HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-18-2025; 4-a - OWASA Annual Update Presentation 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 18, 2025
Action Agenda
Item No. 4-a
SUBJECT: OWASA Annual Update Presentation
DEPARTMENT:
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Water Bill Relief Program Laura Jensen, Clerk to the Board, 919-
OWASA Quarterly Report 245-2130
PURPOSE: To receive a presentation and information from the Orange Water and Sewer
Authority (OWASA) on recent activities.
BACKGROUND: At the beginning of each calendar year, OWASA representatives appear before
the Board of Commissioners to make a presentation on recent OWASA activities. Orange County
appointees Michael Hughes and Johnny Randall and OWASA Executive Director Todd Taylor will
present the annual update. A presentation on the Water Bill Relief Program will be given by Mary
Tiger, OWASA Director of Community Relations.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with this item.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLAN: There are no Orange County Strategic Plan Goals
applicable to this item.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive the presentation
and information and provide any feedback as necessary.
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Orange Water and Sewer Authority
OWASA
SA Our community's trusted partner for clean water and environmental
protection.
Subiect•
Water Bill Relief Program
Purpose:
Introduce and discuss the concept and funding of a sustained water bill relief program for OWASA
customers
Background:
In 1997, in partnership with the Interfaith Council for Social Services, OWASA launched one of the first
water bill assistance programs in the country.At the time,the program was called "Taste of Hope"; it
has since been rebranded as "Care to Share." Care to Share is designed to provide temporary assistance
to OWASA customers at a level that covers about two months of water and sewer bills (currently
$250/year). It is primarily funded by OWASA customers through donations made with their monthly
water bill payment. Donations, not rate payer funds, are the source of funding for this program, as
OWASA is contractually prohibited by the Purchase and Sales Agreement with the University and Towns
from providing free service. An additional hurdle to rate-supported bill assistance is state law. State law
requires utilities to charge 'reasonable rates' and prohibits unreasonable discrimination among
members of the same class of user or class of service (including 162A-6(a)(9)). No provision exists to
allow public utilities to charge different rates based on levels of personal income.
The "Care to Share" program continues to play a vital role in providing temporary bill relief to OWASA
customers when they are experiencing a moment of financial difficulty. In 2024,Care to Share
supported 84 families with an average of$220 of assistance per family.
However,there are members of our community for whom water bills are increasingly less affordable
every month of the year, not just from time to time. Since 2012, OWASA rates have increased by 63%,
and the cost of goods and services (measured by inflation) has increased by 37.5%.
The need for sustained water bill relief(i.e. monthly credit on water bill) is great and not likely to go
away. With investments needed to meet new regulations, as well as to maintain existing infrastructure
and services, last year's budgeting efforts projected that OWASA's rates need to increase by an
additional 33.5% between FY26 and FY29.According to American Community Survey, in 2023, 19.6%of
Chapel Hill and 11.3%of Carrboro residents lived below the poverty line.
Proposed Program Concept:
Using an existing program to pre-qualify households for sustained water bill relief would help to clearly
identify residents in need of assistance and minimize their administrative burden in applying for such
assistance. Orange County Department of Social Services (OCDSS) provides federal assistance programs
(e.g. Food Nutrition Services) to Orange County residents and would serve as a good proxy for identifying
need for water bill assistance.
In the summer of 2024, OWASA provided its customer records to OCDSS to match up with current FNS
clients to develop a "snapshot" of how many of those residents were also OWASA customers.The
analysis determined that 249 Food Nutrition Services(FNS) clients were also OWASA customers. Eighty-
seven of these clients have someone that is 55 years or older in the household.
O400 Jones Ferry Road,Carrboro,NC O 919-968-4421 ®info@owasa.org O www.owasa.org @OWASA_NC ®@owasa-nc.bsky.social
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OWASA staff have worked closely with the staff of OCDSS to develop a concept for a sustained water bill
relief program that would use a household's qualification for FNS to pre-qualify them for additional
water bill assistance. Under this concept,when applying for FNS, an individual could opt-in to share their
information with OWASA if they are an OWASA customer and qualify for FNS. With funding, OWASA
could then automatically apply a credit to the monthly bill of opted-in and qualified customers,with
minimal administrative requirements on the resident,OCDSS, and OWASA. Every six months,when
residents re-register for FNS,the program roster for water bill relief could be updated.
What would full funding of this program look like?A program that relieved the cost of an average
residential customer in the area (at 4,000 gallons of water and sewer use per month) would currently
provide$115.55/month of financial assistance to qualifying households. Based on the analysis
conducted last year,fully funding this program would cost approximately$340,000/year to cover all
qualifying households or$125,000/year to cover qualifying households with a 55+member.
Of course, it is not necessary to fully fund this program. Moreover, it is not necessary that one entity
fully cover the costs of the program. OWASA is scheduling similar discussions with the Town Councils of
Chapel Hill and Carrboro in the near future.At this stage in the discussion, OWASA is hoping to get a
better understanding of if, and at what level, the local governments in our community could support
such a program in FY26 and beyond.
Admittedly,the proposed program concept is somewhat modest in its impact. Even if the entire pool of
eligible residents participated in a fully funded program, it will only impact about 1%of OWASA
customers and would not fully address the number of households living below the poverty line in our
service area. As proposed, we know that there are some categorical gaps in support:
1. This program affects OWASA customers so it does not address tenants of multi-family, master-
metered properties whose water costs are covered in their rent or paid to a third-party sub-
metering company.
2. FNS is only available to legal residents of the U.S.
3. Most college students do not apply for and/or qualify for FNS,yet they are counted in the
community's poverty statistics and may need assistance paying their monthly bill.
Additionally, OWASA recognizes that this specific program would only serve residents of southern
Orange County which will likely be a consideration for the Board of County Commissioners. OWASA
would be happy to share information and ideas with other utilities in the county to help replicate the
program for their customers.
Next Steps:
OWASA is presenting this concept to local elected bodies in our service area and requests feedback on
the following two questions:
1. Do County Commissioners support the concept of this program?
2. Is the Board of County Commissioners willing to support the program financially?
If there is general support for the program, including providing funding support, OWASA requests that
the Board of County Commissioners authorize County staff to work with OWASA staff to identify funding
for the program in the county's Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
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OWASA Orange Water and Sewer Authority
Our community's trusted partner for clean water and environmental protection.
January 30, 2025
Mayor Jessica Anderson Mayor Barbara Foushee Chair Jamezetta Bedford
Town of Chapel Hill Town of Carrboro Orange County Board of
405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd 301 West Main Street Commissioners
Chapel Hill, NC 27514 Carrboro, NC 27510 Post Office Box 8181
Hillsborough, NC 27278
Subject: January 2025 Quarterly Report to Local Governments
Dear Mayor Anderson, Mayor Foushee, and Chair Bedford:
We are pleased to submit this update on our services, projects, and initiatives since October 2024.This
report includes updates on the following items:
1. Update on OWASA's Community Survey
2. PFAS Monitoring and Drinking Water Treatment Project
3. Updated Standards and Specifications for Developers,Contractors, and Engineers
4. Celebrating 15 Years of Reclaimed Water
S. Service Line Replacement Program to Launch This Summer
6. Youth Water Academy Graduates Fifth Cohort
7. Johnny Randall Joins Board of Directors and Pending Board Appointments
8. Dare to Share Campaign for OWASA's Care to Share Program
9. OWASA Supports Western North Carolina
10. Key Infrastructure Updates
Update on OWASA's Community Survey: OWASA's Community Survey is out in the community! We
expect the survey results and analysis in March. The goals of the survey are to determine the
community's perception of the value that OWASA provides, and of our customer service support; how
the community prefers doing business with and receiving information from OWASA; and customers'
perception of OWASA's service reliability, preparedness and responsiveness. The survey results will
inform priorities in customer service, communications, and service in the field in the coming years. This
survey will be repeated every three years to identify how OWASA's initiatives are impacting perceptions
in the community.
PFAS Monitoring and Drinking Water Treatment Project: OWASA continues our quarterly monitoring of
PFAS compounds in our reservoirs,treated drinking water, wastewater, and biosolids. In particular,we
are paying close attention to the six PFAS compounds in the EPA's Maximum Contaminant Limits (MCLS)
for drinking water that will go into effect in 2029. OWASA's fourth quarter PFAS monitoring results for
drinking water showed PFOS and PFOA at 3.2 and 3.4 ppt respectively, both below the MCLs. PFHxS,
PFNA and PFBS were not detected this past quarter. HFPO-DA(GenX) has never been detected in Cane
Creek Reservoir or OWASA's treated drinking water.These values are all lower-than-average PFAS
400 Jones Ferry Road,Carrboro,NC 27510 0 919-968-4421 O info@owasa.org 10 @QWASA_NC 0 www.owasa.org
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OWASA Quarterly Report
January 30, 2025
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concentrations over the course of the monitoring program due to our efforts to optimize the use of
existing treatment processes (i.e. powder activated carbon)for the purpose of reducing PFAS levels.
The new PFAS drinking water treatment facility is currently in the pilot and design phase; construction is
expected to begin toward the end of calendar year 2026. Pilot testing has shown that both technologies
tested, Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC) and Ion Exchange (IX), are able to provide enough PFAS
removal to consistently meet our drinking water treatment goals. Beyond their efficacy,we are also
evaluating each technology against a suite of criteria, including capital costs, operating and maintenance
costs, fate of the waste stream created by PFAS-laden media/materials, and other water quality
benefits, including its ability to address future contaminants of concern.
The cost of this project is significant. While currently budgeted for just under$74 million, new estimates
show potential costs closer to$83 million. OWASA is seeking external funding to reduce the cost burden
on our community, including being a party to a multi-district lawsuit against PFAS manufacturers,
seeking state revolving loans and grants for planning, design and construction, and seeking federal
funding and state appropriations. To further support customers struggling to pay their bills,we are
working on a more robust water bill assistance program and will soon reach out to local governments to
partner with us in this pursuit.
Updated Standards and Specifications for Developers,Contractors, and Engineers: OWASA's standards
and specifications for developers, contractors and engineers have been updated and organized on a new
webpage. Updates include current standards and material specifications and differentiation between
towns and N.C. Department of Transportation specifications.This new format allows contractors and
engineers to download and add specifications and standards directly to their drawings.
Celebrating 15 Years of Reclaimed Water: In 2024,we celebrated the 15-year anniversary of OWASA's
reclaimed water partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.The reclaimed water
system that serves the University became fully operational in 2009 and is an essential component of
OWASA's efforts to conserve water and increase the community's drought resilience.
The reclaimed water system takes highly treated wastewater through an extra disinfection process.
After this additional treatment, it is pumped through about five miles of separate pipes to UNC-Chapel
Hill, UNC Hospitals,the N.C. Botanical Garden, and St.Thomas More Catholic School. During the
summer,the system treats and distributes around 1.8 million gallons per day(mgd) but is designed to
accommodate 3 mgd as demand increases. In the 15 years of the reclaimed water system, OWASA has
supplied 3.6 billion gallons of reclaimed water to our partners.That's enough water to fill all three of our
reservoirs!
The community also benefits from the reclaimed water system. Reclaiming highly treated wastewater
defers the need for costly additional water supply and treatment facilities, saving our community money
and water when we really need it. OWASA and UNC-Chapel Hill continue to work together to optimize
the reclaimed water system for improved performance and sustainability.
Service Line Replacement Program to Launch This Summer: OWASA will launch a service line
replacement program this summer for customers in the service area who have galvanized water service
lines requiring replacement (GRR). While OWASA has no lead water lines in its service area,the EPA now
requires that galvanized lines must be replaced if there is no data available to show that they were
never downstream of lead service lines at any time in the past. Based on our analysis, only 108 GRR
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OWASA Quarterly Report
January 30, 2025
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service lines are in OWASA's service area. Customers with GRR lines have been notified that their service
line requires replacement and to be on the lookout for further information from OWASA regarding the
Service Line Replacement Program. Once confirmed onsite by an OWASA technician, customer service
lines will be replaced at no direct cost to the customer.
Youth Water Academy Graduates Fifth Cohort: OWASA graduated eleven students this year from its
fifth cohort of our Youth Water Academy. Students attended a five-week course for Chapel Hill-Carrboro
City School high school students. Each week,they learned the fundamentals of our community's water
and sewer systems and management from OWASA staff. Students toured both treatment plants,
engineered and built their own small-scale water treatment system, explored what it's like to make
decisions as a member of the Board of Directors, and more. Students participated in a graduation
ceremony at OWASA Board of Directors'January 9 meeting.
Johnny Randall Joins Board of Directors and Pending Board Appointments:Johnny Randall joined
OWASA's Board of Directors on December 18.Johnny previously served as the Director of Conservation
at the N.C. Botanical Garden from 1998 to 2023. He is adjunct faculty in the UNC-Chapel Hill Program in
Environment, Ecology, and Energy and received both an M.S. and PhD in botany/plant ecology from
Virginia Tech.Johnny served as biology faculty at UNC-Greensboro and at the University of North Florida
for a total of ten years before coming to the N.C. Botanical Garden. He has served on numerous boards
and advisory committees, including the Orange County Planning Board and Commission for the
Environment, and currently serves on the boards of the Triangle Connectivity Collaborative and N.C.
Invasive Plant Council. He chairs the Friends of Chapel Hill Parks, Recreation and Greenways. His first
meeting with the Board was January 9.
OWASA will have openings on its Board of Directors this year to be appointed or reappointed by both
Carrboro and Chapel Hill. Letters were sent to local government partners on January 7 with information
to assist with recruiting and selecting members for appointment. You can also find information on our
website.
We appreciate your interest and action in appointing Board members as we continue critical work in the
months ahead. OWASA embraces diversity and inclusion in everything we do, and we encourage all
interested candidates to apply for Board appointments.The only qualification needed is a genuine
commitment to serve the community.
Dare to Share Campaign for OWASA's Care to Share Program: We are grateful for Mayor Anderson's
and Mayor's Foushee's engagement in a "Dare to Share" campaign this fall to raise funds for our Care to
Share program.The mayors "dared"the community to raise funds for OWASA's Care to Share program.
A very entertaining commercial for the campaign aired at the Lumina Theater and was shared on social
media. It can still be viewed here on our YouTube channel. Care to Share, which raises around $24,000
each year in monthly bill contributions, received $3,735 in direct contributions during the Dare to Share
Campaign. This amount alone will help about 15 families in need pay their water bill.
OWASA Welcomes New Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Coordinator: Amanda Storyward
joined OWASA in November 2024 as our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Coordinator.
Amanda has a master's degree in public administration from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Arts
from UNC-Chapel Hill. Prior to working at OWASA,they were the Director of Organizational Diversity
and Inclusion at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
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OWASA Quarterly Report
January 30, 2025
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OWASA Supports Western North Carolina: Following a deployment of OWASA crews to replace
damaged water lines in Western North Carolina in October 2024 in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene,
OWASA's support continued for impacted towns throughout the last quarter of 2024. OWASA's lab
analyst and SCADA Manager deployed to support sampling and bench testing for Asheville's drinking
water system. OWASA's sewer preventative maintenance crew deployed to uncover buried manholes,
assess and repair sewer collection lines, and identify problem areas in collection lines. OWASA staff also
served at the State Emergency Operations Center to help connect utilities in the impacted area with
utilities statewide having materials, equipment, and personnel to assist in recovery. Putting their
expertise to use to help restore communities after tragedy was very meaningful for OWASA staff, who
contributed hundreds of hours of service to Western N.C.
Key Infrastructure Updates:
• Phase II of the Morgan Creek Interceptor project will begin in winter 2025-26 to replace 1,800
feet of sewer collection pipe along Morgan Creek.This phase will connect the completed section
from Phase I to the Mason Farm Road Wastewater Treatment Plant.This project is on N.C.
Botanical Garden property. Phase II involves tree removal evaluated in collaboration with the
Town of Chapel Hill and the N.C. Botanical Garden.
• The Ridgefield-Briarcliff neighborhood water line and sewer line replacement project is still on
track to start in summer this year. Open houses were held in the neighborhood in August 2024
to discuss the scope of the project with residents, as well as expected impacts on traffic and
parking.
• The water line replacement serving Clark Lake Road residents is now complete. Construction
began in June 2024 after the area experienced excessive water line breaks and discolored water
for some customers in the area, indicating the water line had reached the end of its useful life.
We are happy to provide more detailed information on the items above or other topics of interest as
desired. Please feel free to contact our Executive Director,Todd Taylor (ttaylor@owasa.org or 919-537-
4216), or me.
Sincerely,
%,to� li��
Melody Kramer, Chair
Board of Directors
cc: Ms. Mary Jane Nirdlinger, Interim Chapel Hill Town Manager
Mr. Travis Myren, Orange County Manager
Ms. Patrice Toney, Carrboro Town Manager
OWASA Board of Directors
Todd Taylor, OWASA Executive Director