Members of a wastewater study commission appointed by the Chatham County Board of Commissioners to address rapid growth along the U.S. Hwy. 15-501 corridor discussed seven potential solutions at its regular meeting on Monday night.
The 12-member commission, tasked with helping to find a solution for wastewater issues plaguing the northeast corner of the county, considered different approaches to the challenges during the meeting. Commission members went into the meeting — which was held virtually, rather than in person — having composed a list of options, then presented them to County Manager Dan LaMontagne, along with a number of requests for information.
On first blush, LaMontagne pointed out some of the group’s proposed solutions were regional in nature.
“All those are part of a regional solution that we would have to do a preliminary engineering report or feasibility study for those,” LaMontagne said. “That’s not something this [study] commission was appointed to do by the board [of commissioners], but if that was the next stage that you want to recommend to the board, then we can hire a consultant to do all that.”
As LaMontagne read through the list of solutions, commission member Liz Rolison attempted to clarify the commission’s thought process.
“I don’t think all of these bullet [points] represent only a regional solution,” Rolison said. “Some of them represent joining up with other existing solutions, like [Orange Water and Sewer Authority], like Pittsboro, like Sanford.”
Study commission members said they would need to receive very specific information from the county if they hope to present one or more viable solutions to the board of commissioners, Rolison added.
As LaMontagne read aloud those requests for information, Rolison attempted to clarify the study group’s rationale.
“We want to make sure that if there’s any information that Chatham County has, that it’s being shared with us before we try to narrow down this list,” Rolison said. “We sincerely want to do as responsible a job on narrowing down these potential solutions.
“We want to have considered as much information as we can get available,” she continued. “And we’re just asking you to share what might make for a better recommendation.”
LaMontagne said in order for the county to fulfill the study commission’s information requests, a consulting firm would need to be retained.
Commission member Denise O’Gorman-Nowak argued the group cannot make an informed recommendation to county commissioners until all the relevant data is made available to the group’s members.
“All the information that we’ve had and we’ve learned about is only on the package [wastewater] plants, and we have identified a lot of problems with the package plants,” O’Gorman-Nowak said. “So we’re asking, can we have some information on these other ideas so that we can say, ‘Are they reasonable?’ And can we make that suggestion that we look for a regional option for the next phase, but we can’t do those things because we’re thinking these things in a vacuum.”
The potential solutions discussed by the study commission ranged from keeping the current privately-owned decentralized wastewater system as it is to the construction of a regional wastewater system for northeast Chatham County — which would include replacing existing package wastewater systems and aging septic systems — and the formation of a public authority to manage the system.
Other potential solutions discussed at Monday’s meeting included short-term transitional options, like the possibility of creating a new centralized management entity to manage the current existing package plants in the northeast corner of the county; extending service from Pittsboro and Chatham Park to the northeast; extending service from Sanford to the U.S. 15-501 corridor; as well as extending service from Siler City’s wastewater system to the northeast corner of the county.
Study commission members also mulled the possibility of connecting into the Orange Water and Sewer Authority to provide wastewater treatment for the northeast area of the county.
Rolison elucidated the group’s strategy moving forward. She said a high level assessment will be done on each of the seven options by different members of the study commission.
“We’re not really trying to identify costs,” Rolison stated. “We’re not really trying to identify capacity or design elements here — we’re really just trying to look at a high level of, ‘Is it an option we can consider? Is it potentially viable? What are the benefits it offers us? And what are the downsides that we need to consider?’”
Rolison said one of the primary goals of the study commission was to pare down its list of potential solutions to make a handful of recommendations to county commissioners that would ideally create the greatest overall benefit for the residents of Chatham County.
To do that, Rolison said study commission members would need to divide up the seven solutions and work on them individually based on their background and expertise.
But Lindsay Ray, clerk to the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, warned commission members about the need to exercise caution if they plan on meeting in subgroups due to North Carolina’s open meetings law.
Ray said she would consult with Chatham County Attorney Bob Hagemann on how the study commission can fulfill its mission while still adhering to state statutes.
Rolison said the study commission will follow Hagemann’s guidance on how to best comply with the state’s open meetings law but the task before them is significant and will require work outside the group’s monthly meetings.
“It would be a shame if we can’t tap into all of the expertise in the group,” she said.
The group meets again on April 25.