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HomeMy Public PortalAbout05-08-2001 Session 102 . MINUTES Board of Commissioners Forum Sponsored by the Chapel HiD Herald May 8, 2001 - 7:00 p.m. Battle Courtroom The Hillsborough Town Board held Forum on May 8, 2001 at 7:00 PM in the Battle Courtroom. Board Members present for the Forum were Mayor Horace H. Johnson, Sr., Commissioners Kenneth Chavious, Frances Dancy, Evelyn Lloyd, Brian Lowen, and Mark Sheridan. Other Forum Panelists were Orange County Commissioners Vice Chairman Barry Jacobs, and Hillsborough Resident and Member of the Citizens Water and Sewer Advisory Task Force Scott Neal. Staff present were Town Manager Eric Peterson, Planning Director Margaret Hauth, Town Clerk Donna Armbrister, Police Chief Nathaniel Eubanks, Public Works Director/Assistant Town Manager Demetric Potts, Town Engineer Keel and Town Attorney Bob Hornik. The Forum was moderated by Rob Shapard, Hillsborough and Orange County Reporter for The Chapel Hill Herald. The Forum Panelists fielded questions from the Moderator and Hillsborough Citizens on the issues of Water and Sewer rates, the Town Reservoir, and Town Growth and Development. . The Forum ended at approximately 9:07 PM. ~~ Respectfully Submitted, Donna F. Annbrister, CMC Town Clerk . .102 Citizens Water Advisory Task Force Recommendations . May 08,2001 The recent closing of Flynt Fabrics has brought to a head the financial difficulties the Town has experienced in the last few years with the Water and Sewer Fund Operations. The cost of the new reservoir along with efforts to maintain and improve an old utility system has added to the financial difficulties of the Water and Sewer Fund Operations. This has had a dramatic impact on customers both in-town and out of town, resulting in one of the highest customer rates for water and sewer services in the state. The Citizens Water and Sewer Task Force was formed seven months ago by the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners to analyze water and sewer related issues and to recommend new methodologies to the Town Commissioners that may improve, in the short and long tenn, the efficiency and effectiveness of the Water and Sewer Operations, therefore reducing the burden of high water bills, and making that cost more equitable to all customers. In an effort to provide the most accurate and fair report to government leaders and water customers as possible, the Task Force is continuing to research and analyze additional information regarding the various issues surrounding the town's current water crisis. However, based upon the Task Force's research and observations to date, the following is a list of its recommendations so far: . Recommendations and Comments By the Citizens Advisory Task Force 1. Perfonn a rate study with the following strategies: (1t),~ A Merge in-town and out-of-town rates over a period of time to be determined by the rate study: The premise behind this is that in-town customers' property taxes are not contributing to the water and sewer fund and therefore, the out of town customers are literally paying twice as much for water and sewer services. B. Adjust the rate structure to split out usage (operational costs), debt service and capital improvement portions: The purpose of this would be to charge customers for these items based on: . Equal per-household apportionment of the debt service and capital costs, regardless of usage. (The debt service and capital assessment portions would constitute the monthly minimum amount to be billed). Operational costs would be proportional to use; or . . . . -'o~ · The operational expense per gallon rate would be the same for all customers but the debt service and capital improvement portions would increase incrementally based upon increased usage (to reflect the increased strain the customer places on the water system); or · Any other billing structures that can meet the goals of paying the debts, performing the much needed capital upgrades to the infrastructure, and provide a financial buffer for future problems. B. Consider quarterly or annual assessments, of equal amount for all customers, which would be designated for debt service and/or capital improvements. (*) Ensure that whichever rate structure is adopted can be implemented using the current billing system and software. 2. The responsibility of the Town should be to maintain and improve the water and sewer facilities even if this means that rates must go up further: A significant portion of our current dilemma is due to a lack of spending for upkeep of facilities and failure to institute sufficient rate increases in the past to pay for improvements to the system. Until the customer base increases to ease this deficit, current customers must pay these costs. 3. Encourage growth in the community to increase the customer base. Though it should go without saying that any growth should be evaluated to ensure that it enhances and compliments Hillsborough, continued growth is essential to improving the solvency of the Water and Sewer Fund. The Town Manager has stated that so far as the water/sewer operations are concerned, it makes no tangible difference whether we have residential or commercial growth, citing that ''the usage is about the same." The Task Force realizes, however, that commercial growth would have less impact on the city infrastructure as a whole. Addidonally, encouraging conihH~rcial growth will help to further diversify the city's tax. base. 4. Increase fines for water theft and implement a program, such as some sort of monetary reward, that encourages citizens to report instances of water theft to the authorities. 5. Due to the recent rate increases and the future rate increases that will soon befall us, education of the customer is critical: The billing should be itemized to reflect the individual customer amounts included to pay for the debt service, capital improvements and operating expenses. This would be one step toward achieving this goal. Keep the customers informed as to the activities of the Water and Sewer operations by sending out statement pampWets regarding the overall health of the water and sewer operations. - . " 10E: 6. Actively seek out other funding and grants to assist in the repair, maintenance and improvement of our infrastructure and facilities. 7. Develop an asset replacement schedule that can work in unison with the public works department to make use of opportunities such as road re-paving in order to reduce the costs of replacing water/sewer lines. 8. Extend the Citizens Advisory Task Force for the purpose of reviewing the results of the rate studies, making further recommendations, and so a review can be made of the recommendations that are implemented. We further respectfully request that the Town Commissioners study this report and then meet with this committee to discuss our findings and recommendations in detail. 9. Explore recreational possibilities for the West Fork of the Eno Reservoir to include fishing, paddle boats, hiking, biking, picnic areas, etc. It may also be advisable to secure additional easements around the reservoir for such recreational , facilities and offer additional protection for the watershed. 10. Begin searching for additional raw water resources: Hillsborough continues to experience unprecedented growth, which is expected to continue over the next several years. Current projections show that by FY2005 the total water usage for the "maximum use day" will be just short of the town's total water capacity, forcing the town to once again consider more hard financial decisions such as implementing the Phase 2 Reservoir Expansion or having to purchase water from it neighbors. Also, because Jordan Lake's 5.5MGD allotment for Hillsborough has already expired and the Seven Mile Creek Reservoir, which could potentially have yielded up to 6.3 MGD, is apparently a dead issue, there are currently no other significant potential water sources available for Hillsborough's long term use. Meanwhile, neighboring communities continue to seek out and expand their raw water resources. ',.}