Water and sewer items in Orange County
84 items. Each one links to the meeting it was on. This is the bottom of every drill-down on this site: whatever a chart says, the items behind it are here to be counted.
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| Subject | Items |
|---|---|
| Water and sewer | 84 |
| Environment and sustainability | 28 |
| Tax rate and revaluation | 25 |
| Comprehensive plan | 17 |
| Health and human services | 15 |
| Stormwater and flooding | 14 |
| Housing and affordability | 13 |
| Farmland and open space | 11 |
| Parks and recreation | 11 |
| Schools and education | 11 |
| Land conversion and large development | 10 |
| Intergovernmental agreements | 7 |
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A presentation on Well Net, the county's network of wells for monitoring groundwater, and on the county's participation in the Upper Neuse River Basin Association.
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The Orange Water and Sewer Authority reports on water supply during the recent drought and on its actions to address PFAS in the public water supply.
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Staff ask whether to reword the plan's themes, whether to protect farmland by downzoning or by separating farm subdivisions from conservation neighborhoods, and how to address housing where utilities will not reach for 25 years. They recommend making conservation neighborhoods a countywide subdivision option, with com…
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Discussion Items Continued: Rural Activity Nodes; Interlocal Agreements/Collaboration (Attachment D)Staff recommend merging the rural commercial, neighborhood and industrial nodes into one category decided by conditional zoning, and ask whether to open talks with the towns on the water and sewer boundary agreement and the Rural Buffer.
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A major subdivision concept plan for about 17.1 acres at 6600 Lebanon Road in Cheeks Township, PIN 9835-08-4386. The board reviews it and takes action.
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Planning director-initiated amendments to several sections of the Unified Development Ordinance, which staff say are required by changes in state law. The board makes a recommendation to the county commissioners.
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Stephen Winters and Mary Tiger of OWASA present on what PFAS contamination means for the utility's operations and ask the commission for input on OWASA's draft guiding principles.Discussed; input given
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The final draft of the county's State of the Environment Report.Discussed; no vote to accept recorded
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Committee summaries, a PFAS tour, a report on the July clothing, art and school supply swap, trails plan updates, and an urban sustainability solutions workday on 19 August.Staff or committee report Environment and sustainabilityParks and recreationSchools and educationWater and sewer
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OWASA led a discussion on drought conditions and water conservation measures.
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Final drafts and formatting, with one person from each subcommittee needed for final edits.
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A one-year moratorium on large-scale data centers as a land use, covering artificial intelligence data centers, cryptocurrency mining facilities, data centers, data processing facilities and similar uses. The board directed the study on March 5, received it March 17, and voted then to advertise this hearing and to hav…Adopted unanimously
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A one-year moratorium on large-scale data centres as a land use, explicitly covering artificial intelligence data centres, cryptocurrency mining facilities, data processing facilities and similar uses. Directed on 5 March, presented on 17 March, and heard here, with staff simultaneously drafting ordinance amendments t…Approved unanimously
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The board filled seats by consensus on six bodies: the Advisory Board on Aging, the Animal Services Advisory Board, the Board of Health, the Human Relations Commission, the OWASA board of directors and the Parks and Recreation Council. It added a resident to Animal Services' vacant Chapel Hill seat and held one Human…
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A county-initiated amendment moving the boundary between the Jordan Lake unprotected watershed overlay district and the University Lake protected watershed overlay district across one unaddressed parcel of about 19.4 acres in Bingham Township. Protected watersheds are both part of the county's delegated stormwater man…Statement of consistency and amendment approved unanimously
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VIII.B Well Rules UpdateAn update to the county's well rules, which govern private drinking water wells.
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The county's 2026 priority legislative issues, matched to the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' 2025-26 advocacy goals and the county's FY 2025-29 strategic plan. Farmland preservation is a top-six goal. Others include protecting clean water supplies and watersheds, state funding for disaster mitigat…
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Yonah Freemark of the Urban Institute presented on regional housing economics, and Todd Taylor of OWASA on utility capacity. Commissioners then held a roundtable on affordable-housing barriers with the Community Home Trust, EMPOWERment, Habitat for Humanity, the Homebuilders Association and county housing staff.
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A high-level overview of where water and sewer capacity exists and where it constrains what can be built.
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A staff presentation on the potential impacts of large-scale data center development in Orange County, ordered by the board on March 5. The board voted unanimously to advertise a public hearing on declaring a one-year moratorium covering artificial intelligence data centers, cryptocurrency mining facilities, data cent…Hearing advertised and staff directed to draft amendments, both unanimous. The moratorium was adopted April 21.
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The consent agenda approved a $97,075 geotechnical contract for the Lake Orange intake tower and a reallocation of proceeds from the county's 2019 bonds. It also released tax value on four vehicle bills and nine property tax bills for eight owners.
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Staff answered the board's December request for the material county commissioners saw at two November retreats. The subjects were community septic, wastewater treatment and groundwater resources, and conservation subdivisions, with a consultant's notes provided for members who missed either session. Staff outlined the…
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OWASA's annual update to the county commissioners on the utility's recent activities and finances, presented by its board chair, secretary and executive director.
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A county-initiated amendment moving the boundary between the Jordan Lake unprotected watershed overlay district and the University Lake protected watershed overlay district across one unaddressed parcel of about 19.4 acres off Dodson's Crossroads at Arden Estate Court, a newly established private road, in Bingham Town…Recommended to the county commissioners unanimously; adopted by them on April 7
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A member flagged a January 28 public forum at the Whitted Human Services Center on rising health care costs following the One Big Beautiful Bill. The chair reported meeting the county environment commission's water resources committee, which is inventorying wells and testing water quality. The board also faces two sea…
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IX.A Media ItemsThe media packet covered local families avoiding food bank services out of fear of immigration enforcement, federal funding for Hillsborough water treatment, a pediatric flu death in western North Carolina, a Medicaid change letting foster children stay enrolled across county moves, a measles exposure at RDU airport i…
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Air and energy resources has drafts for most topics and meets January 26 to move toward a final draft. Water resources discussed data collection, combining documents, and whether Wake County's groundwater study could be replicated in Orange County. Land resources worked on indicator species, planned a meeting with cou…
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The board heard six appeals from one property owner on vacant, non-perking lots the owner said could not be built on without sewer access. Current values on the six ran from $31,800 to $66,300; the appellant asked for $15,000 on each. The board left two lots unchanged and cut the other four to $39,800, adopting none o…Four reduced, two unchanged
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III Consent AgendaThe board approved by consent fifteen more parcels recommended for a value change, for reasons including a GIS-documented easement, floodplain and watershed restrictions, corrected building records, and one owner-submitted fee appraisal. Current values on these parcels ran from $184,900 to about $2.36 million; the app…
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The board's 2025 record and 2026 plan, due to the clerk by January 16 and presented to the county commissioners in February or March. Work in 2025 included five conditional district rezoning reviews, three text amendment recommendations, one major subdivision preliminary plat, and briefings on the land use plan and ha…Approved unanimously as amended
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The final educational session on conservation subdivisions for the 2050 land use plan, presented by Randall Arendt, author of Rural by Design, covering where such subdivisions belong, how density should be calculated, septic testing and open space management.Presented and discussed; no votes taken
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III Board CommentsMembers raised school cell phone bans, Australia's social media ban for under-sixteens, and ICE activity in the region. The health director reported a notable increase in appointment cancellations since ICE became active, with telehealth, home visits and remote work offered to protect patients and staff, and county ci…
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The behavioral health committee heard about the county's planned crisis and diversion facility, combining a behavioral health urgent care for acute crisis with a facility-based crisis center offering up to two weeks of care, developed with multiple mental health and community partners. Members framed it as a way to ke…Staff or committee report Health and human servicesPolice and public safetyPublic facilitiesWater and sewer
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Dental Health received 68 responses against roughly 5,000 annual appointments, with 95 percent or more satisfied, after a year of equipment failures including a chiller, a suction pump and an X-ray machine that caught fire. Environmental Health received 118 responses, more than 90 percent good or excellent, but about…
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A conditional rezoning of about 78.11 acres for a 49-lot conservation cluster subdivision of single-family houses, filed by Forestar Group. The planning board had reviewed it on September 3 and October 1. Commissioners objected that 49 houses on 20,000-square-foot lots without water and sewer is urban-style density in…Denied 6-1 as not in the public interest
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Planning director-initiated amendments to simplify impervious surface limits and existing development definitions across the county's thirteen watershed protection overlay districts, delete the obsolete sliding scale table, and refine minimum reservoir buffer widths in the Upper Eno critical watershed overlay to accom…Approved unanimously
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A professional engineer with forty years in local land development presented on on-site and community wastewater systems. Key points: the engineered option permit lets private engineers design, self-check and permit systems, with state review now covering about 10 percent of large designs; suitable soil is scarce in O…
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A professional geologist presented on wells and groundwater. Community wells draw from confined aquifers, better protected from surface contamination than shallow wells, and are tested for far more constituents than private wells — including PFAS, radiologicals and organic and inorganic chemicals — where Orange County…
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Kevin Hooker contests the county's $862,600 value on 125 Ironwoods Drive, arguing for a reduction on the condition of the house. The county's own opinion was $800,700.Reduced to $774,200
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Owner sought a reduction based on the lots having no water or sewer service and unsuitable soil.Value changed to $43,200
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Owner sought a reduction based on the lots having no water or sewer service and unsuitable soil.Board accepted the county's proposed value of $81,000
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Owner sought a reduction based on the lots having no water or sewer service and unsuitable soil.Value changed to $4,500, a 90% reduction for an unusable parcel
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Owner sought a reduction based on the lots having no water or sewer service and unsuitable soil.Board accepted the appellant's proposed value of $5,000
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Owner sought a reduction based on the lots having no water or sewer service and unsuitable soil.Value changed to $2,700 as an unusable lot
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Owner sought a reduction based on the lots having no water or sewer service and unsuitable soil.Value changed to $9,000, a 90% reduction
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Owner sought a reduction based on the lack of public water and sewer access.Board accepted the county's proposed value of $326,500
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Owner sought a reduction based on the lack of public water and sewer access.Board accepted the county's proposed value of $470,600
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The board heard Hillsborough staff explain why the town wants to constrict its water and sewer boundary, then compared two consulting proposals for facilitating its November 21 Land Use Plan 2050 retreat.Board voted unanimously to have county staff, rather than an outside consultant, facilitate its November 21 retreat
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8 UDO Text Amendment - Impervious Surfaces, Watershed Protection Overlay Districts, and Stream BuffersThe board decides whether to recommend Planning Director-initiated amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance covering impervious surfaces, watershed protection overlay districts and stream buffers. The changes respond largely to the state's 2024 Regulatory Reform Act and adjust reservoir setbacks around Lake Ora…Recommended for approval to the Board of Commissioners, unanimous
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The board hears the first of several staff presentations answering its own questions about the Land Use Plan 2050 update. This one covers the plan's data sources, watershed impacts on development, and the county's joint planning agreements with its towns, including the Water and Sewer Management, Planning and Boundary…Received the presentation and discussed follow-up questions for about two hours, a time limit the board set in advance; no vote was taken.
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The appellant said the vacant lot has no well, septic tank or sewer connections. County inspectors recommended a 10% topography adjustment for two streams on the site, cutting the value from $518,600 to $466,700.Value reduced from $518,600 to $466,700, unanimous
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Putnam said the relocated house lacks public sewer or fiber service and sits on a shared driveway easement affected by a neighbor's drainage; the county's inspection found the vacant house molded and rotting throughout and revised its effective year built to 1945.Board reduced the value from $217,200 to $204,000, unanimous.
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Gant argued the neighborhood's large, unsubdividable lots and lack of water, sewer or gas service made the county's valuation too high. The county proposed adjusting for the parcel's irregular shape and an easement instead. The board accepted the county's figure, cutting the assessment from $1,311,100 to $1,115,600.Board reduced the value from $1,311,100 to $1,115,600, unanimous.
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Gentry said the vacant lot fails a perc test and has no sewer access. The county agreed the lot's access issues and a power-line easement limited its marketability and recommended a deeper land-value adjustment, cutting the assessment from $81,000 to $45,000.Board reduced the value from $81,000 to $45,000, unanimous.
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Cedars Limited Partnership argued its 1.61-acre tract near US 70 West is landlocked, with no public water, sewer or road access, despite county plans for a sewer extension that was never built. The county recommended deepening the access adjustment to -85%, and the board adopted its revised value of $12,419; the tract…Value changed to $12,419, unanimous
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Cedars Limited Partnership made the same landlocked argument for an adjoining 18.33-acre tract. The county recommended a -60% market adjustment for its access problems and an easement across the site, and the board adopted its revised value of $142,350.Value changed to $142,350, unanimous
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Cedars Limited Partnership argued a third adjoining tract, 22.32 acres near East Washington Street Extension, has no legal access because the NC Railroad has repeatedly refused to grant a crossing over the street it owns. The county recommended a -50% market adjustment for the access issue and a visible easement, and…Value changed to $211,762, unanimous
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Air and energy worked through carbon dioxide and nuclear generation and where PFAS belongs in the report, naming landfills as a source. Water narrowed to three foundational questions - how much water, what quality, trending which way - because the county has plenty of data that is not comparable, and will arrange expe…
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Thirty-three speakers. School funding and the proposed cut to pay-as-you-go capital drew the largest group, home repair assistance the most specific accounts of need, and the Lands Legacy conservation programme the third. One speaker asked for the Rogers Road sewer extension to reach the 23 houses still on septic.Hearing opened and closed unanimously; no decisions taken
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Behavioural health promoted the board's resolution on social media, screen time and youth mental health during Screen-Free Week; the legislature has sent the question of phones in schools back to individual districts, whose policies largely leave it to principals. Access to care is finalising a draft resolution on how…
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VIII.A Fee UpdatesNew personal health fees create billing codes for mental health services the department already provides, so it can bill insurance where a patient has it; sliding scale and waivers continue for those in need. A new environmental health fee covers re-permitting complex septic systems for large homes, which the state re…Approved without dissent; goes to the county commissioners for confirmation
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Incentive agreements deferred during the pandemic are now falling due, and each is structured differently. The board discussed the residential-to-commercial tax base split, which commissioners worked from 80-20 to 70-30 and believe has returned to 80-20, with residential values up 52 percent against commercial at 30.…
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Air and energy reviewed a draft air quality section and debated including wildfires. Water will name the questions it cannot answer for lack of data and asked environmental health for private well data. Land wants the report to call for a county-wide tree canopy study and to address high-density development, affordabl…
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A project-by-project review of the county and proprietary capital plans, plus debt service and debt capacity for the general fund, water and sewer, solid waste and the Sportsplex. Commissioners questioned scheduled electrical replacements at West Campus and the Passmore Center, the size of a planned evidence storage b…
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Reports on the Arts Center gala, Carrboro's poetry month and Pride, a Hillsborough preservation tour, and the effect of the revaluation on residents with fixed incomes. Hillsborough is budgeting with FEMA grants cancelled federally and water and sewer rates under review.
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Air and energy discussed finding data removed from public sources, reviewed the climate change outline and added nuclear power generation. Land looked at how land use affects the local water cycle and will recommend a tree canopy study of the county, as Wake and Durham have done.
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The authority's annual report, its water bill relief programme, and a conceptual plan for future building improvements. Staff said state statute prevents OWASA from setting a sliding scale for rate relief.
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Twelve items, including employee health and dental rate renewals, an Eno Arts Mill lease amendment, an engineering contract for the Orange Grove Road sidewalk, dedication of six bus shelters to Hillsborough, an amendment to the University Lake protected watershed boundary, a construction award for heating at the Piedm…Approved unanimously
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A consultant-led strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats exercise. Strengths named were location, schools, the university, medical facilities, the Article 46 sales tax and arts; weaknesses were cost of living, housing, transportation, water and sewer, and few start-ups or labs. Members set goals including a l…
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Water divided its section into groundwater quantity and quality, surface water quantity and quality, and emerging issues, each covering background, current state, trends, conclusions and recommendations. Air and energy discussed trends and data sources and reported an EBURP grant is back on.
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A 150-dwelling master plan development on 90.133 acres off Morrow Mill Road at Gold Mine Loop, at 1.1 units per acre with nearly 70 percent open space, aimed at older residents. It required rezoning from agricultural residential, a comprehensive plan amendment expanding the rural neighbourhood activity node from 18.49…Denied unanimously, with a statement of inconsistency
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Ten items, including World Water Day and Creek Week proclamations, late applications for property tax exemption, a contract amendment for land records appraisal software, an HVAC replacement for the Sportsplex indoor pool, a correction to the USDA lease at the Bonnie B. Davis center, and a grounds maintenance agreemen…Approved unanimously
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The agreements in force between the county and Hillsborough include the Central Orange Coordinated Area, the courtesy review agreement, a utility services agreement for the economic development district south of I-40, the 1988 Eno River capacity use agreement, the 2001 water and sewer boundary agreement and the school…
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The town's 2023 sustainability plan would shrink its urban service boundary, raise density in the core and prevent sprawl, which requires changes to the water and sewer boundary agreement and the Central Orange Coordinated Area plan. The county's own 2050 plan is due for adoption in the first half of 2026.
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A first review of subdivision amendments initiated by the commissioners and planning director, timed to coincide with expected changes to the comprehensive plan. Members discussed enforcing agricultural requirements against the bona fide farm exemption, incentives for conservation subdivisions beyond density bonuses,…
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Applications to amend the zoning atlas, the comprehensive plan and the development ordinance text to allow Fiddlehead Corner, a 150-dwelling master plan development on about 90.133 acres off Morrow Mill Road at Gold Mine Loop in Bingham Township. The plan mixes apartments, townhouses and houses with a community center…Hearing continued to 6 March, unanimously; 33 speakers
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A quasi-judicial hearing on a variance from Section 6.13.4(C) and Table 4.2.9 of the Unified Development Ordinance, which require a 150-foot building setback and a 300-foot septic setback from the Lake Orange reservoir line, measured at the 615-foot contour. The owners want to build a house about 145 feet from the lak…Building setback variance approved 4-1; septic setback variance approved unanimously
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The board appointed Johnny Randall to a partial term as a county resident member of the OWASA board, expiring June 30, 2026. No vacancies remain among the board's two appointments.Approved unanimously
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Clarion Associates reported on the second community engagement window, held from late September through October. Of 420 surveys, 115 came from in-person meetings and 305 online; 286 were short and 134 long. About 85 percent supported protecting critical watershed areas and open space and preserving agricultural land,…
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VIII.D Wastewater Rules RevisionsRevisions to the Orange County wastewater rules required by state legislation, treated legally as technical corrections. Most changes are definitional, with some adjusting setbacks, design numbers and flow rates. One combines wells and wastewater systems into a single setback requirement, which a member questioned and…Carried without dissent
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Clarion Associates presented results from the plan's second public engagement window, including 420 completed surveys on four modeled growth alternatives. Commissioners challenged the report's framing of results on extending water and sewer to rural areas and asked for more demographic detail before a third round of e…
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Orange County deployed 88 staff from 11 agencies on 17 Hurricane Helene missions, including 7 from the health department who assisted with onsite wastewater management and emergency sheltering. The first flu death of the season was reported in Mecklenburg County. The health department's new Mobile Dental Unit held its…
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Members continued discussing whether the county should build a splash pad rather than survey residents, naming Fairview Park and Efland-Cheeks Park as possible sites because both have water and sewer service.
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The board approved a revised $288,000 engineering services contract with Schnabel Engineering South for a Lake Orange survey project.Approved unanimously as part of the consent agenda
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