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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 10-19-1999 - 7a1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMIVIISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: October 19,1999 Action Agenda Item No. ~_. SUB'ECT: Efland Sewer Fund -Revisions to Fee Schedule DEPARTMENT: County PUBLIC HEARING: Manager (Y/N) Yes ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: 9/23/99 County Engineer Memo Paul Thames, ext 2303 10/11./99 County Engineer Memo. Existing/Proposed Fee Table Resolution __ - TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapelliill J58-45®1 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 335-227-2®31 PUiBPOSE: To hold a public hearing on proposed revisions to the fee schedule for new connections to the Efland Sewer system and to consider approval of those revisions on the close of the public hearing. BACKGROUND: The fee structure in the "Rules and Regulations for Operation of the System" dating to 1985 results in the County's subsidizing connections to Efland Sewer system, as outlined in the Engineer's September 23, 1999 memo. To preclude the County's inappropriately underwriting future connections to the system as development in the Efland area increases, staff recommends that the Board create and define: 1) a stub-out service line fee which recovers the administrative and construction cost of installing the service line on the basis of a "cost plus" structure;. _ __ 2 ' 2) an acreage fee of $1,000 per acre, some or all of which may be designated for retiring the debt (including interest) for the General Fund loan that helped finance the cost of constructing the existing system; some or all of which may be designated to fund capital replacement of existing infrastructure; 3) a County availability fee of $600 per sewer tap. Staff also recommends that the rules be amended to specifically require that the Hillsborough availability fee - as determined on a case-by-case basis by the Town - be passed through directly to the consumer/customer. Staff is not recommending that the original customers who have .signed and delivered to the County a sewer easement and agreement be charged any access, availability or service stub-out fees other than those required under the terms of their contract(s). icINANCYAL YMPACT: These changes will enhance the financial position of fihe Efland Sewer Fund and preclude any unintended subsidy by the General Fund of new system connections. REC®MMEN®ATI®N(S): The Manager recommends that the Board: approve the RESOLUTION AMEN®-YNG RULES AN® REGULATI®NS ~®R TIME ®PERATION ®~ A SEVI/ER C®LLECTI®N TREATMENT Sl(STEM Ttl SERi/E TIME EIFLANCI AREA OF ~ NGE COUNTY. 3 Nt~RTH CAROLINA RESULUTIt7N AMENDING-THE RULES AND REGULATICINS FGlR THE C]PERATIt~N G1F A SEWER. CC-LLECTIC-N TREAT- MENT SYSTEM TfJ SERVE THE EFLAND AREA C3F t~RANGE C(]UNTY CtiRANGE CGtUNTY Be it resolved by the Board of Commissioners of grange County that the rules and regulations for the operation of a sewer collection treatment system to serve the Efland area of orange County (hereafter .the Rules. ).are hereby amended. III. RATE SCHEDULE AND AVAILABILITY FEES . . B. Availability Feess Each person, firm, or corporation connecting to the system (hereinafter user or users) ~~w~~ ~'~~-~ .~,.....s~ shall pay a $600.00 per residential equivalent availability fee to the County and a--8~8-9~ an availability fee to the Town of Hillsborough as established and revised from time to time by the Town of Hillsborough. r The original 212 potential Efland Area Sewer System customers who have provided orange County with an application for sewer service to the Efland 4 Sewex'-S~stem__ _and who have tarovided orange county with a signed and acknowledged Efland Sewer S~rstem Sewer Easement and Agreement but have not been connected to the s~rstem because their ~rogert~ affected b~ the Sewer Easement and Agreement is not het served b~ the sewer system arcs with respect to the ~ropert~ affected b~ the agreement, exempt from orange county availability fees provided their connect to the sewer s~rstem and become sewer customers of the sewer system with respect to the ~ro~ert~ covered bra the Sewer Easement and Agreement signed bar them within 3U da~rs of notification that connection can be made. Ayailabilit~ Fees shal_1 be_1?ad b~ the user with __a completed___and signed Efland Sewer System Sewer Easement and Agreement. ~. Acreage Fee [nom]. Each person, firm, or corporation connecting to the system thereafter user or users) shall..~a~ a $1040.40 der acre capital replacement fee. The original 212 potential Efland Area Sewer System customers who have ~royided orange county with an a~~lication for sewer service to the Efland Sewer System and who hays grovided orange count.with a signed. and acknowledged Efland Sewer Svstem Sewer Easement and Agreement but have not been connected to the sr~stem because their ~ronert~ affected b~ the Sewer Easement and Agreement is not het served bar the sewer s~rstem area with respect to the ~ro~ert~r affected b~ the Agreement exempt from orange caunt~ acreage fees provided their connect to the sewer s~rstem and become sewer customers of the suer system with respect to the ~ro~ert~ covered b~ the Sewer Easement and Agreement signed b~ them within 30 dais of .notification that connection can be made. Acreage Fees shall be laid b~ the user with a completed and signed Efland Sewer System Sewer Easement and Agreement. D. Stub-out Service Line Fee [~i:a]. Each person, firm, or corporation connecting to the system thereafter user or users) shall ~a~ a stub-out service line fee in an amount equal to the administrative and construction cost to Drange County of installing a service line. This fee shall- be based on the out-of-docket cost to Drange County far installing the service line plus an allocated cost equal to the administration cost to Drange County of having the installation accomplished. The original 212 potential Efland Area 5ewer,S~stem customers who have provided Drange Caunt~ with an a~~lication fox sewer service to the Efland Sewer System and who have provided Drange County with a signed and acknowledged Efland. Sewer System Sewer Easement and Agreement but have not been connected to the system because their ~ro~ert~ affected b~ 6 the Sewer Easement and Agreement is not yet served bar the sewer system are,_.,with respect to the property affected b~ the Agreement, exempt__from__ Ctrancte_ Countv__._stub-out Service Line fees, provided they connect to-the sewer s~rstem and become sewer customers of the sewer system with respect to the propert~€ covered b~ the Sewer Easement aid Agreement signed by theme within 30 dais of notification that connection can be made. A stub-out Service Line Fee shall be due from, owed and paid b~ the user within fifteen ( 15 ~, da~rs of mailing to the user___of _an ~ranQe County __invoice for the fee. upon motion made by Commissioner , seconded by Commissioner the foregoing resolution was adopted by the grange County Board of Commissioners this the 19~h day of Crctober, 1999. I, Beverly A. Blythe, Clerk to the Board of Commissioners for the County of Orange, North Carolina, D0 HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true copy of so much of the proceedings of said Board at a meeting he1d~ on October 19, 1999 as relates. in any way to the adoption of the foregoing and that said proceedings are recorded in Minute Book No. of .the minutes of said Board. WITNESS my hand and the seal of said County, .thin day of , 1999. Clerk to the Board of Commissioners n. MEMORANDUM TO: County Commissioners John Link, County Manager COPIES: Geoff Gledhill, County Attorney Rod Visser, Assistant County 1v~anager Craig Benedict, Planning Director Diane Reid, Economic Development Director ..--- PROM: Paul Thames, PE, County Engine ''~ DATE: October 11, 1999 SUBJECT: Efland sewer system fees As per the request. of Commissioner Jacobs, please find attached the section of Orange Water and Sewer Authority's fee manual that outlines OWASA's water and sewer availability fees. As indicated by the fee structure outlined in these pages, OWASA collects a residential availability fee that varies on the basis of square footage of the residential unit receiving service. Provisions of OWASA's purchase and sales agreement with the University of North Carolina require that its fees and rates reflect the actual cost of providing utility service to those who are paying the fees and rates. OWASA has previously indicated that fees and rates charged one utility customer or type/class of utility customer may not to be used to subsidize the cost of providing utility service to another utility customer or type/class of customer. OWASA staff recommended the variable fee structure which was adopted by the OWASA board of directors on the basis of a comparative analysis of its domestic water use (and sewer use) records and last three years of Chapel HilUCarrboro building permit data. Staff analyzed the data to determine if there was a correlation between property value., and water/sewer use, property acreage/lot size and water/sewer use and house size and water/sewer use. The analysis showed a direct correlation between home size and water/sewer use. Accordingly, OWASA has adopted a domestic water and sewer availability fee structure that has been broken down into the following categories: ^ homes less than 1701 square feet ^ homes between 1701 and 2400 square feet ^ homes between 2401 and 3100 square feet ^ homes between 3101 and 3800 square feet ^ homes lazger than 3800 square feet OWASA's stepped sewer availability fees currently range from $1310 to $2001. The minimum sewer availability fee is increased by 1.69 percent for a home larger than 1701 square feet, by 23.7 percent for a home larger than 2401 square feet, by 34.1 percent for a home larger than 3100 square feet, and by 8 52.8 percent for a home larger than 3800 square feet. Prior to its adoption of the step fee structure, " OWASA's standard sewer availability fee for all size residences was approximately $1800, with acreage surcharges applied to acreage in excess of one-half acre. The situation in Efland is very dissimilar to that in the Chapel Hill/Carrboro area. The number of existing and particularly new homes in Efland is small compared to the numbers present in the OWASA service area. The vast majority of the existing homes in Efland are much smaller than 1700 square feet and there are very few homes that would fall into the 2400 to 3800 square feet. There may not be any homes larger than 3800 square feet. As a rural community, however, there are a number of properties in Efland that fall into a category where there are small or moderately sized homes on tracts with a sizable amount of property that can be subdivided and developed. At the present time, a database of statistics related to Efland's water/sewer use in relationship to .the size of property tracts, housing values or house sizes have not been developed If it is the desire of the BOCC, these statistics can be acquired and analyzed to determine if a correlation similar to that found by OWASA can be detected. There are several caveats that must be noted about such an analysis. It is possible that the number of older homes in Efland -there are very few new homes - with aged plumbing and antiquated plumbing fixtures, will show an unrealistically high water use when compared to the size of a home., The small ,sampling size available for new and existing homes of all sizes of homes in the Efland area can. also lead to faulty or invalid results for an .analysis. However, if the BOCC wishes the process of analysis to be initiated, specific uncertainties related to various sampling size inadequacies can be noted and the validity of the analysis can be evaluated on that basis. As the information necessary to evaluate a step fee structure is not currently available, staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners adopt - at least on an interim basis -the previously recommended fee schedule (discussed by theBoard at its September 29~' meeting) which includes: a) a $600 availability fee; b) a $1000 per acre acreage fee; c) a service tap installation fee determined on a "cost-plus" basis; and d) a straight pass through of Hillsborough's- availability fees -as determined on a case-by-case basis by the Town. It is not the intent of Orange County. to overcharge homeowners whose homes are located on large lots or tracts of land. Owners of new or existing homes on large tracts may avoid acreage fees (to both the County and Town) on undeveloped acreage by subdividing their property such that a dwelling to be provided with sewer service is located on a smaller sized parcel. . If I may provide additional information or input, please advise. 9 MEMORANDITM T®: Chanty Commissioners John Link, County Manager COPIES: Geoff Gledhill, County Attorney Rod Visser, Assistant County Manager Craig Benedict, Planning Director Ken Chavious, Finance Director Diane Reid, Economic Development Director FROM: Paul Thames, PE, County Engine' car-. DATE: September 23, 1999 .. SUBJECT: Efland sewer, system fees At its work- session of April 13,1999, in the Board discussion dealing with approval of BOCC goals, Commissioners instructed staff to create a goal that integrated a number of issues~relative to planning concerns, economic development and utility services in the Efland -Mebane - Buckhom Road EDD area. One element of that goal was to be a rate/fee study culminating in recommendations for revising both the fee and the rate structure for the existing and an expanded Efland sewer system. ~ The overall goal is currently being developed by Planning, Economic Development and Manager's staff. However, 'staff strongly recommend that the effort to revise the fee (but not the rate) structure for Etl.and sewer system move forward independent of and preceding the process to develop and approve the remaining elements of the revenue structure or the overall goal. The existing fee. structure .for the Efland sewer system was created by the BOCC and incorporated in the Rules and Regulations for the Operation of the System as adopted by the Board in November 1985 and ~. amended in November 1988. Section III, Rate Schedule and Availability Fees, specifies that: a) availability fees are to be $600 for the Chanty and $400 for the Town of Hillsborough; and b) availability fees may change pursuant to duly enacted resolutions of the County and the Town. While the official rules contain subsections for both Acreage Fees and Stub-out Service Line Fees, the subsections are noted as [R.eserved] and contain no specified fee amounts or instructions, directions or provisions for applying those fees. The effect of (1) the lack of a fee structure for acreage and stub-out service line fees and (2) the very low County portion of the access fee has been to impose a financial burden on the Efland sewer enterprise fund. One measure of the nature and extent of burden is revealed by the degree to which the enterprise fund - supplemented by annual allocations from the General Fund -must subsidize the. capital costs of providing/constructing service lines to connect new customers tc- the sewer system. The current costs for installing/constructing stub-out service line range from $800 to more than $3000, depending on a variety of factors related to construction conditions. Given the existing $'600 cap on the County portion of the availability fees, the County must subsidize the cost of installing each sewer tap by an amount that varies between $200 and $2400. Furthermore, under the provisions of the Rules of 10 Operation, the Efland sewer system carries a debt (initial capital construction casts) to the County's General Fund of approximately $200,000. Under the current fee structure, there are no fee revenues available to provide for any reduction of this debt. Hillsborough's fee structure applicable to customers of the Efland ystem has not remained static. Even prior to the sewer system becoming operational, the Hillsborough portion of the availability fee was raised from. $400 to $600, reflecting the then-current accessibility fee charged by Hillsborough for its in town customers. Since that time, the Town of Hillsborough's fee structure has reflected fee increases on at least two occasions. The current availability fee structure sets a fee of $800 far a 5/8 inch water meter service {standard residential size) ar $1000 per, acre, whichever is greater, for in town customers. Hillsborough's Town Engineer has recently advised that Efland customers not covered under the original tap fee agreement will be subject to fees applicable to other out of-town customers or double the rate for in town customers ($1600 for the .standard S/8 inch residential water meter service or $2000 per acre). Staff recammends that the BOCC adopt a revised fee structure that addresses the shortcomings in the existing fee structure. Specifically, staff recommends that the Board create and define: - a stub-out service line fee which xecovers the administrative and construction. cost. of installing the service line on the basis of a costplus fee structure; - an acreage fee of $1000 per acre to be designated for retiring the debt plus interest for the General Fund loan that helped finance the cost of constructing the existing system. Furthermore, staffrecommends that the County: - maintain the existing availability fee of $600 per residential .equivalency sewer tap to fund a capital replacement account for existing infxastructure;- - amend the Rules and Regulations for the Operation of the System to specifically require ,that the Hillsborough availability fee - as determined~on a case-by-case basis~by the Town.- be passed through directly to the consumer/customer. Staff is not recommending that the original customers whu have sewer tap/sewer service contracts be charged any access, availability or service stub-outs fees other than those required under the terms of their contract(s). The recommended fee, policy does not address sewer use rate issues or costs. These issues can be dealt with at the Board's leisure as potential losses over short periods of time are not significant and rates can be changed at any time necessary... The fee recommendations likewise do not deal with the issues related to sewer assessments for new sewer construction or expansion.. Typically, these assessment issues are addressed. at the beginning of an expansion/construction project and ultimately resolved through a project and assessment resolution/ordinance upon completion of construction and finalization of expansion costs.., If I may provide additional information or input, please advise. v 4~ Q~ G1 O Sa .~ w ~~ "'d b c~ ~. b a~ ~? °o ~ a ~ ~ O~ ~ ~ O °o ~ ° W cU ~ ~ ~° ~~.. ~° a o ~ w ~ W ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ` ° ~ ° ~a °' ,~, U Z ~ U o w bA ~ ~ p O 0 ,~ w b ~ ~ O O C v~ Rf 'v1 W ~ .Q ~ yQ ;_~i ~D ~ a ~ a ~ .°N ii w ~ U O~G O N N ~ 47' ~~,~ ~ ~ z z z z ~ , ~ .,., ~ o s w ~ `M ~ ~ •MV ~ ~ H i f Z H W~ .~ O a o a~ w ~ ~ o U ~ ~ o o ~ ~ w ~ M Q ~ ~ ~i W N ~ ~ w ~ '`'~ ~ ~, w ~U ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ cn ~ C ' 11 12 When no meter reading is available due to an inoperative, damaged or inaccessible meter, } • consumption will be esti ated based on prior usage at the location and current use of the facilities at that time. :. ~, INTERLOCAL WATER SFER CHARD S The purpose of this charge is .to recover casts associated with the provision of supplemental water supply under contractual agreement with other water purveyors; The specific rates to be charged will be negotiated with the ..other party based upon specific conditions, but using the cost of-service ra#ernaking approach. The commodity: charge for such interlacal water transfers shalt not be less than seventy-five percent (?5°Jo} of the water commodity charge applicable to all water accounts within OWq.SA's service area. TEMPORARY HYDRANT METER CHARGE . Service from a fue .hydrant for construction purposes •ls subject to griority use of such hydrant for fire protection. Temporary hydrant meters are available April through November. and can be used by a customer at a single location. A $108:00 service charge, payable in advance, is collected for setting and removing the meter. In addition, a security deposit is required in accordance with the following schedule: Meter Size Security Deposit I" $ 604 00 3" $ 600.00 Monthly billings for: temporary hydrant meters will consist of two charges: (i) a service charge for that size meter, and (2) a commodity charge based on monthly readings of the meter. When the hydrant meter, is returned undamaged, the security deposit will be applied to the final bill and any credit balance will be refunded within thirty (30) days. W~.TER AVAILABI•LTFY CHARGE The purpose of this charge is to recover a portion'of the capital costs of providing water system facility capacity. The availability charge •is applicable to each new connection to a water main, regardless of who may have paid for the installation. of the water main to which the connection is to be made. For the purpose of availability charges, customer accounts are divided into three categories:. (I) Single Family. Residential, .Detached :Home; (2} Multifamily Residential, Individually Metered; and (3) Nonresidential: The Nonresidential category includes master-metered Multifamily apartment complexes plus all other commercial, The University, and ,institutional accounts. The use of these categories is justified.by distinctive patterns of water and sewer consumption. . t :- Rage 4 13 WA'I'E17 AVAILABILITY CHARGES: 5/8" Meter, Single Family Residential, Detached: <1701 square feet $ 745.00 1701-2400 square feet 959.00 2401-3100 square feet 1,623.00 3101-3800 square feet 2,161.00 >3800 square feet 3,648.00 518" Meter, Residential, irrigation-Only $1,623.00 5/$" Meter, Multifamily Residential $ 662.00 5/8" Meter, Nonresidential *$ 1,798.00 1" Meter, Nonmsidential * 4,495.00 1-1/2" Meter, Nonresidential * 8,990.00 2" Meter, Nonresidential * 14,384.00 3" Meter, Nonresidential * .28,768.00 4" Meter, Nonresidential * 44,950.04 6" Meter, Nonresidential * 89,900.00 8" Meter, Nonresidential * 143,840.00 '~ Same fec foc Nonresideatiat, Irrigation-Only accounts WATER SERVICE AND METER INSTALLATION CHARGE The purpose of this charge is to recover costs of extending service from the distribution system to individual properties, and includes the installation of a service connection from the water main to the curb or property line and the setting of a meter wiihzn the premises, subject to satisfactory easement oar license dyeing: provided by the applicant. Where a suitable stub-out for service has been made and is available, the "meter-only" charge will appljr. Complete water service installation and meter-only charges are as follows: Complete Water Service Installation, 5/8 inch $ 840.00 Complete Water Service Installation, 1 inch 920.00 Meter Only Installation, Sib inch 85.00 Meter Only Installation, l inch I45.Q0 Meter Only Installation, l-I/2 inch 370.00 Meter Only Installation, 2 inch ~ 1,050.00 Complete installations are determined on a time and materials basis for 1-1I2 inch and 2 inch meters. For 3 inch and lazger meters the applicant is responsible for providing a meter box or vault constructed to the configuration and standazds of OWASA. All meters, regazdless of ' size, are to be purchased front OWASA. Page 5 14 WATER MAIN TAPPING FEE The purpose of this charge is for making a tap into the water main of OWASA. The tap ' fee must be paid in advance of OWASA performing the work, with a minimum of 4$ hours advance.notice given to OWASA. The applicant shall be responsible for opening the ditch, providing adequate working clearance at the point of tap, adequately shoring the trench sidewalk, dewatering and such other associated activities as to provide a suitable cor~ditioa for OWASA to complete the tap. Additionally, the applicant shall be responsible for providing an appropriate size tapping sleeve and tapping valve, and a backhoe or similar device shall be available on-site for lowering the tapping unit into the. ditchline. All permits, bonds and paving shall be the responsibility of the applicant. The charge will be for time and equipment plus an allowance for overhead, but not less than.$185:00. Fags 6 15 For special commercial and industrial customer classifications where the proportion of water consumed to wastewater dischazged is extremely 1azge, a metered sewer account may be ' approved. Billing far ~ this metered sewer account will be determined by dividing the normal sewer commodity charge by .90. Metered sewer accounts must also pay the appropriate monthly sewer•service chazge based on the sewer meter size. . SEWER AVAILABILITY CHARGE The purpose of this charge is to recover a portion of the capital costs of providing sewer system facility capacity. The availability charge is applicable to each new connection to a sewer main, regardless of who may have paid for the installation of the main to which the connection is to be made, For the purpose of availability charges, customer accounts are divided into three categores: (I) Single Family Residential, Detached Home; (2} Multifamily Residential, Individually Metered; and (3} Nonresidential. The Nonresidential category includes rnaster- metered . ~MtYltifamily ,apartment complexes plus all other commercial, The :University, ~ and institutional accounts. The use of these categories is justified by distinctive patterns of water and .sewer consumption. SEWER AVAILABILITY RATES: 5/8" Meter, Single Family Residential, Detached: X1701 square feet ~ 1,310.00 1701-2400 square feet. 1,332.Ot} 2401-3100 squaze feet. 1,62 L00 3101-3800 square feet 1,753.00' >3800 square feet .2,001.00 5/8" Meter, Multifamily Residential $1,Igg,pO S/8" Meter, Nonresidential $2,303.00 1" Meter, Nonresidential S,7S8.00 1-1/2" Meter, Nonresidential 11,515.00 2" Meter, Nonresidential 18,424.00 3" Meter, Nonresidential 3 f,,$4g,00 4" Meter, Nonresidential 57,575.00 6" Meter, Nonresidential 11 S,150.00 8" Meter, Nonresidential 184,240.00 SEWER TAP CHARGE This charge is~ for malting a tap of the applicants private sewer lateral into the main sewer line or sewer manhole of C-WASA. The tap Fee must be paid in advance of 0 WASA performing the work, with a minimum of 4$ hours advance notice given to OWASA. Page 4 16 The applicant shall be r~esponsible for opening the ditch, providing adequate working ' . clearance at the point of~tap, adequately shoring the trench sidewalk, dewatering and such other •' associated activities as to provide a suitable condition for. QWASA to connect the service lateral of the applicant into•the facilities of OWASA. The.muumum chazge is based an a standard 4" service tap to the sewer line. All 6° Imes and larger must be tapped into a manhole. AI! permits, bonds and pavement repairs are the responsibility of the applicant The charge w711 be for time and equipment plus an• allowance for overZxead, but not less than $225.00. HIGH STRENGTH WASTE SUR.CHAFI.GE The purpose of this charge is to recover operation and maintenance costs from customers whose .wastewater discharge into the system is in excess of certain parameters far normal strength domestic wastewater as determined by OWASA. Based on loca3 sampling and analysis, normal strength domestic wastewater has been determined to have the following pollutant characteristics- Normal Strength Domestac Wastewa#er Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD} - 205 mg/I Suspended Solids (SS) - 235 mg/I Ammonia Nitrogen (IVH3 I'`n _ 30 mg~l Phosphorous (P} - 6.5 mgll _ High Strength Waste Surcharges shall apply at the following rates to all wastes exceeding the above concentrations: Biochemical Oxygen Demand Suspended Solids Ammonia Nitrogen Phosphorus $O.I6 per pound for all BOD in excess of 205 mg/1 $0.10 per pound for al[ SS in excess of 235 mg/1 $1.61 per pound for all NI-i3 N in excess of 30 mg/! $x.50 per pound for all. P in excess of 6.5 rng/t Page IO