[Durham INC] county manager recs denial to sewer for 751 S

[Melissa Rooney]

http://www.heraldsun.com/

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>Durham  county manager: I recommend denial of sewer services to 751  South
>Posted by Samiha  Khanna on Wed, Sep 21,  2011 at 3:12 PM
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>	* map courtesy Durham County government 
>	* This map shows the distance between the proposed 751  South site and the Triangle Wastewater Treatment Plant, both in  red.
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>Durham  County Manager Mike Ruffin says county commissioners will hear from engineers  Monday on how and whether the county could provide sewer services for the  pending 751 South development.
>But  the question isn't whether the county can provide the  services, Ruffin said. It's whether the county should allow  developers to pay to connect to the Triangle Wastewater Treatment Plant. The  sewage treatment plant was not intended to serve the nearly 170-acre  development site, which is located about 1.3 miles away. The site is actually  in an area designated to receive sewer services from the city. As Ruffin told  commissioners in a Sept. 6 meeting, allowing the sewer connections to the  county plant would be stepping on the city's toes.
>"I'm  making a recommendation that it be denied from a policy perspective," Ruffin  reiterated Wednesday. "Serving a development located in another jurisdiction's  service area—it's just not the best way to serve it."
>The  best way, he says, is for the city to serve the proposed development with  utilities. The city's utility lines are much closer than the wastewater  treatment plant, Ruffin said.
>But  the Durham City Council has postponed any  decision on whether to grant utilities to the development until a pending  civil lawsuit involving Durham County Commissioners, the developer and  residents opposed to the 751 South project is settled. The case is scheduled for  a court date in November, although attorneys have asked about a sooner hearing  date. With potential appeals, the case could take years to be resolved.
>After  the city declined to take any immediate action, representatives for Southern  Durham Development asked  county commissioners at a Sept. 6 meeting to consider at least  providing sewer services, and said the developer was considering using  community wells for water.
>At  that meeting, Commissioner Joe Bowser said he wanted to see the development  come to fruition for the potential jobs it would create and the tax revenue it  could generate for the county. He said he would support offering sewer  services to Southern Durham Development. Other commissioners didn't openly say  they would support the services, but in the past, commissioners Michael Page  and Brenda Howerton have supported other regulatory matters that have helped  the project move forward, including the rezoning of  the parcels involved. The fourth commissioner, Ellen Reckhow, did not support  the project. (Becky Heron was the fifth commissioner on the board when the  land was rezoned. She resigned due to poor health last month, and the  commissioners are still pondering whom they'll appoint in her place. They're  scheduled to vote on that matter at Monday's meeting, too.)
>The  commissioners are expected to receive a written report on the potential sewer  services on Friday, Ruffin said. That report will likely also note that a  portion of the pipes running from the Triangle Wastewater Treatment Plant  toward the 751 South project site are actually owned by the city. If the  county were to grant sewer services, the developer would have to get  permission from the city to use those pipes, Ruffin said. But if the city  doesn't permit the use, the developer would likely be able to work around that  portion—it would cost more money, but wouldn't kill the project, Ruffin  said.
>After  getting a preview of the report Friday, commissioners will receive a  presentation at their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Sept. 26. That's  when Ruffin will recommend the denial, he says. The public may comment on the  decision, but there won't be a formal public hearing on the  matter.
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