HomeMy Public PortalAbout05-08-2001 Session
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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.
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Respectfully Submitted,
Donna F. Annbrister, CMC
Town Clerk
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.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:
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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:
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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
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· 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.
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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
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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.
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