services from County agencies. 3 . Cross reference tax records with local utility company customer lists to identify those without public sewer service. From this number, by reviewing septic tank permit data and site surveys, the number of units without septic systems and utilize a outdoor privy could be identified. 3 SOLUTIONS The most obvious method for eradicating the existence of outdoor privies is to either connect the dwelling to a public sewer system or install a septic system. Many homes in the County are not in close proximity to a public sewer system and therefore, this is not a viable option in most cases. In these instances, installation of a septic system and adding a bathroom to the dwelling is the most feasible option. Connection to an Existing Public' Sewer System: The public sewer systems available in Orange County are provided by OWASA, the Town of Hillsborough and the Town of Mebane. The County's Efland system also provides services to a limited area. Connection fees range from $1200 to $3 ,000 . The associated plumbing costs will vary depending upon the distance of the dwelling from the tap site. Individual Septic System: 40 ,000 square feet in lot size with acceptable soil is required. A conventional septic system would cost approximately $2 ,500; a pump conventional system - $4,000 and a local pressure pipe system - $5,000 . Community Spray Irrigation System: An alternative to the individual septic system in densely populated areas is a community system which requires a state permit and an operator. The operator is usually a private company regulated as a public utility by the N.C. Utilities Commission. The estimated cost is $10 ,000 per house which does not include the land acquisition price. (The amount of land required depends upon the number of dwellings using the system. ) There are presently, 25 individual community irrigation systems in Orange County. Bathroom Addition: The estimated cost of adding a room to serve as a bathroom and the associated plumbing ranges between $2 ,500 - $4 ,000. 4 BARRIERS As can be noted, most of these solutions are fairly expensive and may be cost prohibitive to most families utilizing outdoor privies. There is no local source of funding to subsidize the costs, therefore, most property owners are left to conventional financing methods which are often times unaccessible due to their financial status. There are also no Federal and State program exclusively designed for the purpose of eradicating outdoor privies. Limited funding is sometimes available for concentrated low/moderate income neighborhoods from Community Development Block Grant programs and Farmers Home Administration projects. Individual situations in sparsely populated areas can be addressed with available housing rehabilitation programs for low/moderate income families. However, in addition to cost prohibitions, other barriers also exist. * Lots are often too small and/or the soil is unacceptable for conventional septic systems. Alternative systems can often require a larger lot size, are fairly expensive and require intense maintenance which is also costly. * Some property owners are not interested in abandoning their privies. This is particularly true in many tenant farming situations. * Many dwellings utilizing outdoor privies are substandard. Government funded housing rehabilitation programs require comprehensive treatment of all housing code violations present at the dwelling in addition to addressing water and sewer needs. This is often cost prohibitive since often the cost of repair is substantially more than the value of the existing dwelling.