MINUTES

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA CANE CREEK WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT

COUNTY OF HENDERSON JULY 25, 2001

The Cane Creek Water & Sewer District Board met for a regularly scheduled meeting at 9:00 a.m. in the Commissioners= Conference Room of the Henderson County Office Building at 100 North King Street, Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Those present were: Chairman Bill Moyer, Vice-Chair Marilyn Gordon, Commissioner Grady Hawkins, Commissioner Don Ward, Commissioner Charlie Messer, County Manager David E. Nicholson, County Attorney Angela S. Beeker, and Clerk to the Board Elizabeth W. Corn.

Minutes

Minutes were presented for the Board=s review and approval of the May 7, 2001 meeting.

Commissioner Hawkins made the motion to approve the set of minutes from the May 7 meeting. All voted in favor and the motion carried.

Metropolitan Sewerage District (MSD) Rate Increase

This item had been pulled from the agenda.

REPORT BY CAMP DRESSER & McKEE (CDM)

NORTH HENDERSON COUNTY WASTEWATER FLOW

PROJECTIONS AND HYDRAULIC IMPACTS TO MSD

Gary Tweed stated that as a result of Master Plan work being performed by CDM for the MSD of Buncombe County, Henderson County obtained CDM to study the County=s proposed interceptor sewer master plan prepared by the County Engineer with respect to impacts on the MSD sanitary sewer system, one of which is our Mills River Sewer Project. We also had a couple of other projects, Mud Creek and Mill Pond Creek. During this same time frame we were in discussion with MSD on allocations issues and other things about how we tie into their system there in Cane Creek. MSD was in the process of having their system master planned by CDM to look at their entire system as it lays in Buncombe County. He stated that we felt it would be good for them to take our interceptor plan and to look at those areas and to develop some long range projections as to wastewater flows and to determine what impacts that would have on the MSD system.

Mr. Tweed stated that we contracted with CDM to do that and that=s what this report is. It looks at this interceptor plan and will develop some flows over a period of time and will determine what the impacts will be.

He reviewed some parts of the plan summarizing the results. He referred to table 2 on page 6 of the report which shows what our existing flows are in the Cane Creek Water & Sewer District. Based on the way they were evaluating land use and so forth, they were estimating that our existing flow should be somewhere around 520,000. Our actual flows are at 480,000. He then referred to table 3 on page 7 of the report, using their projection methods and how the properties have developed over the time frame, they feel like the existing Cane Creek District will be up somewhere in the 764,000 range over a 20 year period.

Mr. Tweed then reviewed tables on pages 8, 9 and 10 of the report concerning our future projects: Mills River, Mud Creek and Mill Pond Creek. They went in to look at that land area and using our current land records information and so forth, they projected what they see as flows over the next 20 years in those areas. They project:

for Mills River area 450,000 GPD

for Mud Creek 990,000 GPD

for Mill Pond Creek 151,000 GPD

All these totaling together, our total future flows that would lead north into the MSD system was about 2.4 million gallons per day (GPD). Taking those flow numbers, they went in to see what kind of impacts that would have on the MSD system and they modeled the sewer system to look at that. He quoted ACurrently in the MSD system, there are no overflows caused by hydraulic limitations on the modeled interceptor sewers under peak dry weather flow conditions and the addition of Henderson County flows does not cause any additional overflows under these same conditions.@ In other words, they are saying under dry weather flow conditions what we=re projecting over the next 20 years, they should be able to handle.

Mr. Tweed stated that from the report regarding wet weather conditions (p.18 of the report) where we have to take into consideration the amount of infiltration and flow that comes into the sewer system when it rains. Under wet weather conditions, MSD is currently having problems. They have some areas in their system where the sewer has become surcharged, where the flow backs up in the system so they state in the report that we should be aware of that situation and that our flows do impact wet weather flow conditions. How MSD is going to take that information and work it into their master plan, hasn=t been done yet. Mr. Tweed anticipates that there will be some discussions needed between us and MSD with respect to some of these major interceptors as they flow down the French Broad River with respect to the wet weather flow conditions. They have some areas that they need to look at and for either paralleling those lines, providing some storage basins, or some other options. This is the reason for doing the master plan, to identify where these need to be and so they can be planning for it.

Mr. Tweed stated that more importantly this report places MSD on notice of what we=re looking at as wastewater flow needs in Northern Henderson County.

Chairman Moyer stated that this will be a valuable document with respect to the water planning that we have to take a look at plus the Comprehensive County Plan. There is a lot of valuable information in this report that will serve us well.

In answer to a question raised by Commissioner Hawkins, Gary Tweed answered that the Sewer Master Plan that we have that was done in the mid 1990's didn=t really address the interceptor work that staff developed several months ago. The Master Plan looked at running lines pretty much on every creek and valley in Henderson County.

Our agreement with MSD for 1.35 million gallons applies to the original area, anything outside that district, they are obligated to take as long as they can provide interceptor capacity and treatment capacity. So we have kind of an unlimited allocation outside that original district.

Gary Tweed stated that we do have a commitment for Mills River for 400,000 gallons but not for Mill Pond Creek and Mud Creek.

Commissioner Gordon stated this was discussed with MSD when we met with them and they were reluctant to do allocation at the beginning of a planning process. She felt the figures in the report will certainly be a big help in MSD=s planning and will lead us to getting some specific allocations that would give us some security in going forward on the sewers. MSD needed these figures before they could make that kind of agreement.

Mr. Tweed explained that the primary problem MSD is having with the inflow - the main interceptor that=s running the French Broad through the Biltmore Estate is pretty much where they are having the major flow impact areas, not necessarily the infiltration. The infiltration could be coming from as far away as Black Mountain. Where they=re having flow restriction problems or capacity problems is in that interceptor along the Biltmore Estate. Part of the reason they are doing this Master Plan is to determine how to address those problems.

Commissioner Gordon stated that the Cane Creek Advisory Committee met yesterday and was given a copy of this report. They were impressed with the amount of information in the report and considered it a valuable tool for them.

EPA GRANT - MILLS RIVER SANITARY SEWER INTERCEPTOR

Gary Tweed informed the Board that staff had been advised of the procedures to apply for the $1,500,000 grant, appropriated through Congressman Charles Taylor, for the use by Henderson County for sanitary sewer improvements. With the assistance of William G. Lapsley and Associates, P.A. an application for the grant has been prepared.

Gary Tweed stated that the funds are sitting with the EPA in Atlanta and basically they are just waiting for Henderson County to request them. Henderson County must officially make an application to secure the funding.

The application is a standard EPA form used for many different types of projects. Therefore, much of the application package is not applicable to our situation.

Two specific items in the application to pay close attention to are the Work Plan and the project budget information. The Work Plan is a description of the overall project with the end objectives outlined. In our case, the project involves the extension of sanitary sewer lines into the Mills River area for the purpose of eliminating several failing wastewater treatment systems. These systems include the treatment facilities serving Mills River Village, Mills River Restaurant, Mills River Elementary School and others. The end result of the project will be the protection of the public health by eliminating failing wastewater treatment systems located in the water supply watershed for the Mills River Regional water plant. The project will also help to safeguard the environment by providing a safe means of wastewater disposal for the Mills River area.

The project can be broken down into three separate phases. Phase I would be the main interceptor project: phase II would be the sewer extensions to the Mills River Elementary School; phase III would be the sewer extension to the NC 191/NC 280 intersection. The ABudget Information@ to be included with the application reflects the three phases combined. EPA=s commitment to the project is $1,500,000 of which, EPA retains 3.22% for project administration. EPA=s portion of the project must be 55% of the total project cost or less, with the remaining 45% coming from state, county or other local sources. Note - the estimated funding shown on the EPA grant application must be secured at the time of application (including county/local funds).

The County has also received funding from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund for $500,000 that can count as a portion of the local match. The County also has other funds committed to the Mills River Elementary School project. The Board was referred to the budget for the required local funds for the project to receive full funding from EPA. These funds can be County funds, private funds, or other State funds. Federal funds cannot be used to match the $1,500,000.

Also included in the application package are several certifications that the County must adopt. First, a Quality Assurance Statement must be completed. For this project a Quality Assurance Plan is not required, however, an authorized representative noting this must sign the Quality Assurance Statement. Second, a Lobbying Certification must be completed for the project. Third, a Compliance Report for the County for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 must be completed and signed by the County. Finally, a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Development Plan must be adopted for this project. The County has likely already met all of these requirements; however, staff recommended that the County complete these forms for the specific review agency.

Staff recommended that the County Commissioners review the application and authorize the Chairman to sign the necessary forms for the submission of the application to EPA.

Tom Jones and Will Buie were present from William G. Lapsley & Associates P.A. to answer any questions the Board had on the design work and application.

Mr. Tweed pointed out all three phases on a map.

Mr. Tweed stated that he had a concern that these funds were appropriated in this current fiscal year which ends September 30. He would like to get the application in within the next few weeks to be sure that we=re on their list for those monies and they don=t get reverted back to Congress for some reason. In order for us to have a project the size necessary to use all the EPA monies, we will need to do all three phases, the interceptor, the collector line, and the line to the business sector.

Commissioner Gordon stated that the Cane Creek Advisory Committee discussed this at their meeting yesterday and was unanimous in supporting including all three phases in the grant application. It is very important to the sewer district that the third phase be constructed for a number of reasons, one of them being that most of the revenue that was factored into our projections would be created in that commercial intersection so we need to get that tied in as soon as possible rather than waiting on individual businesses to come up with the promises that it would take to build the line to the intersection. Those businesses would still have to construct lines to their own properties but we need to get it closer to the intersection to get the full benefit of the sewer line in that area. There was discussion of the match and the Advisory Committee understands that part of the match would come from the sewer district. She also reminded the Board that the money we are getting from the state is from the Clean Water Fund and it was justified because of the systems that are not adequate in the area and a good percentage of that is in the commercial intersection.

There are currently no requirements to hook onto the system because there are no mandatory hook-ups in the county. Gary Tweed and staff have not yet been authorized to contact businesses regarding mandatory hook-ups. There was discussion that we need that revenue flow to make this a viable system. The County Attorney will address the Board at a later time regarding the legal issues concerning mandatory hook-ups.

Gary Tweed explained that once we go out to bids on the project and bids come in, if the project would fall below what we=ve budgeted and we see that we=re going to lose some grant funds because we don=t have a big enough project, then he would recommend adding some other short extensions to the project to go ahead and utilize that full EPA grant and modify the project accordingly. Of course, we won=t know that until we go out to bids on it.

The Hwy. #25 North sewer line needs attention, is a future goal, and this project will help us get to that.

Chairman Moyer made the motion to approve the filing of the application for this EPA grant and to authorize the signing of documents necessary to accomplish this. All voted in favor and the motion carried.

It was the consensus of the Board to authorize staff to move forward with the addition of Phase III to the project and to give staff the ability to contact businesses in the intersection area regarding connection to the system.

Gary Tweed explained that the sewer will not be available for 1.5 years or so.

There was no more business to come before the Board, so the meeting was adjourned.

Attest:

Elizabeth W. Corn, Clerk to the Board William L. Moyer, Chairman