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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 09-16-2008 - 6aORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: September 16, 2008 Action Agenda Item No. - ~q _ SUBJECT: Initial Review of Proposed Chatham/Oran a Task Forces DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No County Commissioners, Planning, ERCD ATTACHMENT(S): 1. Proposed Task Force Processes (Charge and Composition) 2. Minutes of Orange-Chatham Meetings 3. 3/31/08 Assembly of Governments Meeting Minutes 4. 8/27/08 Jordan Lake Collaboration Working Group Manager's Meeting Summary Memo This item was delayed from the Board's June 24, 2008, August 19, 2008, and September 2, 2008 meetings due to time constraints. INFORMATION CONTACT: Laura Blackmon, 245-2300 Barry Jacobs, Chair Craig Benedict, 245-2575 David Stancil, 245-2590 PURPOSE: To review potential processes, including proposed charge and composition, to establish three new Chatham/Orange Task Forces and, following any revisions, authorize staff to forward the task force proposals to the other jurisdictions for approval and respective appointments. BACKGROUND: During the last year, representatives from Orange County, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro met on several occasions with colleagues from Chatham County to discuss shared interests and concerns. The issues discussed generally fall into three categories: water supply/watershed protection, transportation planning/public transportation, and joint planning. Information from these discussions was shared at the March 31, 2008 Assembly of Governments (AOG) meeting. Based on that meeting, staff was asked to develop a proposed process with a charge and composition for three task forces to address the topical areas identified above. These task force processes are attached, and the Board is asked to review the charge and composition for each, and provide any comments or revisions. The Board is also asked to authorize staff to 1) examine the potential County staff resources needed to participate in these efforts, and 2) forward the proposed task force summaries to the other jurisdictions for approval and respective appointments. Following action by the other jurisdictions, the Board will be asked to consider final approval of the three task force processes, as well as make Orange County's appointments to the groups. It is suggested that, at the appropriate time, the BOCC not appoint one Commissioner to serve on all three task forces, but rather select a different Commissioner to serve on each of the three groups. It should also be noted that the proposed task forces and their respective topical areas as detailed in the attachments were developed to mirror the discussions involving the representatives from Orange County, Chatham County, Chapel Hill, and Carrboro. As an minor variation/alternative, it is suggested that the Board consider the reassignment of the watershed protection topic from the proposed Regional Water Supply/Watershed Protection Issues Task Force to the proposed Joint Planning Task Force. At the AOG meeting in March, representatives from the City of Durham spoke about their efforts to develop a long range strategy for ensuring adequate water supply is available under normal rainfall and drought conditions. That effort has expanded to discussions over the summer with other local government entities about regional Jordan Lake water resources planning, new allocation requests and a coordinated western intake facility. Please see the attached summary of a meeting held in Chapel Hill on August 27, 2008 to discuss this issue. This issue will be presented at the upcoming AOG meeting and the Board may wish to delay consideration of a strictly Chatham/Orange task force on water supply until the concept of a regional approach is further discussed. These proposed task forces will also be part of the discussions at the September 18, 2008 Assembly of Governments meeting. FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact associated with review of the proposed charges and compositions for three Chatham/Orange Task Forces and authorizing staff to forward the task forces' proposed charges and compositions to the other jurisdictions for approval and respective appointments. Eventual adoption of the task forces will require staff resources from the County departments of Planning and ERCD. RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board: 1) review the proposed joint Chatham/Orange task force proposals; 2) make any needed revisions; 3) consider reassigning the watershed protection topic to the proposed Joint Planning Task Force; 4) consider delaying consideration of a strictly Chatham/Orange task force on water supply until the concept of a regional approach is further discussed; 5) authorize staff to examine the potential County staff resources needed to participate in these efforts; and 6) authorize staff to forward these materials as revised to the other jurisdictions for approval and respective appointments. Following approvals and appointments by the other jurisdictions, the proposals would come back to the Board of County Commissioners for final approval and County appointments. Attachment 1 Chatham/Orange Joint Planning Task Force Proposed Committee Charge 1) To review and assess current regional and individual jurisdictions' planning efforts in northern Chatham County and southern Orange County; including topics such as; • Land Use Plans • Zoning Regulation • Joint Pazks/Open Space/Environmental Acquisition • Land Use GIS analysis • Demographics • Interlocal Joint Planning Agreements 2) Discuss and strategize on possible opportunities and structure for participating jurisdictions to jointly develop and pursue regional planning initiatives; 3) Provide a report to all the participating jurisdictions' governing boazds by March 1, 2009 on the regional and individual jurisdictions' planning efforts and possible opportunities and structure for participating jurisdictions to jointly develop and pursue regional planning initiatives through a joint and/or regional approach. . Proposed Committee Membership Cbatham/Orange Regional Planning Task Member Name Force Chatham Coun Elected Official Oran e County Elected Official Town of Pittsboro Elected Official Town of Cha 1 Hill Elected Official Town of Carrboro Elected Official At Laz a Member -Chatham Task Force Staff: Orange County Planning Orange County Environment and Resource Conservation Orange County Pazks & Recreation Chatham County Planning Attachment 1 ~~ Chatham/Orange Regional Transportation Planning and Public Transportation Task Force Proposed Committee Charge 1) To review and assess current regional and individual jurisdictions' transportation .planning and public transportation efforts in northern Chatham County and southern Orange County, including the integration of OPT, Chapel Hill Area Transit, and regional MPO and RPO agencies; 2) Discuss and strategize on possible opportunities and structure for participating jurisdictions to jointly develop and pursue regional transportation planning initiatives; 3) Discuss and strategize on possible opportunities and structure for participating jurisdictions to jointly develop and pursue regional public transportation initiatives; and 4) Provide a report to all the participating jurisdictions' governing boards by March 1, 2009 on the regional and individual jurisdictions' transportation planning and public transportation efforts and possible opportunities and structure for participating jurisdictions to jointly develop and pursue regional public transportation and public transportation initiatives through joint and/or regional approaches. Proposed Committee Membership Chatham/Orange Regional Transportation Member Name Issues Task Force Chatham County Elected Official Oran a Coun Elected Official Town of Pittsboro Elected Official Town of Cha el Hill Elected Official Town of Carrboro Elected Official At Lar a Member -Chatham UNC Task Force Staff: Orange County Planning Orange Public Transportation Chatham County Planning Attachme 1 Chatham/Orange Regional Water Supply/Watershed Protection Issues Task Force Proposal Proposed Committee Charge 1) To review and assess current watershed protection efforts in northern Chatham County and southern Orange County for both individual and regional watersheds, including, but not limited to, watershed zoning overlays, stream buffers, impervious requirements, stormwater controls, and land uses; 2) To monitor and discuss ongoing Jordan Lake regional water allocation and .access initiatives, and strategize opportunities for participating jurisdictions to jointly improve watershed protection efforts that link water allocations, watershed protection, water conservation, and smart growth through ajoint/regional approach, and Haw River topics; and 3) To monitor and discuss the impending Jordan Lake nutrient management rules and consider potential collaboration opportunities, and 4) To provide a report to all participating jurisdiction governing boazds on these matters by Mazch 1, 2009. Proposed Committee Membership Chatham/Oranse Resional Water Supply/Watershed Protection Issues Task Member Name Force Chatham Coun Elected Official Oran a Coun Elected Official Town of Pittsboro Elected Official Town of Cha 1 Hill Elected Official Town of Cazrboro Elected Official At Lar a Member -Chatham OWASA Board of Directors member Task Force Staff: Orange County Environment & Resource Conservation (administrative lead) Orange County Planning Department Chatham County Public Works Department Chatham County Planning Department OWASA 0 MINUTES Orange County Board of Commissioners Joint Meeting Of Orange County/Chatham County/Chapel Hill /Carrboro/OWASAIUNC August 14, 2007 6:00 p.m. Souti~ern Human Services Center The Chair and Vice--Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Joint Meeting with the Chairnrce Chair from the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, Chapel Hill Town Mayor and Town Manager, ChairArce Chair/Executive Director of OWASA, and a UNC representative on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. at the Soulfiem Human Services Center in Chapel Hill. N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Vice-Chair Barry Jacobs COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identfied appropriately below) CHATHAM COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Vice-Chair George Lucier CHATHAM COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Courrty Manager Charlie Home and Public Works Director David Hughes TOWN OF PITTSBORO MAYOR: Randolph Voller TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: Mayor Kevin Foy and Town Manager Roger Stancl TOWN OF CARRBORO REPRESENTATIVES: Dan Coleman, Board of Aldermen OWASA REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: OWASA Board Chair Mac Clarice, Vice-Chair Randy Kabridc, and Executive Director Ed Kennrin UNC REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: Carolyn Efland, Assocate Vca: Chancellor for Campus Services 1. DinnerNVelcome and Introductions Chair Carey said that this meeting grew out of a joint meeting of the Chatham and Orange County Comrrirssioners in which it was deeded to ask the stakeholders to meet and. to find out if there is interest to move forward to meet as functional work groups to address specflc issues that are of mutual concern. Introductions were made. Chair Canty said that staff was available to answer any questions but no formal presentations would be made. Z Regional Water/Watershed Protection Issues • Shared Use of OWASA Jonian Lake Intake site Chatham Courrty Public Works Director David Hughes said that Chatham County is expanding its water plant. Presently, the allocation is sbc million gallons per day from Jordan Lake, and there have been discussions with the Division of Water Resoun~es to expand this allocation for Chatham County. To do this, it has to be opened to surrounding jurisdictions that also need allocations from Jordan Lake. He said that this is a long process and there will have to be cooperation from a lot of the stakeholders in order to get more of an allocation from Jordan 2 0 Lake. There are also some issues with the intake with Cary. All of Chatham County's water supply comes from Jordan Lake. Chair Carey asked how long the agreement was with Cary to access water through its intake and David Hughes said 50 years. Chatham County Commissioner vice-Chair George Luaer said that Chatham County is irrterested in a western intake. It is his understanding that there will only be two intakes allowed in the lake, and there is already one from Cary. He said that a strong justification to get an increase would require a regional approach. Mac Clarke made reference to the statement from OWASA, which was distributed to all. Commissioner Jacobs asked Mac Clarke to talk about the study that is underway that irnolves UNC, OWASA, Durham, and Cary. Mac Clarke said that this is a I~nr-level study in that funding has been limited and it is proceeding slowly. It is basically a discussion of utility bodies in the area to see if then: can be cooperation. Ed Holland, OWASA Planning Director, said that OWASA is partiapating along with Cary and Dufiam in the study looking at optimizing the interconnected water supplies around Jordan Lake. The work right now is focused on the feasibility of moving enough water around to meet needs and manage risks through existing and enhanced facilities. This is the second year of the study, which is costing $40,000 a year total, and which is being split between the three utilities. .Commissioner Jacobs asked why it was Beaded not to include Chatham County and Ed Holland said that his understanding was that Chatham County was contacted. Gorge Luaer said that he is a new Commissioner, but he has no recollection of this. Chair Carey asked if was too late to involve Chatham County since the study began two years ago and Ed Holland said no, not in his opinion. George Luaer said that he is interested, but he cannot speak for the other four Courrty Commissioners. George Luaer and Ed Holland will try to faalitate the involvement of Chatham County in the study. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the work befinreen OWASA and Chatham County. County Manager Charlie Home said that then: have been discussions over the years about the potential for a regional water system or an intake on the western side of the lake with a regional partnership. Ed Kerwin said that from OWASA's point of view, they are working hard not to have to use Johan Lake, but to use its own local resources (University Lake, Cane Creek reservoir, etc.). He said that it is still prudent for them to hold onto the present allocation. The goal is to have a collaborative process with all jurisdictions irnoNed. Discussion ensued on the use of chloromine for disinfec#ion of water. Ed Kervvin said that it is a must for OWASA for disinfection purposes. Chair Carey said that he hopes there will be regional collaboration from this meeting with the interested entities. George Luaer said that he is hearing that as Chatham County tries to move fonnrani on their water supply issue, that all would be willing to work in an regional format to help them address this issue. Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like a summary of what Chatham County and OWASA have been discussing over the past eight years on this topic so that there is some framework of what has been on the table. He said that if Chatham County is interested in regional cooperation and the others are too, then this type of information would be helpful to all. He said that Orange County has a 1 million gallon per day allocation that could be used as some kind of leverage maybe with Durham. There is an EDD that needs senriang, and maybe there could be a discounted rate on the water that is supplied. 0 3 Charlie Home said that this information could be put together. Ed IEennrin said to start with the letter from Chatham County (David Hughes) to the State. He said that he thinks it is smart that Chatham Courrty wants to have its own allocation. Randy iCabridk said that OWASA is one of the most forward thinking and Chatham County is ten years behind OWASA in planning. Commissioner Jacobs pointed out the letter from Orange County reganiing the rules for the water supply nutrients. Chair Carey said that he had hoped this meeting would go in the dinek~ion it is going and this is just a start Randy Voller said that he thinks they need to move quicker because the private sector will force the hand. Dan Coleman said that this needs to go balk to the respective boards. Randy Voller said that it is important that they are consistent with the message and cooperative; and the sooner, the better. He said that failure to plan is planning to fail. 2. Joint Parks/O~en Space AcauisitioNDeveloument • Chapel Hill Southern Park shared use options Chair Carey said that all entities are already working together on other things besides Southern Park. Southern Park is imminent Mayor Foy made nfen:nce to the data sheet on Southern Park. The work has just begun on this 72-akxe park. The park will be 606 open space and it is very dose to Chatham Courrty. Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Orange County have collaborated on this park. He made reference to #8 for future phases, which is Future Fadlity Not Designated, and said that the plan is for this to be a community center. This part would be pn~ty far into the future. He said that there has been some discussion about whether Chatham County is interested in being a partner with the development of this park, and how this would play out The Chapel Hill Town 13oani is interested, but then: was a question about what the cooperative effort would look like, given the fad that there is so much pressure with sokxer fields. He said that his recommendation is to talk about this, and if Chatham County wants to move it along, then everyone can decide on the poirrts to address in the cooperation. George Luder said that Chatham County is in the process of acquiring land for a northeast parkas well as in the north central part of the county for another park. He said that it might be helpful to work towani some joint agreement for use of these parks cross-county. Chair Carey said that it would be good to have the interested parses to have further discussions about this. George Luder said that it will take the Recreation and Parks Departrnerrts getting involved together. Commissioner Jacobs said that Southern Park would probably be on line 3-4 years ahead of the Chatham County parks. He encouraged the creation of partnerships that can start now. There are thn~e socxer fiekis at Southern Park that will not have lights, and if there were I'~ghts, then the usage could be extended. Mayor Foy said that these things should be identfied and put on the table to discuss. Mayor Foy and George Luder agn:ed to move fonnrard on this collaboration together. Chair Carey said to make sure that all are involved, induding Pittsboro. Mayor Voller said that P'rttsboro has land on the other end of the town, and there could be two large parks on this land. He said that the plans for this could be sent to the other parties. This land is on 501. George Luder said that, in relation to parks, there is a lot of impetus to create greenways along the Haw River. He would like to help make this happen. 4 Commissioner Jacobs said that Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stanch was working on something regarding Haw River. Dave Stanch said that Orange County is a member of the Haw River Trail Partnership. Haw River is the souttnnrestem comer of Orange County. Laura Blackmon asked Dave Stanch. to speak to the purchase of property as a watershed site in this area. Dave Stanal said that this relates to the Jordan Lake Macro Site. This inductee part of Chapel Hill, Orange County, and Chatham County. There an: opportunities for collaboration on conservation. George Luaer said that his Board of County Commissioners would be very supportive of this. Mayor Foy asked Dave Stanch who he shared information with in Chapel Hill about this and Dave Stanal said staff and the Mayor. It has been awhile. Laura Blackmon asked Dave Stanal to fonnrard this information to the Managers again and Chair Carey asked the Managers to revive the issue on this corridor. Commissioner Jacobs asked Planning Director Craig Benedict about the density of the part of Orange County in the Haw River watershed and Craig Benedict said that the density is one unit per acre. He pointed this out on a map. George Luaer asked about the buffer along the river and Craig Benedict said 60-80 feet on either side of the stream and 80 feet along the floodplain. George Luaer said that Chatham County is having a public hearing next week on updating the stream buffer requirements, espeaally those that will flow into Jordan Lake. When this process is completed in the next couple of months, the information will be transmitted to Orange County. 3. Transportation Plannins~/Public Transportation • OPT/CTN/Chapel Hill Transit Coordination Chair Carey said there has been some talk about public transportation collaboration between Pittsboro, Chapel Hill, Chatham County, and UNC. Dan Coleman said that at some point TTA should be in this mix and Commissioner Jacobs said that he has talked with David King of TTA and he wants to come to the next meeting. Commissioner Jacobs said that one of things also is that Chatham County and others need to be brought into the discussions about how Carolina North is going to be served by public transportation. George Luaer said that this should be pursued sooner rather than later. He said that at the last MPO meeting, it was reported that the eastern part of Chatham County will grow by 83,000 people by 2035 and it will only get 15,000 jobs. He said that, if these projections are corn:ct, most everyone I'nring in Chatham County will be going north into Chapel Hill to work. The projections may turn out not to be correct because the current Board of County Commissioners was elected on a slow growth platform. However, there are currently 16,000 houses that have been approved but not yet bui~. He thinks that it has to be assumed that something like this will happen. Mayor Foy said that the Chapel Hill Town Counal started talking about this with the Chatham County Commissioners five years ago, and since then, UNC has built one park and ride lot on 501. He said that it is important that a transportation system start and TTA has to be part of this. He said that Chapel Hill Transit needs to deade if it wants to get involved outside its service boundary. Charlie Home said that it is one thing to provide a service, but another to get people to util'¢e public transportation. 0 5 Mayor Foy said that is the issue Chapel Hill confronted when it went to fare-free. This was the incentive for mon: people to ride and it doubled ridership in three or four years. He said that society tends to widen roads in n~ponse to growth instead of looking at alternatives. Carolyn Efland said that from a UNC perspective, it only has parking for half the employees and about 10% of the students, most of which are graduate students. She said that UNC is losing population in the Chapel Hill Transit service area. One of the original plans when the c~unerrt development plan was put fonivard to the Town, there were targets for transit use from home and targets for transit from park-and-ride. She said that people are moving out of Orange County and into other counties (Chatham and Alamance). She said that TTA's service area does not include Pittsboro proper or Alamance and that it would be good to cooperate with Chatham County. She said that she is not sun: that TTA is the solution to the problem. George Luger said that he would envision spark-and-ride at Brier Chapel, 64, 501, and downtown Pittsboro. He said that .his question is what they can do as these developments are being planned out as part of the application process. Chair Carey said that this is one mason to put joint planning on this agenda. There must be joint planning in this region. Mayor Foy said that when Chapel Hill looks at a development proposal, they ask Chapel Hill Transit how that looks for bus service. He said that other jurisdictions do not have this luxury. He said that the issue that this raises is how to get access to this kind of information. Dan Coleman asked about Chatham County's public transit and George Luger said that , it is more of a public service. Chariie Home said that there are 16-18 passenger vans that take the public for a fee, but primarily it is for Medicaid patierrts, etc., and it is a scheduled service. Commissioner Jacobs said that UNC can help drive this discussion. He said that Hillsborough will more likely be the most immediately impacted by Carolina North. Hillsborough has changed its land use plan to antidpate a lot of residential development in the southernmost corridor. There will be a park and-ride lot at the community college in southern Hillsborough. He would like to try and get ahead of the curve instead of playing 'catch up'. Chair Carey asked if UNC could be the focal point to have the next meeting to talk about transportation within the context of the process on the planning issue with the Planning Direilors and Managers. Roger Standl said that the Chapel Hill Town Coundl authorized him to work with Chatham County with transit issues. The first thing he did was to talk with TTA and there is a partnership now because TTA cannot currently serve Chatham County with the present contrail. The plan is to meet with the Chatham County staff to talk about doing some market studies to understand the need. Mayor Voller asked if everyone agn:ed that there is a need to do this and all agn~ed. He said that he has talked with TTA also to find out how to get Pittsboro involved. At the RPO level, Pittsboro sent a resolution bads with Pat Strong to Chair IGnley and the board to look at to say that P~ttsboro wants public transportation to be part of the planning. He is now waiting for an answer. He would like to get this done, especially with UNC, because most of the people moving into P'dtsboro are working at UNC or are going then: for medical services. Roger Standl said that Chapel Hill could work with Chatham County and Commissioner Jacobs asked that OPT be included also. 4. Joint Planning Mayor Foy said that he would like to continue discussions on joint planning and flesh this out. Chair Carey suggested asking the Planning Direilors and Managers to talk and to bring some possibilities bads to the boards to benefit from expertise on joint planning. ~o 6 Mayor Voller asked about the TDR issue and if there is any headway. Chair Carey said that the Planning Dinetor can incorporate that discussion with the joint planning information. Commissioner Jacobs said that it was suggested to set up a work group before they go bads to a joint meeting of the full boards since they are still creating visions and relationships. He asked if there should be this type of meeting again or the full boanis. George Luger said that he does not think they are quite there yet with the full boards. Chair Carey suggested having another meeting Ike this and keeping the full boards informed. He suggested meeting in October. Commissioner Jacobs said that, in the meantime, the boards could be brought up to speed and OWASA could make a presentation on September 20'" at the Assembly of Governments meeting. 5. Other 6. Next Steps 7. Adiournment VUtth no further items to address, the meeting was adjourned at 8:17:41 PM, Moses Carey, Jr., Chair I~ Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board is MINUTES Orange County Board of Commissioners . Joint Meeting Of Orange Count~-/Chatham County/Pittsboro/Chapel Hill /CarrboralOWASA/UNC October 30, 2007 6:00 p.m. Southern Human Services Center The Chair and vice-Chair of the Orange County Boani of Commissioners met for a Joint Meeting with the Chair~ce-Chair from the Chatham County Boani of Commissioners, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Pittsboro Mayor and Town Manager, Chair~ce-Chair/Executive Din:dor of OWASA, and a UNC representative on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill. N.C. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr., and Vice-Chair Bany Jacobs COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon, Assistant Managers Gwen Harvey and Willie Best and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) CHATHAM COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Carl Thompson, Vik~-Chair George Lucier and Commissioner Tom Vanderbedc CHATHAM COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Charlie Home TOWN OF PITTSBORO STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Bill Teny TOWN OF PITTSBORO REPRESENTATIVES ABSENT: Mayor Randy Voller, TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Roger Stancl TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL REPRESENTATIVES ABSENT: Mayor Kevin Foy TOWN OF CARRBORO REPRESENTATIVES: Mayor Mark Chilton TOWN OF CARRBORO STAFF ABSENT: Town Manager Steve Stewart OWASA REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: OWASA Board vk~-Chair Gordon Merklein and Executive Din:ctor Ed Kervvin UNC REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: Carolyn Efland, Assocate vice Chancellor for Campus Services The meeting began at 6:23 p.m. 1. DinnerNVelcome and Introductions Introductions were made. Chair Carey said~that at the last meeting they discussed the items below and this is a follow-up meeting. After the pn;vious planning meeting, there was sentiment that jurisdictions would like to meet as full boards in the near future. He said that he would like to leave this follow-up meeting with a dinrction of where to go from here. Commissioner Jacobs said that some people thought that this meeting was under the radar, but Chair Carey and Mayor Foy assured them at the Assembly of Govemmerits meeting that this was not the case. 2. Value Added Agricultural Pn~ducts Processing Center Update and Discussion Orange County Agricultural Economic Development Coordinator Noah Rannells said that this study began back in 2005 when the Orange County Commissioners n~uested a citizen board to examine the need for aValue-Added Agricultural Products Processing Center. This spring, after talking with other jurisdictions about particpating in this center along with private z 13 sector entries, Orange County ailed as the fiscal agent for the contrail and contracted with Smithson Mills, who used to work for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and has worked with almost every single value-added facility in the State. The feasibil""ity study is underway and there should be a report in November. The survey acxomplishes several things: 1. A survey of potential users for types of products at this faality; 2. Organ¢ational struda~n: of this entity -Orange, Chatham, Alamance, and Dufiam Counties; Weaver Stmt Market; and Whole Foods. The consultant will come forward with some ideas of how this faality might be run. 3. Site selection options. George Luaer asked about the two counties that did not respond and Noah Rannells said that Caswell and Person Counties declined to partiapate, but they are interested in this idea Tom Vanderbeck asked about the value of the study and it was answered $15,000. He asked how this consultant was chosen and if all entities were involved. Noah Rannetls said that input was soliated from the other counties and he spoke with the Chatham Ag Advisory Board. There were then surveys mailed to all participants of the advisory group as well as the representatives from Chatham County. The survey was also distributed among local listservs and was available on Orange County's website. Commissioner Jacobs asked about the respondents - 64 from four counties -and why this is an indicator. Noah Rannells said that he talked with Smithson Mills today, who said that the response rate was very good and very diverse. The response to the survey indicates a strong demand for this type of faality. George Lucier asked about the next steps and Chair Carey said that once they get the final report and the recommendations, it would be a good time for the collective group to meet again. Mayor Chilton asked about the extent of the relationships with community colleges. Noah Rannells said that the last meeting was hosted by Alamance Community College Culinary Program. There has been an effort to invite Dufiam Tech, but the participation has been nil to this point. Alamance Community College is a strong partner. Chair Carey asked Noah Rannells what the jurisdictions should do between now and when the report is submitted, and Noah Rannells said that there is opportunity now for informal discussion and thought and not to allow this to lose steam. He said that he understands that Senator Ellie lGnnaird is looking at pulling together a meeting to examine the bill she put in and what it might change to in the next session. There is also an interest in having a representative from each of the County Commissioner bodies to get together in a smaller group to talk about the results of the study. Commissioner Jacobs said that it would be good to have one Commissioner from each jurisdiction to be engaged in this process. He said that Orange Courrty put in its legislative goals last year $1.5 million for avalue-added agriculture center. He said that there is an opportunity to get 3-4 congressmen involved in this to get this written into the federal budget It would be a lot more effective if multiple Commissioners from multiple counties were involved. George Luaer volunteered Tom Vanderbedc to be part of this advisory board for the Value Added Agricultural Products Processing Center. Chair Carey volunteered Commissioner Jacobs. Dan Engals was volunteered from Alamance County. 3. Reoional WaterlWatiershed Protiection Issues 3 ~~ • Review of documents requested and provided by Chatham County and OWASA George Lucier said that his understanding is that the Chatham County staff is working with OWASA and other entities to see what needs to be done to facllitate a regional water supply out of Jonian Lake for the western intake. Ed Kerwin said that there has not been n~ent activity on the intake issue, but there has been some work on the other study that was discussed about connections. OWASA Director of Planning Ed Holland said that at the August 14~' meeting, there was information about a small study that OWASA was particlpating in with the City of Dufiam and the Town of Cary. This study is about how the irrterconnections between OWASA, Cary, and Dufiam might be optimized or upgraded for these three jurisdictions. Chatham County expressed an interest in possibly particlpating. There has been some work on this. The discussions were left that Chatham County would not be a formal particlpant in this study, because.some of the information does not exist yet, but they would approach how Chatham County could be served with this interconnection. The work is moving forward. George Lucier left at 6:54 p.m. Ed Kerwin said that this is a very important topic with the drought. Last week's rain only increased OWASA's water supply by less than one percent. It is important to discuss water issues all the time and not just when there is a drought. Charlie Home said that, in his mind, what Chatham County is faced with is riparian. rights and issues surrounding that. He said that Jordan Lake is seen as full and all are going to look at it as the answer to their water problems. Commissioner Jacobs asked what sense of urgency OWASA was getting from the State for n~ional planning for Jordan Lake. Ed Kennrin said that the Governor's Office is taking the strategy seriously, and the Policy Advisor facilitated a meeting last week that he attended along with others to discuss the water crisis and the need for a more unified message about conservation. He said that utilities do not have a simple answer for this. The other issue is funding for regional water systems. Carolyn Efland said that UNC was asked to send copies of its water bills to the State immediately. Today the n:sponsibility was put under Crime Control and Public Safety that the State's emergency response group is now managing the drought. She thinks the message is that the State takes it seriously. She said that right now the reservoir is way lower than it was befon: the 2002 drought, so by next summer, the State could be in dire straits. She is worried that the citizenry does not real'¢e this. She said that there was so much discussion about n:caimed water use, and after the 2002 drought, there was a lot of serious work on it This is just now .under construction and will not be ready until 2009. She said that this is seven years fi om when they really got serious about reclaimed water use. Mayor Chilton said that seven years is good for developing anything of this magnitude. Mayor Chilton made reference to the western irrtake issue and asked, if they were able to work on this together, what kind of timetable would Chatham County need. Charlie Home said that Chatham's need for water will be quicker than Dufiam and OWASA's need, and the timeframe at this point is that Chatham will need it within the next 10- 15years. There is an effort now to increase the allocation from Jordan Lake. Mayor Chilton said that Chatham County, OWASA, Orange County, and the City of Dufiam have an allocation from Jordan Lake. Ed Kennrin said that OWASA is working hard to not ever need water from Jordan Lake, but it wants to keep the allocation. Based on the current planning, then: is a greater risk of shortage before the quarry reservoir comes online in the 2030's. OWASA's interest is preserving some future flexibility and minimizing any expense for that 4 Chair Carey asked if there has been any facilitation of discussion at the State level about decisions on the intake and Charlie Home said that he is not aware of anything at this point. Chatham County is in active discussions with the State about increasing the allocation. Mayor Chilton said that it seems that all want to work with Chatham County to make something happen and that there ought to be an interconnection. The question is how to move toward addressing details. He asked about the Army Corps' interest in having only one large intake. Ed Kerwin said that he thinks it was for good resource management. Mayor Chilton said that the bottom-line goal of this process should be that the actions of the local governments would increase the qual"rty of water in Jordan Lake and Haw River. He said that eventually it would be good if Pittsboro's drinking water supply came from Jordan Lake rather than directly from Haw River. This would allow a larger section of Haw River to become free-flowing. Tom Vanderbeck said that this drought has highlighted the preciousness of drinking water and he would like to highlight the need for better reuse of water. He thinks that UNC and OWASA have set the bar high as far as reuse water. Chair Carey asked about the collective action and next steps. Mayor Chilton said that it might be helpful to have a conversation with elected ofFiclals in Chatham County about the land use plans for northeast Chatham County. Charlie Home said that Chatham County is hard at work revising land use plans to get a better standard. He said that there should be more information in about 3-4 months. Commissioner Jacobs said that it might be worth asking that Chatham County and OWASA staff give a few immediate requests that Orange County could make to the State government that might move some of the derision-making forvwani. He suggested putting together a letter from the elected ofFidals to the Governor. He said that the drought situation could be thought of as the state of affairs as opposed to a crisis just this year. Carl Thompson arrived at 7:28 p.m. Chair Carey said that it seems that some of the watershed protection issues are premature and there are some processes that an: working their way through the pipeline. When these have been put in place, there can be more discussion. 4. Joint Parks/Ooen Suave AcauisitioNDevelo~ment • . Update on Chapel Hill. Southern Park/Chatham shared use discussions Roger Standl said that Mayor Foy and George Lucler have not had time to work on this yet. 5. Transportation PlanninsUPublic Transportation • Update on OPT/CTN/Chapel Hill Transit Coordination discussions AI Teny said that in May 2007, Steve Spade, Chapel Hill Transit Director, and he met with a consulting firm to discuss the opportunity to be included in the Regional Triangle Development Plan, which is the Durham-Wake-Orange County consolidatioNcoordination effort between the community transportation systems. The goal is to include Chapel Hill Transit's EZ- Rider service in an effort to coordinate or consolidate Orange Public Transportation and EZ- Rider into one service for one county. Wake and Dufiam Counties have one community transportation system. Orange County has two because of the rural and urban sectors. He said that there was a very successful discussion, and it will be included in the recommendations that NCDOT look at this and -pass it down to the governing bodies of each area. Since then, the 15 5 Triangle Regional Development Plan process has been watered down due to the fad that the Assistant Director of DOT retired, and the two consultarrts changed fines. Three weeks ago, he met with Steve Spade and derided to continue this conversation to see haw Orange Public Transportation could coordinate its efforts with EZ-Rider since OPT is encroaching into the urban area every day. At this time, the costs of the finro services are being compared. There is a lot of diffen:nce in the costs because of the overhead. He has not had any discussions with Chatham Transit Network representatives because there have not been any requests from Orange Public Transportation to encroach into Chatham County. Tom Vanderbeck said that Chatham Transit Network is in Orange County on a daily basis. He suggested that there might be some economies of scale and coordination. AI Teny said that one of the first things to look at is the cxamputer software package for the transportation system. The different systems must be compatible if this is going to work. Carl Thompson asked if the entities wanted to work together on the door~o-door service. Charlie Home said that he and Steve Spade have met and the discussion up to now has been centered on UNC employees. There is some initial groundwork. AI Terry distributed abrochure - TTA 420 -and said that the coordinated efforts between two different transit agencies can be handled through a process. He said that TTA funds Orange County 75°~ of this route. The route is operated by Orange County because the overhead is so low. Mayor Chilton said that Chapel Hill's EZ-Rider program is so well run and he would hope that this would not result in a decrease in the quality of service provided to the Chapel Hill cierrts. AI Teny said that there is a big difference infixed route service and community transportation. Community transportation is very personal, and urban transit systems are not. He said that this effort could do nothing but widen the mobility of the same clients and not reduce the service level. AI Terry said that another issue is that then: is a cer'tfication process that all transit agenries have to have for DSS clients, elderly cierrts, or disabled clients. None of the certfication processes are the same for the agendes. He said that he and Steve Spade are going to formulate a very similar process between Chapel Hill Transit and Orange Public Transportation. Tom Vanderbeck asked if Chatham County was part of the feasibility study that fell apart and AI Teny said no, that it was the elected offirials of Durham, Wake, and Orange Counties that made the derision to have the study and DOT is funding the study 100°ib. He said that DOT is looking to regionalize many transit agencies within the State. There will be some- funding incentives for agenries that have r+egional'¢ation efforts in transportation. Commissioner Jacobs said that one of the possibilities would be to have all three agenries combined to be under TTA Durham and Wake seem really different from the way Orange Courrty does things. Mayor Chilton said that one of the issues is that Chatham County is not part of TTA's service area. Also, UNC has a parlk-and-ride lot just in Chatham County. He asked about this service and Carolyn Efland said that they did run their own buses until this year, and now Chapel Hill runs the buses. Roger Stanril said that Chapel Hill Transit is talking with Chatham County about a faced route service between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro. This is being coordinated with TTA. Chair Carey asked about the next steps. Carl Thompson said that his Chatham board needs to look at the options to become mon: involved, and task the Transit Director and Manager to make a recommendation to the Chatham County board. The ball is in Chatham County's court. {!o 6 1"~ Charlie Home said that there are a lot of things to consider in setting up public transit, such as land use management. There are some fundamental questions to answer as Chatham County is growing. 6. Joint Plannino Planning Director Craig Benedict said that the Managers and Planning Directors have met a flew times since the last joint meeting to discuss who could be involved in joint planning, the topics of interest, etc. He reviewed the handout, as shown below: Joint Planning 1. Who are the potential ..partners? Oransre County Chatham County Courrty County Chapel Hill Pittsboro Carrboro Siler City Hillsborough Cary Goldston Other UNC OWASA Durham City/County Planning 2 Who should work on this? Orange and Chatham County Planners can take the lead to inflate the program. 3. Methods of Sharing Information among Governments Bi-Mo~hly Staff Meetings- Planners meet and/or conference call on a Bi-monthly basis. Discussions include primarily iwo areas; • sharing of planning concepts and possible coordinated government efforts • discussion of developments, projects and the respective impacts. Other department staff may also attend depending on the topic. Shared Website- Orange Courrty Planning will be asking County Information Tech Department if there is a host website that can house updates from multiple jurisdictions. Reports will be posted regarding meeting topics. Development Updates- Development activity and proposals will be posted in a timelier manner and adjacent GIS can forward my email to everyone for comment Special Work Groups- If government staff is meeting or directed to meet on a particular topic (i.e. UNC transportation-park and ride, Jordan Lake Intake, parks). A briefing of the meeting and partidparrts will be included on the website. Tiered PrioritiesNlThat Topics? At this time planners are not proposing thresholds of review~mpact or spedficareas of information exchange but a pilot program to share growth management information. Collaborative Planning Topics 1) Transportation 2) Utilities 3) Land Use Planning 4) Watier Resources 5) Parks and Environment 6) iMappinglGlS 7) Housing Commissioner Jacobs said that at TJCOG meetings, there have been discussions of developments of regional impact. He said that it would be nice to be able to discuss issues at a more formal level. Developments at county lines are perfect examples. Chair Carey said that the suggestion of a phased approach is good. Craig Benedict said that a representative from OWASA and UNC also came to one of the nrgional planning meetings. The intent is to keep these important players involved. Carl Thompson agreed that there should be discussions between the jurisdictions, because growth in western Chatham County is coming fast. Mayor Chilton said that this issue is woven into the previous issues of water supply and transit. He said that there should be a shared vision for what the 15-501 corridor will be like and what kind of transportation should be here. He said that public transportation would be affected by what type of developments will be built along this corridor route. Tom Vanderbedc said that Chatham County is working on a corridor ordinance and 15- 501 is one of the corridors. Development along there got ahead of the convent County Commissioners, so they are playing catch up. Commissioner Jacobs said that years ago there was a meeting with elected officlals from Chatham and Orange Counties and some of the people from Orange County were basically saying that they would not help Chatham County grow irresponsibly and that they would not help Chatham County with water. He said that Orange County realizes that the current Chatham County Board of Commissioners is a different group and there is a change. He said that both Chapel Hill and Carrboro Boards want to facllitate communication with Chatham County also. He said that he has confidence that the Chatham County Board of Commissioners is working to get someplace good. All other elected offidals need to know that Orange County and Chatham. County are partners in spirit as well as geography. . Tom Vanderbeck said that the next meeting with Chatham County and TTA is November 1'~. Carl Thompson said that the convent land conservation and development plan has been a guiding light, and the board is intent on following that plan because this plan does outline areas in their county where then: should be conservation, etc. Mayor Chilton said that he represents Carrboro on the MPO-TAC, and one of the items Chatham County has put forward to the TAC for federal funding is the Northeast Chatham Roadway/Bicyde Plan. He would like to team more about this plan. Charlie Home said that when DOT does road widening or other modfications, as part of the expansion, it would widen the roadway to accommodate bicyclists. Mayor Chilton said that it would be good for the two counties to bring a more systematic approach to bicycle facllities between the Chapel HiIVCarrboro area and Pittsboro, and to identify a speclfic corridor between the two arras targeting for widening projects, but not along 15-501. He would suggest Jones Feny Road. Mayor Chilton said that another issue is the Haw River as a recreational resource. It is a State natural area now and it might become a State park. He has observed that there have been some signficant improvements for public access to the river along the bridges in Chatham ~S s and Alamanoe Counties. He would like to work on improving the access point that is in Orange Courrty. Chair Carey said that both of those projects could be topics that staff can informally discuss. Tom Vanderbeck said that Alamance County is also looking at this and there have been a lot of improvements on the access points. He said that this is worth looking into. 4. TDR Update strategic Grawtfi and Rural Conservation (Orange County will be responsible for update) Chair Carey said that Mayor Voller from P'ittsboro said at the last meeting that he was interested in TDR. He distributed and reviewed a brochure about this entitled, `Strategic Growth ~ Rural Conservation Plan.' This has been discussed in Orange County for some time, but small steps are being taken in order to do this in a manner that uses what the State can give (i.e., density bonuses). The goal is not to slow growth, but to direct it to the appropriate areas. Charlie Home asked if there was a formula for the swap and Craig Benedict said that there are ratios that have been developed. It is an elaborate program and the entire math has not been calculated yet. Tom Vanderbeck said that this would have been useful in Chatham County years ago. He sees Chatham County going with purchase of development rights. 7. Next Oroanaational Stet Chair Carey said that at the last meeting, then: was discussion of having certain joint meetings of full boards. He thinks that this may be appropriate at some point. He asked how to approach this. Mayor Chilton said that some items are short term and some are not. Chair Carey said that there is a need to keep appropriate groups informed as to what is happening. He asked if it would be appropriate to have the staffs meet, the Chairs and Vice- Chairs to meet informally, or to have the Chairs, Mayors, and Managers meet. Cari Thompson said that if the Chairs, Vice-Chairs, and Mayors continue to meet on a regular basis, there will be a decision at some point that the full boards could meet He does not think that a meeting of the full boards is needed yet. Commissioner Jacobs suggested considering a steering committee. There is an Assembly of Governments meeting in April, and maybe Chatham County could join this to focus on a mechanism such as sub-committees, etc. Mayor Chilton suggested going with a shorter list of topics to be covered in more depth. All agreed. 8. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:52 p.m. Moses Carey, Jr., Chair Iq Donna S. Baker Clerk to the Board ao 1 DRAFT MINUTES 2 3 Joint Meeting 4 Of . 5 Carrboro/Chapel HilUChatham County/Orange County/OWASA/Pitffiboro/UNC 6 February 21, 2008 7 7:00-9:00 p.m. 8 Southern Human Services Center 9 10 11 This meeting is a follow-up to our October 30, 2007 joint meetlng, in preparation for a 12 presentation to the Orange County Assembly of Governments. That meeting will 13 occur on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 7:30pm in the Southern Human Services Center 14 in Chapel Hill. 15 16 17 The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Orange County Board of Commissioners met for a Joint 18 Meeting with the Chair~ce-Chair from the Chatham County Boats of Commissioners, Chapel 19 Hill, Can'boro and P'dtsboro Mayor and Town Manager, Chair~ce-Chair/Executive Din:ctor of 20 OWASA, and a UNC representative on Thursday, February 21, 2008 at 7:OOpm at the Southern 21 Human Services Center in Chapel Hill. N.C. 22 23 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Bany Jacobs and Voe-Chair Valerie Foushee 24 COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blaclvnon, Assistant Managers Gwen 25 Harvey and Willie Best, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be 26 identified appropriately below) 27 CHATHAM COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair George Luaer, Vices-Chair Mike 28 Cross, and Commissioner Tom Vanderbedc 29 CHATHAM COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Courrty Manager Chariie Home 30 TOWN OF P17TSBORO STAFF PRESENT: TOWN OF PITTSBORO REPRESENTATIVES 31 ABSENT: Mayor Randy Voller and Town Manager Bill Terry 32 33 TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Roger Stanch 34 TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL REPRESENTATIVES ABSENT: Mayor Kevin Foy 35 TOWN OF CARRBORO REPRESENTATIVES: Mayor Mark Chilton 36 TOWN OF CARRBORO STAFF ABSENT: Town Manager Steve Stewart 37 OWASA REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: Executive Director Ed Kennrin 38 UNC REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: Carolyn Efland, Associate voe Chancellor for Campus 39 Services 40 41 1. Welcome and Introductlons 42 Chair Jacobs said that one of the purposes is to have an agenda at the next Assembly of 43 Governments meeting on March 31 ~. He said that there was some talk of forming asub-group 44 of elected ofliaals in the future. This may come up at the AOG meeting. 45 46 47 48 2. Res~ional WaterNVatershed Protection Issues 49 a. Drought - OWASA 50 Chair Jacobs said that the Orange County Commissioners do not know what has 51 transpired since the last meeting. ac 1 OWASA Executive Director Ed Kervvin said that the OWASA Chair had a family 2 emergency and sends his n~rets. He said that one of the outcomes of the earlier meeting of 3 this group was the request for Orange County and Chatham County staff to meet to see if there 4 was something that could be done in Raleigh about Jordan Lake. This meeting happened in 5 early February, and the outcome of that meeting; which inducted offirials from Chatham County, 6 Orange Courrty, Town of Cary, OWASA, City of Dufiam, and State stafF, was that the City of 7 Dufiam expressed strong desire to develop Jordan Lake as its next major increment of supply. 8 The Deputy City Manager of Dufiam said that Dufiam wanted to move quickly and was 9 planning to present this recommendation to the City Coundl, which happened today. There is a 10 draft nesolution, which was well n:ceived by the City Counril, and it will act on the na3olution at 11 the March 3n° meeting. The nesolution states support of Dufiam asking for additional allocations 12 from Jordan Lake and diret~s the City Manager to work with potential partners in Orange 13 Courrty, OWASA, and Chatham Courrty in looking at developing an intake on the western side 14 of Jordan Lake. Also, since one of Dufiam's water treatment plants is nearing the end of its 15 useful life, Dufiam may be interested in having the water treatment farility at this site also. If 16 the resolution is passed, it will be sent to potential partners. He said that the OWASA board 17 next week would discuss this. He said that it is worth noting now that Jordan Lake is full. 18 George Lurier said that he thinks this is great and Chatham County has been interested 19 in getting a western intake. With this n~ional approach, he is supportive of this proposal. 20 Mark Chilton said that he does not share in this enthusiasm because he is ~roncemed 21 about what will be done with the water from a joint intake. He said that Chatham Courrty has 22 shown a wise usage of water that may come from this lake and he does not get the same 23 feeling from local governments in Dufiam and Wake Counties. He said that there needs to be 24 a connection between the notion of a shared intake at Jordan Lake and a good land use plan 25 that emphases sustainable growth. He said that Orange and Chatham Counties are moving 26 toward this type of growth, but he is not sure about Dufiam and Wake Counties. He is excited 27 about collaboration with Chatham County on water sharing, but he has a lot of reservations with 28 the City of Dufiam getting irnolved. Urrtil he sees the governments in Dufiam committing to a 29 pattern of growth that is more oriented towards pedestrians, bicydes, public transportation, etc., 30 then he will not be comfortable. He said that to provide water to those entities with no vision for 31 sustainable growth would be a mistake. He said that if this is going to move forward with an 32 intake on Jordan Lake, it is not just a derision of the OWASA board, but one that should be 33 made by all boards - OWASA, Orange County, Chapel Hill, and Can'boro. He said that a 34 resolution is needed from each board supporting this before it should happen. 35 Chair Jacobs said that he warrts to start making a list of things the entities would want to 36 accomplish by entering into a partnership like this. It is in Orange County's and Triangle J's 37 legislative goals that if the State is going to give money toward water and sewer infrastructure, 38 that it should require that those who use the State monies enact permanent conservation for 39 water supplies. He said that Dufiam has already started to lower its restrictions because the 40 water level has come up a little bit He would like to have some constructive conversation about 41 this. ti will be an issue in the Dufiam County Commissioners' race. He said that he knows that 42 Chatham County Commissioners are oonsrious of the growth. 43 George Lurier said that he agreed with Mark Chilton's comments, and sustainable land 44 use plans an: important in a project of this magnitude. 45 Ed Kerwin said that he is not in a rush to see the OWASA system drawing water out of 46 Jordan Lake, but it is good to know that if they need it, it will be there. 47 Mark Chilton said that these conversations have been going on for about a year with 48 Orange and Chatham, and if Dufiam is added, it does open up a lot of additional questions. He 49 is not comfortable with the proposed resolution at this time. He sees that the overall philosophy 50 and approach is that environmental protection and smart growth are a complete afterthought for 51 many colleagues to the east. as 1 Mayor Foy said that, from Chapel Hill's point of view, it has a very strong interest in land 2 use planning collaboration. He said that Briar Chapel will have an impact on Chapel Hill, but 3 Chapel Hill has no say-so in that development To the east aF Chapel Hill is prime, developable 4 land, and Chapel Hill has a very strong interest in getting Dufiam to listen because it has a S huge impact on NC 54, I-40, etc. He said that if water is the catalyst for the ability to have 6 influence, then it is fine with him. He thinks that n~ional planning takes place on a theoretical 7 level and not a practical level. He does not want to miss an opportunity with this possible 8 collaboration. 9 Mark Chilton said that he is not saying to not have the conversation with Dufiam, but the 10 timeline may be a long one. He said that this intake could very well happen without Durham. 11 George Luger said that he does not bel"rave that is the case, and there needs to be a 12 regional approach with Dufiam. 13 It was said that any intake would be managed by DENR and it will not be owned by one 14 entity. 15 Ed Kervvin said that is consistent with his understanding, but it could be awned and 16 operated by a single entity with agreements in place that assures equal and fair access. He 17 said that, with or without OWASA, he believes that this is going to happen and Dufiam is going 18 to do this. This is why it is important to work hard with the elected officials. He does not want to 19 be left behind. 20 Chair Jacobs agn:ed with Mark Chilton's views of the way Dufiam grows. He said that 21 he has always seen this discussion as an opportunity for OWASA to have another source of 22 water. He also sees it the way Mayor Foy does regarding collaboration and leverage with 23 Dufiam. 24 Mayor Foy said that if OWASA runs out of water, then it would pull water out of Haw 25 River, which is Jordan Lake. He said that Ed Kerwin mentioned that it would cost $8 million to 26 get them to a place where they would have water in an emergency. 27 Ed Kerwin said that there would be very little infrastructure needed for OWASA because 28 it is already interconnected with the .City of Dufiam's water system. The worst-case scenario is, 29 if rainfall remains extremely low this year, that when the reservoirs reach a 15% level, OWASA 30 would put a temporary above-ground system to pump water from the Haw River to Cane Creek 31 Reservoir. The upfront costs to install that would be over $2 million. He said that the OWASA 32 board is fully committed to making the best use of the local resources. 33 In answer to a question from Chair Jacobs about adding Pittsboro to the partnership as 34 they move fonnrard, George Lucier said yes. 35 Mark Chilton said that the goal of this process should be to eliminate Pittsboro's intake 36 on the Haw River, which is one of the things that causes the need to keep in place the dam at 37 Bynum, which is not an environmental benefd to the Haw River. George Luger agreed. 38 Chair Jacobs said that this is another thing to add to the list of negotiating factors. 39 Mark Chilton said that he worries that certain State entities in Orange County that an: 40 only modesty under the regulations of the local govemmerrts will see this as a justification for 41 more growth in their activities. There will be a cronsequential result on school systems, road 42 infrastructure, etc. 43 Chair Jacobs asked about the next steps staff is envisioning for this process. He asked 44 if everyone would be asked to endorse this resolution. 45 Ed Kervvin said that when and if the Dufiam City Counal approves this at the March 3rd 46 meeting, then it will be communicated to the elected boards involved. He needs the OWASA 47 board to authorize him to engage in these discussions with local entities. 48 Chair Jacobs said that he would like to add this to the agenda of the AOG on March 31 ~`. 49 He said that OWASA should be at the AOG meeting. a3 1 Mark Chilton said that local governments outside of the region are also looking at Jordan 2 Lake for their water supply and this concerns him. An example is the Piedmont Triad Regional 3 Water Authority. 4 Chair Jacobs said that the News and Observer had an editorial last week about how 5 Raleigh better go and get some water out of Jordan Lake. 6 Charlie Home said that when this allocation process opens up, those entities 7 downstream on the Cape Fear will also have a chance to be invohred. 8 George Luaer said that Chatham County would be meeting with its legislative delegation 9 and will discuss this draft, and he will also discuss this with his board.. He said that this could 10 also be discussed with the Town of Pittsboro and its Counal. 11 12 b. Jordan Lake -Coordinated Water Allocation and Planning 13 c. Jordan Lake Rules 14 Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stanch said that he would speak 15 to these rules, but as of today they got word from the Division of Water Quality that there is a 16 ~ plan to take the Jordan Lake rules to the May 8'" meeting of the Environmental Management 17 Commission. He antiapates that those revised rules will be available in early April. 18 Chair Jacobs said that Orange County, Chapel Hill, and Chatham County have spoken 19 against these revised rules. Orange County also had some speafic concerns about how it 20 might affect some of the open space. Some of the requin:mer~ts imposed might make it more 21 difficult to pursue agriculture, especially in the rural buffer. 22 Chair Jacobs suggested that staff compile the similarities and differences of the 23 commenrts from these boards about the Jordan Lake rules, so that the differences could be 24 discussed, in the spirit of building partnerships. 25 26 d. Regional WaterNVatershed Protection Issues 27 Craig Benedict showed a map of the County with the Cape Fear basin. With these new 28 rules coming forwani, it is likely that Orange County will have to have additional land use 29 regulations. He said that it will be diffik:ult to achieve the 3596 reduction level that is being 30 proposed. 31 Chair Jacobs said that at the AOG, there will be a pn.sentation on the process and then: 32 will be discussion and direction for OWASA. 33 Mayor Foy verfied that the list of comments from each board on the Jordan Lake rules 34 would be written. Chair Jacobs suggested that the Manager could get together with Ed Kerwin. 35 Mayor Foy asked George Luaer about anything written from Cary and George Luaer 36 said yes. Mayor Foy said that this would be good background information to have. 37 Mark Chilton said that it would be helpful to summarize each local govemmenYs water 38 conservation measures. 39 40 3. Value Added Agricultural Products Processing Center Update and Discussion 41 42 a. February 19, 2008 Board of County Commissioners Resolution~upport for 43 a Piedmont Regional Share Use, Value-Added Food and Agricultural Processing Center 44 Chair Jacobs said that four counties, Whole Foods, and Weaver Street contributed to 45 doing a feasibility study n:garding this faality. The consultant did a nice job and made some 46 recommendations. A Commissioner from each of the four counties met to discuss the 47 recommendations. Alamance County passed a resolution indicating its support to continue. 48 Orange County's was on the blue sheet. The consultant identified the old Orange Enterprise 49 building in Hillsborough as the best location for this faafity. The Board agreed to set aside this 50 building for the facility. Orange County is waiting to hear bads from Chatham and Durham 51 Counties. There could possibly be a meeting between Orange County representatives, Senator 0 1 IGnnaird, and Representative Faison, who have introduced separate bills in the legislature to 2 fund this center. Orange County has also approached Congn~sman Price. 3 Noah Rannells said that that some assistance has been received from the American 4 Farm Trust Southeast Representative Jeny Cohn in helping to build a strategy. He pointed out 5 the backside of the resolution, which has 13 points provided by the consultant to help move the 6 process forward. The target dates were put in by Orange County staff. From a producer 7 perspective, the plan is to have 501(c)3 status and begin trying to get some commitment from a 8 project manager to help steer this forwward. 9 George Luder said that Tom Vanderbedk has been attending these meetings and he will 10 be reporting to the Chatham Courrty Commissioners on this. 11 Noah Ranells said that Dufiam is trying to get this issue on one of the upcoming 12 agendas. 13 Chair Jacobs pointed out that Orange County has been working on this for nine years. 14 Mark Chilton said that there is a UNC student organ¢ation that is interested in this. 15 The resolution is shown below: 16 17 RESOLUTION 18 Support for a Piedmont Regional Shaved Use, Vale Added, Food and Agricultural 19 Processing Center 20 21 WHEREAS, the recent tobacco buyout program has left many farmers seeking economically 22 profitable alternative enterprises to allow them to remain farming; and, 23 24 WHEREAS, the probmity of Alamance, Chatham, Durham, and Orange Counties to markets for 25 value added products is signficant given ebstence of local farmers' markets, grocers, 26 restaurateurs, and food service managers that buy local farm products; and, 27 28 WHEREAS, added value products provide a means to retain economically viable, thriving farms 29 in Alamance, Chatham, Dufiam, and Orange Counties, benefiting our rural character and 30 agricultural heritage, and contributing to the health and high quality of life; and, 31 32 WHEREAS, shared use value added processing centers require careful planning and strong 33 collaborations to be successful; and,. 34 35 WHEREAS, a feasibility study funded by Alamance, Chatham, Dufiam, and Orange Counties, 36 as well as Weaver Street Market and Whole Foods, was completed in November 2007, and, 37 38 WHEREAS, the survey responderrts incuded 36 percent fruit and vegetable growers, 27 39 percent livestock producers, and 28 percent specalty food producers, caterers, or 40 restaurateurs, who together currently produce 74 food items, and in the future desire to produce 41 112 distinct products; and, 42 43 WHEREAS, the feasibility study indicates diem use at the faclity can reach 142 production 44 hours per week in one year and would generate more than $150,000 in fees in years 2 and 3 of 45 operation, and gross income generated by diems using the fadlity would be between $800,000 46 and $1.2 million per year, and, 47 48 WHEREAS, the feasibility report detailed 13 action items that will ensure that the center can 49 open in 2009; 50 51 NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners: as 1 2 1) Agree to participate in a regional, multi--county, value-added shan:d-use food and 3 agricultural processing center; 4 2) Formally alkx~te the former Orange Enterprise Building on Valley Forge Road in 5 Hillsborough for development of a n~ional value-added shared-use food and agricultural 6 processing center, 7 3) Recommend that the governing board of the Center become a 501(c)3; and 8 4) Agree that the Shansi monetary compensation for the Valley Forge Road property ('darn 9 2 above) will be determined later and request that equitable fiscal support among 10 partners be pursued that recogn¢es the allocation of the Orange Enterprise building 11 owned by Orange County. 12 13 .This the 19'" day of February 2008. 14 15 4. Joint Parks/Open Space AcouisitioNDevelopment 16 a. Southern Park 17 Mayor Foy said that it is almost finished, but there is a hold up on the fields because of 18 the watering issue. 19 Roger Stanal said that the staff is looking at drilling a well, artifiaal turt, or trucking water 20 in. 21 Mayor Foy said that he and George Lucier were supposed to talk and George Lucier 22 said that the respective Recreation and Parks Departments were supposed to get together and 23 discuss this. 24 Chair Jacobs suggested having a report by March 31 ~ for the AOG meeting and Mayor 25 Foy agreed. Chair Jacobs said there is a U. S. Communfies entity that counties can use to get 26 a group rate for different products, and the newest product is artfiaal turf. Orange County has 27 been talking about putting artfiaal turt at Smith Middle School fields, and it is about $1.5 million. 28 29 b. Potential Greenway between Chatham and UNC 30 Dave Stanal said that Recreation and Parks Director Lori Taft had told him that there 31 had been some conversation about a pedestrian corridor/greenway tying into the Southern 32 Village area of Chapel Hill. He did not know anything further about this. 33 34 c. Jordan Lake Natural Area (macrosite) 35 Dave Stanal said that staff is continuing to work with some property owners. This would 36 build on existing open space. This natural area extends into Chatham and Durham. There is 37 slow but sure progn.ss. 38 39 5. Transportation PlanninsUPublic Transportation 40 -Regional Planning Organization 41 -Special Transportation Advisory Committee 42 43 Roger Stanal distributed a memo from Steve Spade, Transit Director, to him about an 44 update on staff activities n:lated to Chatham Courrty Transit Service. Several service options 45 are considering medications to the current Chatham County Express to serve the University, 46 operation of an express route reaching further into Chatham County from Chapel Hill, and the 47 introduction of vanpool service. There should be a more complete report in late .March. 48 Chair Jacobs asked when Orange Courrty and Hillsborough would be engaged regarding 49 Carolina North. ~ Roger Stanal said that he is having conversations with OPT about cooperative 50 arrangements between Chapel Hill Transit and OPT. 0 1 AI Teny said that there have been several meetings with Steve Spade, and one of the 2 options is using some new Freedom Funds from the Metropolitan Planning Organ¢ation that 3 would give an inner-city senior route that would get the seniors to more populated areas and 4 ease up on the EZ Rider service that normally carries the senior adults. There is no discussion 5 with OPT and .Chatham County at the moment 6 Chair Jacxabs said that, as far as Carolina North, this would be non-senior. Mayor Foy 7 said that Chapel Hill is just about finished with its bng-range transit plan, and it has implications 8 for the broader region. 9 Carolyn Efland said that there are some modeling issues with Carolina North and it may 10 be April before there is any more information on the transit issue. 11 Mayor Foy said that it fume out that the regional model numbers are bad because it says 12 that no one is riding the bus on Martin Luther IGng Boulevard, and this is wrong. The next step 13 will be engaging Orange and Chatham Counties. 14 Chair Jacobs said to make sure and engage Hillsborough. 15 Craig Benedict said that Orange Courrty put together an Orange Unfied Transportation 16 Advisory Board last year, and some of these topics could be broached at these meetings. 17 Then: are representatives from Chapel Hill, Can'boro, and Hillsborough. 18 Mayor Foy said that UNC is very interested in Alamance County because it has a lot of 19 employees there. 20 AI Teny said that Alamance County Transit Authority accesses Chapel Hill through US 21 70 and NC 86. There is another transit agency that goes into Chapel Hill called Piedmont Area 22 Regional Transit, which is an express route for commuters. This is an option of looking at 23 another agency coming into our area. 24 25 6. Joint Plannins~ 26 Method of sharing information among governments 27 Bi-monthly meetings 28 Shan3d website 29 Special word groups 30 Tiered Priorities 31 o Collaborative Planning Topics 32 o TransportatioNUtilities Land Use Planning 33 Water resounres 34 Housing 35 Parks and environment 36 Mapping/GIS 37 38 Chair Jacobs asked where this was left off last time and Roger Stanch said that Planning 39 Directors have been meeting. 40 Craig Benedict said that they have been working on a shared website for joint planning. 41 There have been discussions with the Information Technology departmerrts. The Planning 42 Directors are meeting on a regular basis to talk about these topics in general. 43 Chair Jacobs asked how to move forward with making something happen. Craig 44 Benedict said that then: could be a resolution at the AOG meeting. 45 Mayor Foy said that he is interested in Cary and Chatham and what they are doing, and 46 their joint planning. There is also a work group with Durham. He would like to know what could 47 be done in this regard. 48 George Luaer said that the work with Cary came out of the annexation issue. He said 49 that at one time Cary was more environmentally conscious about planning than Chatham and 50 now it is the other way around. He thinks there are some river protection issues with the Haw 51 River. There an: some areas that the governmental entities need to work on together. a~ 1 Craig Benedict said that he would try and have a scope by the AOG meeting. 2 Mayor Foy said that there are elected people in both counties that view their obligations 3 similarly and there are mutual interests. He said that Chapel Hill's agreement with Orange 4 County makes them stick to their borciers and then: should be something like this with Chatham 5 County. 6 George Lacier said to identify specfic areas and have a Memorandum of Understanding, 7 which establishes a precedent. Mayor Foy agreed. 8 9 7. Neat Organizational Steps 10 Chair Jacobs said that this information will be brought to the Assembly of Governments 11 meeting. He asked if the boards wanted to set up a group to talk about issues, or create 12 something like this that is ongoing without the Mayors/Chairs/Managers. 13 Commissioner Foushee said that it was discussed to create something that did not have 14 to be the Mayors/Chairs/Managers. 15 Chair Jacobs said that it would be other elected officals on the respective boards. 16 It was suggested to leave it to the AOG to discuss. Everyone agn~ed. 17 18 8. Adioumment 19 The meeting was adjourned at 8:55:10 PM. 20 21 , Bany Jacobs, Chair 22 23 Donna S. Baker, CMC 24 Clerk to the Board ~'/ APPROVED 6/24/2008 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ASSEMBLY OF GOVERNMENTS March 31, 2008 The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session for an Assembly of Governments meeting on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Moses Carey, Jr., Valerie P. Foushee, and Alice M. Gordon COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Mike Nelson COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon and Assistant County Managers Gwen Harvey and Willie Best and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be identified appropriately below) CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Kevin C. Foy and Council Members Sally Greene, Mark Kleinschmidt, Jim Ward, Bill Strom, Bill Thorpe, and Ed Harrison and Laurin Easthom, Matt Czajkowski CHAPEL HILL TOWN COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Mark Chilton and Aldermen Joal Hall Broun, Dan Coleman, Randee Haven-O'Donnell, and Jacquelyn Gist, Lydia Lavelle and John Herrera CARRBORO BOARD OF ALDERMEN MEMBERS ABSENT: HILLSBOROUGH TOWN COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Mayor Tom Stevens and Council Members Frances Dancey, Brian Lowen, Michael Gering, and Eric Hallman HILLSBOROUGH TOWN COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Evelyn Lloyd CHATHAM COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair George Lucier and Vice Chair Mike Cross OWASA REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: Chair Randy Kabrick and Executive Director Ed Kerwin MEBANE CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE: Everette Green DURHAM CITY REPRESENTATIVE: Mayor Bill Bell NOTE: All other participants are listed in the text as appropriate. NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. Call to Order/Introductions/Opening Comments Introductions were made. The pink sheets were meeting agendas from three joint meetings of Orange County and Chatham County/OWASA/UNC/Chapel Hill/Carrboro. There was also a map envisioning cooperative planning between Chatham and Orange Counties, as well as a simple Buckhorn Village map. 1~ Oranae/Chatham County Reaional Plannina Collaboration Report ~Y Chair Jacobs said that the topic of Orange/Chatham regional planning was raised at the last AOG meeting. Those present wished to know what was discussed at the joint meetings and they asked for a more formal structure. It was promised that a more full report would be brought back at the next AOG meeting. Staff will make initial presentations and then the elected officials present at the joint meetings could speak on these items, if they wish. Planning Director Craig Benedict said that, based on some previous meetings, staffs were asked to meet and discuss regional planning with Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, UNC, OWASA, Chatham County, and Pittsboro. During the discussions, it was realized that this regional perspective could also include such entities as the City of Durham, Durham County, and Cary. The areas of interest include land use planning, transportation, parks, open space, environment, and GIS information and mapping. Some of the areas of joint interest include Jordan Lake Watershed, Haw River Watershed, 15-501 Transportation Corridor, development of regional impact, and the regional value-added shared-use food and agricultural processing center. There was discussion about how best to share this information among staffs, elected officials, etc., as new information becomes available. He made reference to Attachment 1-a. Chair Jacobs said that the three main topics were regional watershed protection issues, transportation planning and public transportation issues, and joint. planning. He said that part of that discussion will include joint use of Jordan Lake water supply. There were also discussions about trying to get a compilation of the similarities and differences between the comments made on the Jordan Lake rules proposed. George Lucier said that the group talked about selecting specific projects rather than going too global in terms of the joint planning exercise. These could include the Haw River Watershed, Jordan Lake Watershed, 15-501 corridor, and planning for local parks -Southern Park would be an example. Chair Jacobs said that there was discussion about the interest of working together on some of these issues, and Chatham's Board was interested in the same things as Chapel Hill and Orange County, and this has not been the case in the past. Some of the discussions involved Carolyn Elfland from UNC, and public transportation was a major topic. George Lucier said that there are 12,000 houses that have been approved but not yet built in Chatham County, and many of them would use the 15-501 corridor. Jim Ward asked if there was interest in talking about a possible bypass around Chapel Hill coming from the south. He said that 15-501 is already a parking lot at times and there needs to be relief, and public transit cannot take all of these trips. George Lucier said that there is not enough financial capital, and this would have to get on the Transportation Improvement Plan with DOT. He said that DOT is deeply over committed and it is starting to delay projects. Jim Ward said to try and at least get it on the DOT's agenda. Commissioner Gordon said that she is a member of the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and in the next two meetings, the results of the transportation study will be available, which will address some of this area. She said that it would be timely to bring up the issue of a bypass when this study comes out. George Lucier said to bring it up at the next meeting of the MPO and Commissioner Gordon said that it would probably be in May. Bill Strom asked about an interlocal agreement. Craig Benedict said that in 1989 there was a proposed courtesy review agreement and he said with the boards' approvals, they could implement something like this and he said they could work towards a joint planning agreement. Bill Strom said that there should really be a joint planning agreement discussion on the table because there are joint interests. ~~ George Lucier suggested working towards a Memorandum of Understanding, or several MOAs. There could be one overarching agreement that would identify specific areas and then have subheadings. Chair Jacobs said that the AOG could direct staff to do this, but the subgroup did not feel that it was within its purview to do this. Dan Coleman said that the first step is to specify the details. Jacqueline Gist said that the horse is out of the barn and Carrboro's issue is how it is going to deal with the water and transportation issues. She is concerned about the commercial development along the 15-501 corridor, because it will impact Carrboro in many ways. George Lucier said that the Triangle J Council of Governments did a study that estimates that eastern Chatham County's population will grow by three to four fold over the next 25 years. There is a building moratorium right now on large residential developments that is scheduled to be lifted in June. During the year of moratorium, Chatham County has established a Major Corridor Ordinance, zoned all major corridors, completed four lanes on some highways, modified some subdivision ordinances and watershed ordinances, etc. Commissioner Gordon urged the AOG to implement a more formal process for these joint meetings than has been done in the past few months. She would like to see the meetings rotate among the various jurisdictions with a more formalized structure that allows more people to come and participate. Bill Strom said that if transportation is being discussed, then Triangle Transit should be brought to the table. Commissioner Gordon said that the Special Transit Advisory Commission is coming out with a new report about proposed transit routes. Regarding the joint meetings, she suggested that the elected officials who wished to attend should be able to attend. Chair Jacobs said that when staff comes back with a proposed Memorandum of Understanding, then it could include how to involve elected officials. Potential Joint Use of the Jordan Lake Water Supply Executive Director of OWASA Ed Kerwin said that Jordan Lake has been in OWASA's contingency planning efforts for about 20 years. In 2005, the OWASA Board adopted a goal, which said that it would work hard to maximize the local water resources. Key elements of that would be more proactive conservation and alternative supplies such as reclaimed water, which is a system that is now under construction and being funded by UNC. He said that they have also learned with the droughts that maximizing the existing resources will be a challenge. He said that the drought has continued since this group met last fall. Another key element is that the City of Durham on March 3~d passed a resolution, which is incorporated in the package, authorizing the staff to proceed with discussions with Orange County, Chatham County, and OWASA staff to explore the possible costs and benefits of a regional approach to Jordan Lake. Chair Jacobs said that this issue was raised originally at the first joint meeting to see if Chatham wanted to access water at Jordan Lake as opposed to going through Cary. Over the course of the conversations, at the last meeting it was learned that there was a discussion about Durham and Chatham working with OWASA to try and develop a regional intake because it is the best way for planning. Mark Chilfon arrived at 8:06 pm. Dan Coleman asked to hear from former OWASA Chair, Mark Marcoplos, on the strategic plan that was adopted in 2005 when he was chair. Joal Hall Broun said that she understood that the state had begun a procedure of reallocation of water in Jordan Lake, and she asked if this allocation process has been completed. Ed Kerwin said that there is not an open allocation process at this time, but there may be in the near future. 31 George Lucier said that there are about 38 million gallons per day that have not been allocated out of Jordan Lake. He thinks that the allocation from Jordan Lake will only happen if it is a regional intake with agreement among the major parties. Mayor Foy asked what happens if Greensboro gets an allocation. Ed Kerwin said that he does not believe that Jordan Lake is in Greensboro's plans. The key players are the City of Durham, Chatham County, and OWASA or Orange County. Kevin Foy said that he keeps hearing of conflicting verbiage about Greensboro and Raleigh wanting the water, but there are only two sites. He does not know how this will work. George Lucier said that having an intake and plan on the west side of the lake would simplify things for Chatham County. There will have to be decisions about this soon. Chair Jacobs said that some concerns were raised about Durham's participation and Mayor Bill Bell was in attendance for that reason. Bill Strom said that he has heard different scenarios with OWASA's allocation. He asked if OWASA does not use its 5 million gallon allocation, would it lose the allocation. Ed Kerwin said that he does not know. He said that the State was clear that there will only be one west intake on the lake and it needs to be through joint arrangement. He said that he does not believe that OWASA needs Jordan Lake for daily demands, but more as a backup supply. Bill Strom said that it is ironic and disturbing that, as good conservers, it puts OWASA at risk of losing its 5 million gallon allocation. He said that something is wrong if their conservation and land use planning is causing them to lose their "insurance policy" of the 5 million gallon allocation. Chair Jacobs said that when this issue was first raised, he understood that as long as Orange County was a part of this facilitation, it was perceived that they would have access to this allocation. The idea is that there is a continuum of possibilities. He agreed with Bill Strom that there should be some type of strategy so that Orange County is not totally excluded from yet another water supply and it is protecting it for the benefit of others. Mayor Chilton said that his concern about all of this is that OWASA has taken a good look at its future water usage. He asked if anyone knew how long Jordan Lake would sustain the demands of the Triangle municipal governments in meeting the water supply demands in the future. He said that it does not seem likely to him that the additional water supply in Jordan Lake will sustain the Triangle's demand for water for anything like the length of time for which OWASA has planned for water in the future. He said that once local governments have tapped into Jordan Lake and are drawing water out daily, there will not be any additional options for more water in the future. He does not want to mistake Jordan Lake in the region for along-term solution to the water supply. He thinks that there is a water consumption problem and not a water supply problem. He said that, in looking at OWASA's own projections, there will not be a serious water problem for about 20 years, and this only depends on how fast the service area grows. If the area grows less rapidly and conserves more, then OWASA might not have to tap into Jordan Lake at all. He wants to commit to avoid having to go to Jordan Lake except for an extreme emergency. Dan Coleman said that he is hearing that Jordan Lake should not be a permanent part of the regular water diet. He said that he would like to suggest the possibility to be clearer in the intentions to not have even the emergency access to the lake. He said that the middle of a drought might be a really good time to do growth planning. Jim Ward asked Ed Kerwin about OWASA's confidence level and Ed Kerwin said that a lot of experts believe that the climate change in the southeast is that there will be more precipitation, but there have been two record droughts in the last five years. He said that he is a bit uneasy about these predictions and OWASA will be revisiting its water planning and will align its tools with the government entity tools. Jacqueline Gist said that Mayor Chilton's comments were very well thought out and on target. She wants to know how these comments interface with what OWASA is doing. -~a Ed Kerwin said that a key theme was conservation and management and this will remain a key element in OWASA's plans. Chair Jacobs said that there was discussion at the school collaboration meeting that both school districts are looking at xeriscaping and reexamining the policy on watering lawns at schools. Bill Strom said that he wants to hear from Mark Marcoplos. He said that OWASA's plans are in response to Chapel Hill's land use plans. He said that if they want to take these steps to close that period of time where they are vulnerable to having a water shortage, etc., then they need to look at their land use plans, growth patterns, and ordinances and see how to adjust them in a sustainable way. Joal Hall Broun suggested that if boards want to participate, then each should go back and discuss this issue as to what they would or would not agree to and then determine whether or not they would like to come back and discuss it as a group. She does not have an opposition for staff to continue to talk about this, but she does not think that the issue of the positions of all five jurisdictions will be solved in this discussion. Chair Jacobs said that there seems to be general agreement that no one is proposing changing any policies within Orange County governments in relation to how supply is used. What has been raised is looking at use. He made reference to Resolution 9532 in the packet that proposes the idea that there continue to be work on some kind of intake on the west side, and whether or not OWASA is a party to the discussion. George Lucier said that the water conservation issue is essential, but in Chatham County there is an immediate issue of water use. Chatham County has to put out $15 million to upgrade the plant to use the current allocation out of Jordan Lake and then up to another $15 million to upgrade the distribution lines so that it can deliver the water. This will increase Chatham's water supply by about 2'/2 fold. This decision has to be made this summer and cannot be made any later than this. Mayor Bell said that he understands Mark Chilton's concerns. He said that Durham has no interest in using Jordan Lake except on an extreme emergency basis. He said that each entity needs to start planning, and the proposed resolution addresses this. He said that he would hope that the boards would agree to allow the discussions to continue. Randy Kabrick, Chair of OWASA Board, said that the board approved unanimously to cooperate with Chatham and Durham to look at a regional intake from Jordan Lake strictly as part of the water planning. There is no intention by the board to take allocations as part of a base load. He said that this is a long-term process. He encouraged all participants to support long-range planning, even if it involves a portion of Jordan Lake for emergency purposes. Mark Marcoplos said that he was on the OWASA board from 1999 to 2006 and went through the first drought and helped to craft the new conservation measures. He said that, after the drought of 2001-2002, he looked around astounded that OWASA was the only utility that was treating this as a very serious, highly changing event. As soon as possible after the drought, OWASA instituted year-round conservation and no other jurisdiction did this and it also began the discussions that led to tiered rates to encourage conservation. He said that the entities need to get the conservation and sustainability issues out there. He firmly believes that OWASA has the know-how to get through to when the quarry is available in 2030 with conservation, efficiency, use of storm water, sealing leaks in the system, etc. He does not think that Jordan Lake will be needed from OWASA's standpoint. Mark Kleinschmidt said that it is not in the AOG's interest to not participate in these discussions. He said that he would like to see them at the table discussing what efforts are being made in the neighboring counties and cities for water conservation and efforts. He would like to hear more about the water reuse plans and other plans. Bill Strom said that all understand that this conversation is going to take awhile to sift through and the Chapel Hill Town Council needs the opportunity to put its thoughts in a 33 resolution. There should be no action tonight. He wants to be able to give OWASA clear direction. Mayor Foy said that there should be acknowledgement and everything should be written down so that OWASA has a clear understanding of each entity's intentions. Mark Chilton said that if you read through all of the resolution there is only a passing mention of land usage and conservation. He said that he does not see the local government entities passing a resolution that speaks to the question of water supply without addressing conservation and efficiency as a simple part of the water supply plan. Chair Jacobs listed the elements that he has heard: whatever direction that is given to OWASA be written; address the issue of emergency access to Jordan Lake; compilation/discussion of current conservation efforts; and Chatham County would like some kind of answer this summer in order to move forward. He said that, in listening to the last part of the conversation, it might be useful for the boards in Orange County to draft an alternative resolution that addresses the same partnership, but in terms that make people feel more comfortable about a partnership. Ted Voorhees, Deputy City Manager of Durham, said that he was the author of the resolution. He said that it was Durham's intention to call out the fact that responsible land use planning will be an integral part. He apologized for not saying this well. He thinks that the City Council fully understood the relationship between land use planning and water demand. He said that Durham has been doing water conservation for a long time. Clarifying questions of various board members were answered by Ted Voorhees. Buckhorn Village Craig Benedict said that Buckhorn Village is a planned development zoning proposal that was submitted to Orange County fora 130-acre parcel located on I-85/I-40. He showed this area on a map. It is located within a land use designation of an Economic Development District. There is a public information process tomorrow night. Dan Coleman asked when action would be taken and Chair Jacobs said not tomorrow night. There is no deadline yet because neither the County Commissioners nor the Planning Board has had a chance to ask questions or make comments. Dan Coleman asked if transportation improvements had been identified yet and if the developer would pay for those and Chair Jacobs said that this has not been discussed yet. Chair Jacobs said that on April 29`h the JPA public hearing is scheduled, and there is almost always no item for this, and he would like to talk about the Greene Tract within the AOG. He suggested scheduling an AOG meeting on this date. All must bring forward some funding to the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund if they are going to access this property. Commissioner Carey suggested that staff make a list of issues that need to be discussed at this next meeting so that there is a clear focus of discussion. Commissioner Gordon suggested that each jurisdiction may want to discuss the Greene Tract ahead of time. The next meeting will be hosted by the Town of Hillsborough. Greene Tract Update DEFERRED Update on the 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) DEFERRED Written Updates (No Staff Presentations) a. County Comprehensive Plan b. Solid Waste Transfer Station Siting Process c. Land Trust Affordable Housing Maintenance Task Force d. County Capital Projects Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:33 pm. ~~ Barry Jacobs, Chair Donna S. Baker, CMC Clerk to the Board ~~ Orange County Environment ~ Resource Conservation 306-A Revere Road / PO Box 8181. Hillsborough, NC 27278 Phone: (919) 245-2590, Fax: (919) 644-3351 MEMORANDUM TO: Laura Blackmon, County Manager FROM: David Stancil, Environment and Resource Conservation Director DATE: September 5, 2008 RE: Jordan Lake Collaboration Working Group Manager's Meeting On August 27, a briefing was held by the Jordan Lake Collaboration Working Group for managers from the stakeholder jurisdictions. The meeting was attended by County Managers from Chatham and Orange, and City Managers of Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Pittsboro, Cary and Apex. The OWASA Executive Director (who is a member of the Working Group) was also present, as were staff members from Durham, Chatham, Orange, Cary and TJCOG. As you may recall, the Jordan Lake Collaboration Working Group is an effort sponsored and funded by the City of Durham to discuss and identify means for a collaborative regional mechanism for Jordan Lake water resources planning, new allocation requests and a coordinated western lake intake. Beau Mills, former aide to Governor Hunt and now a partner in the consulting firm of FountainWorks, was hired this spring to coordinate the effort. The purpose of the briefing was to inform the managers of the Working Group activity to date, provide context on the many challenges and opportunities that relate to the long- term use of Jordan Lake as a water supply, and request advice on a "gameplan" for approaching elected boards with athree-part proposal for further work: 1. A Memorandum of Agreement for regional water resource planning (including cost-shares for retaining FountainWorks in the coordinating role). This would include a regional water supply and demand strategic plan. 2. A strategy and sequence of activities toward new water allocation requests to the State Department of Water Resources, and 3. A strategy and sequence of activities toward a future water intake on the west side of the lake. ~6 Background materials on the working group and the contextual discussions to date are attached, as is a map of the regional water interconnections and a description from Triangle J COG on the allocation request process. It was noted that this western regional intake, the concept of which has been favorably received to date by the NC Division of Water Resources, may be the `last major water investment before buildout of the region. After reviewing the history of Jordan Lake and the rationale behind the Working Group, a number of suggestions were offered by the Managers. • Ways to tie the proposed water infrastructure and allocations to smart growth and conservation were discussed at some length, and the Orange County jurisdictions all noted that this was a key consideration from their perspective. It was agreed that a compilation of current water conservation and green building measures should be created, and that the Memorandum of Agreement should include language that addresses how the parties would ensure conservation and growth management while pursuing increased allocations and a western intake. • The NC Division of Water Resources has new leadership, but has been very positive about the potential for a regional, collaborative solution for this matter. • The Corps of Engineers has been contacted about the proposal and do not have any opposition (having sold the water rights to the State in the 1970's). • Fayetteville and the downstream jurisdictions, however, will be watching this process carefully, to see if it impacts their ability to increase withdrawals from the Cape Fear River. A contingent to visit these jurisdictions, at some strategic future point, was suggested to `keep them in the loop.' • A mechanism to share the progress and the proposals with the different jurisdictions was discussed. The Orange County Assembly of Governments meeting (on September 18) was identified as an opportunity for OWASA (along with Durham and FountainWorks) to share a status report. This could be followed by a regional "summit" after September 18, at a central location. • More discussion was needed on the kind of conservation measures that should be tied to the three-step process outlined above. A series of one-page papers, briefings and workshops was suggested in the different jurisdictions, as needed. • The concept of a partnership moving forward was a strong selling point to the Division of Water Resources, and efforts to continue as partners was noted as highly desirable to the jurisdictions as well. • Coordination of water conservation strategies was also suggested as a secondary part of the planning process, and a table of some current conservation ordinances was handed out. • One positive outcome suggested was a regional plan structure that allowed for phases of activity, and was flexible enough to allow for partners to move forward on allocations and future steps on their own (i.e., a basic level at which all parties would participate, with additional tiers that allow jurisdictions to define and revise the nature of the partnership at the points of ~~ infrastructure development - so that partners could opt in or out on the major investments that would come later in the process. • Another suggested positive outcome was a joint letter of request to the Environmental Management Commission (with the collaborative planning process in advance) on the allocation increases and regional intake. This would be supported by the Regional Water Supply Plan - with a joint understanding of water supply and demand issues and a common understanding as to why these steps are needed. At the conclusion of the meeting, OWASA offered to coordinate a presentation at the Assembly of Governments meeting on this subject (with Durham and FountainWorks incited to attend). The remaining jurisdictions would look to convene a regional water summit to discuss the matter further after the AOG meeting. It was also noted that FountainWorks contract with the City of Durham is slated to expire, and that in the spirit of regional collaboration, a Memorandum of Understanding will be proposed for continuing their role as facilitator (with some type ofcost-sharing among the jurisdictions to be determined). Please let me know if I can provide any additional information. TRIANGLE J COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS 4307 Emperor Boulevard, Suite 110 Durham, NC 27703 W o r l d Mailing Address: PO Box 12276 Research Triangle Park, NC 27769 ~,laS5 919.549.0551 FAX: 919.549.9390 Region www.t]cog.dst.nc.us Jordan Lake Allocation Process This document is intended to provide a general outline of the process for the Jordan Lake Partnership to obtain new or increased Jordan Lake water supply storage allocations from the Environmental Management Commission. The outline factors in the relationship between the allocation process and the development of a western intake facility on Jordan Lake. Develop a Regional Water Supply Plan • include all current Jordan Lake allocation holders • include all water systems connected to current Jordan Lake allocation holders • consists of water use demands projected to the year 2060, broken down by sector of use • consists of currently available water supplies and their capacities • consists of water supplies that are currently being developed and their capacities • identifies western Jordan Lake intake and its equity partners Submit a Formal Letter of Request for Jordan Lake Allocations • submit letter to the EMC and to DWR • include summary of Regional Water Supply Plan • describes the regional Jordan Lake Partnership Develop Jordan Lake Allocation Applications • each water system in the Triangle region will need to file separate applications • each application should reflect information in the Regional Water Supply Plan • each application satisfies the criteria specified by the NC Division of Water Resources Develop Interbasin Transfer Petitions • will be required for the Towns of Cary and Apex, and their associated water systems • may be required for Chatham County • will include an EIS in the case of Cary/Apex and an EA in the case of Chatham County • EMC must decide whether to separate allocation requests involving IBT from those that do not Preliminary Details for a Western Intake Facility • ,capacity of intake and associated facilities related to needs of equity partners, the Regional Water Supply Plan, and Jordan Lake allocations • initial scoping and cost estimate included in Jordan Lake Allocation Applications • preliminary design should be commissioned during Jordan Lake Allocation process • final design and engineering will occur following EMC's decision on Jordan Lake allocations MISSION STATEMENT To serve as an intergovemmenta! organization for local elected officials that works proactively on regional issues in order to sustain and improve the quality of life for our citizens. • - r ` • ~ e Irrigation Durham OWASA Chatham Co. Cary Raleigh OK to water lawns, grass, OK to water lawns, etc., 3 Irrigation limit at 1"/wk, Even/Odd addresses have Even/Odd addresses have trees, shrubbery, flowers, golf days/wk, 1-hour window, 1" Even/Odd addresses have different days for irrigation. different days for irrigation - greens or vegetable gardens 2 limit. Even/Odd addresses alternate days Watering by hand permitted 7 only 2 days/wk, 6 hour days/wk, 2 3-hour windows have different days days/wk window for non-automatic Rain Sensors required systems. Watering by hand No water ma be wasted ermitted 7 da s/wk Conservation Programs Durham OWASA Chatham Co. Cary Raleigh School & citizen education, Audits, leak repairs, Workshops & education, turf Rain barrels for purchase, Assessments, Campaigns, education, plan review, leak buy-back and rebate low-flow devices installed in Showerhead exchanges, rain detection incentives, ordinances, rain govt buildings, indefinite barrels and water use tips tablets/showerheads/toilet barrels at cost, reclaimed suspension washing of hard `flappers' water available in some areas surfaces except to maintain sanit conditions Water Rates Durham OWASA Chatham Co. Cary Raleigh Monthly Charge- $5.12 Tier I-5, $1.72-3.87 Blocks 1-5, $1.98-$13.05 Base Fee- $15.00 Blocks 1-3, $7.00-$10.00 Residential Tier I-4, $3.28-$10.83 Size A-J, $3.38-$197.1 l Draft -August 27, 2008 1 ~ ~ I i i Jordan Lake Water Sharing Agreements I ~ County Boundaries ---~•~- Raw Water Lines - i ~ -~~--~-~• ~ ° Municipal Boundaries ---- Treated Water Lines t, ," ~,. ~ ~,. Major Water Bodies 'f-""'~' Shared Utilities ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~, ,.: ~ .. HBlsbor ugh Lake Michie °°, ! Reser r ~ Area Shown N ~ i~ ~ rt ~ Lake Li tle River ,~~,,~ ~ f*. --~~,;r:°~ w e ti ' `Oran a eservoir ,~<"~ ,, ~ I ~ ~w ~" ~~ . ,~ ~ v. Eno River 1 (~~l~i ~ ,.~~, r~ r ~ ~ , - _ Y ti fi 3 Lake Sen.y Hillsborough ~ '~ ~ t ~_ ~. u MZ 5 a ~ Brown ~ ~ l Johnson - ~. t -' Hi11s~roP ugh ~~. ,_ ._~~ ~ Teer Quarry > ;'~ j ~' ~~ Williams ~ ~ ' t~. rfi ORANGE wrP DURHAM `''' '~~ . ~~ ~4 t' ~`° t i ~ Cane Durham Wake Forest ~, ~,~h''`°Creek Carrboro ~, ~ ~, '' .~ .. ,. t} _ OWASA ~ Stone i ~ .~~ `•~ .,, ~ P Quarry Cha el Hill s~ ~ ~- , ,: Rolesville - - ~ , ~ Jones Ferry , ~ ~) ~ ~ • • • i Universit Road VSTP RTP' RDU `. '`' Lake ~, ,_ ~I ~- ~ Raleigh =W.n~ q ~ Zebulon :. Rocky River 4 ~ Morrisville ~°~ ar Knightdale j ~, ~. ~~ ' y ~ Wendell ~ Hadv River . CHATHAM ~ ~` ~ ,/q`r~da~r Cary/Apex r ~`~;. ~ Lake WTP ~ Silent-+~'`- '~~. ~,~ ~, "~-_- City .' ~~ Pittsboro ~~,, ; _., Apex ,' ~~ `- ~ Garner s~,e\ , ~; ~' _i ,.. ~._. ~ -~, ~~,. ~ tNAKE 111 ~,,, w~ti ~~~ ~, ~ Holly Springs a ~ Goldston ~ '~~''~- Fuquay-Varina ~~ ~ '~_. Deep River ...:. ._ ~ ,", ~"`. --_„ ~ Sanford ..~~ 5 ,_ ~ a << .~ t -a s 2 , a `~ X411 ~4b ~ benefits <I,/ ~ o Challehges/Problems • Ideas • Additional intake on Jordan- good for region • Redundancy & interconnections • Regional approach has stronger appeal for allocation /regulatory process- aggregated approach • Waiting for an intake adds regulatory complexity and cost- much mo a cult 0-2D years fro now, ~ A regi~Onal intal~e can save money- move ster and share ~osts • Jordan e /intake could simplify the omplex issues of Il3T, r .lie a pressure on Michie You A larger allocation leads to lower capital costs "per t" -money can be Gated to other needs • Maybe of th~a p e (especially ro large ones) • Need to build is flesi for both intake & allocation- needs may change (denser development?) ` Strong link with smart growth, the allocation & intake management agreement • Chatham NEEDS water for economy and growth - maybe include Pittsboro? the teaw~ • Success on Jordan Lake as a regional approach can benefit other regio . a] strategies • Thi ~~d bee ,just ke~~p'/P'~s <the right • government & ASA needs to be part o project -focus on loco y-in for OWASA • ok for intake AND ter treatment artnership (save nergy/money) Find some modest "success" early- public and political energy for success • Without additional allocation, cheaper for Durham to buy from Cary • Allocation process will face downstream/upstream skepticism- need collaboration/ coordination/ education -Cary IBT • DWR may struggle with a complex/politically charged allocation request- need to "put a bow around it" • Complex finance & management issues for intake (including water treatment?) • Allocation will face environmental concerns- advocates will be skeptic • Political push for "unif practices and rates oss 'on, growth agemen • The on process cool bog down with "water grab" attitudes ?Cfountain~NOrks