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2004-02-02 Water & Sewer NEW HANOVER COUNTY WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT BOARDBOOK 3 REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 2, 2004PAGE 58 ASSEMBLY The District Board of Commissioners of the New Hanover County Water and Sewer District met in Regular Session on Monday, February 2, 2004, at 8:06 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the New Hanover County Courthouse, 24 North Third Street, Wilmington, North Carolina. Members present were: Chairman Caster; Vice-Chairman Robert G. Greer; District Commissioner Julia Boseman; District Commissioner Ted Davis, Jr.; District Commissioner Nancy Pritchett; County Manager, Allen O’Neal; County Attorney, Wanda M. Copley; and Clerk to the Board, Lucie F. Harrell. Chairman Caster called the meeting to order. NON-AGENDA ITEMS Chairman Caster announced that time had been reserved for anyone from the public to present an item that was not listed on the Regular Agenda. He requested all persons to limit their remarks to three minutes. Ms. Betty Scott, a resident of 4630 Manchester Drive, advised that she had planned to discuss the letter dated January 21, 2004, from County Manager Allen O’Neal and stated after talking to County Attorney Copley, thing were made very clear. She informed the Board that things would be very amusing for the next few months. Ms. Scott said that she had considered talking about septic tanks that have been in Kings Grant for 40 years and stated some will probably be here for another 20 or 30 years before being taken care of and noted that this was productive dialogue. After meeting with Mr. Greer on this matter with four or five of her friends approximately 2 ½ years ago, there has never been any productive dialogue. When presenting Mr. Greer with 600 people concerned about the issue, Mr. Greer said nothing. When Mr. Davis was speaking earlier about the importance of police officers, firemen, and the medical staff, there are a lot of policemen and medical staff that live in the Kings Grant as well as the children that attend schools. This is not an inappropriate subject, and we are here because in October, the District Board said the sewer job would be done for Kings Grant. Because of the District Board’s past history, because of reading 20 years of Water and Sewer minutes and carefully gleaning through the Facilities 201 Plan plus addendums, the water table is too high for septic tanks, and it always has been. A large majority of septic tanks have become nothing but cess pools, but still, the firemen and children in the schools live in these communities. The Three Oaks Project was approved by the Board tonight in the Regular Meeting, with the sewer going to this development through what is now called the Ogden Interceptor, which renamed because it used to be the Kings Grant Interceptor. All of these places will receive sewer while the residents of Kings Grant continue to have thousands of failures, which is important. If the Board deems this subject inappropriate, a letter will be written next week to talk about health issues associated with water and sewer and the people who have managed this County for all of these years who have put thousands of people in jeopardy with the District Board deeming this inappropriate or inconsequential. There are houses falling down. There should be a drainage department established immediately. The Board does not have to spend $200 million right now, but there are many things that can be done to clean up drainage. This will not help the septic tanks. There is not an area in this County that is suitable for septic tanks, you know it, all of the developers know it, all of the engineer know it. In closing, Ms. Scott stated that she would be back. She said the Board can deem her inappropriate, but she will be here until the Board takes care of the rest of the unsewered homes. Mr. Mark Cope apologized for saying something in the minutes of December 2, 2003, and stated when receiving the minutes it was not anything near what was said. When you talk about productive dialogue and it does not get put into the record, what good is it. Chairman Caster requested Mr. Cope to submit what he feels is the right information. NEW HANOVER COUNTY WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT BOARDBOOK 3 REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 2, 2004PAGE 59 Mr. Cope stated that he had always known that when you have an organization the minutes should be read and discussed. Since following this issue for the past four or five years, the minutes of the previous meeting should be read before being approved by the District Board. Chairman Caster informed Mr. Cope that the District Board would not re-read the minutes in the public meetings. The minutes are forwarded to the Board in advance and changes are made before approving the minutes. The public can obtain copies of the minutes. Mr. Cope responded that he obtained the December 2, 2003 minutes from the website and asked who the Commissioners work for if the public is not allowed to make any changes to the minutes. Mr. Cope read the following item from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and requested the Board to take note of the following definition of environmental justice: Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. Fair treatment means that no group of people, including a racial ethnic or associate economic group, should bear a disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, municipal, and commercial operations or the execution of federal, state, local programs and policies. In summary, environmental justice is the goal to be achieved for all communities and persons across the nation. Environmental justice is achieved when everyone, regardless of race, culture or income enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision making processes to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn and work. Ms. Patricia Meyer, a resident of 1322 Grove Point Road, spoke on trying to appear before the Board as an item on the Regular Agenda and stated she was informed that it would not be possible. She read the following letter addressed to the Commissioners: It is after much deliberation that I am here before you tonight to ask for you to seriously consider mediation in lieu of my filing a federal claim in order to rectify, once and for all, the situation concerning my home and property. I have substantial evidence to show that New Hanover County and some of its officials perpetrated fraud, misrepresentation, and nuisance per accidents in conjunction with the development and approval of my subdivision, the approval of the construction of my lot and home, and further perpetrated negligence per se, fraud, and misrepresentation in my investigation of this grave matter resulting in further aggrieved circumstances from the continuation of having to reside in New Hanover County, thus, violating my civil rights. I offer the following specific legal basis of violations for the above assertion for the responsible County departments, one of which was engineering, based on this county’s own policies and the overlap of state statutes and federal regulations that actualize the liability of New Hanover County and some of its officials in the enclosures following this letter. Due to the fact that my house is built in a pond and 404 wetland area, it has cause the house to settle unevenly on a continual basis. Daily in the walls, floors, and ceilings of my house, sheet rock cracks, nails pop out of beams, floor beams contort, and ceilings in the first floor are coming apart. It has been recently brought to my attention the displacement of my house has also affected the plumbing infrastructure. I asked two years ago to have sewer and gave Wyatt Blanchard a letter from the State and the Health Department stating why we needed sewer because were sitting on NEW HANOVER COUNTY WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT BOARDBOOK 3 REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 2, 2004PAGE 60 septic on a 404 wetland pond area. I now have raw sewage leaking into my walls and floors every day. I already have a problem with mold in the house because of the moisture. I wonder what kinds of sickness I will face with my husband and our three small children with the warmer weather returning and raw sewage and mold in my house. I cannot sell this house. No one would buy it after reading the disclosure statements, and at this point in time, it would not pass an inspection. In essence you all have effectively bound me to this house due to your breach of duty to me as a citizen of this county. I need to have this situation resolved. I would ask that in your decision making process, you consider how much the burden a lawsuit of this nature would impose upon the already overloaded tax paying citizens of New Hanover County. Concurrently, I would ask that in your decision making process, you also keep in mind the political landscape at present, and the scrutiny this county would be subject to in regards to state and local programs and grants that correlate with the enclosed mandates, many of which include engineering soil and erosion control programs and sewer and septic programs. Ms. Meyer expressed appreciation to the Board for the time and reported that copies would be distributed to the members of the Board. Chairman Caster expressed appreciation to Ms. Meyer for her comments. CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST TO EXTEND COUNTY WATER LINE AND FOR PARTICIPATION IN OVERSIZING THE PROGRESS ENERGY WATER LINE County Engineer Wyatt Blanchard advised that Progress Energy has requested permission to extend a four- inch water line along Blue Clay Road to Holly Shelter Road for its facility located at 5700 Holly Shelter Road. The section of the water line along Blue Clay Road should be a twelve-inch line up to Holly Shelter Road to allow it to be looped back into the District water line on Barbados Drive. Progress Energy is requesting the District to participate in oversizing the water line from a four-inch line to a twelve-inch line along Blue Clay Road. This would involve approximately 4,800 feet of water line at an estimated cost of $72,000. The District would accept this section of line for ownership. The portion of the water line along Holly Shelter Road would be a four-inch water line and would remain the responsibility of Progress Energy. In closing, Staff recommends that the request be approved with authorization for the County Manager to execute an agreement to participate in the section of the water line along Blue Clay Road at an cost of $72,000. Chairman Caster asked if any member of the Board would like to comment. After hearing no comments, Chairman Caster requested direction from the Board. Motion: Vice-Chairman Greer MOVED, SECONDED by District Commissioner Boseman, to authorize the County Manager to execute an agreement with Progress Energy to oversize the water line along Blue Clay Road at a cost of $72,000 which will be accepted by the District for ownership with the portion of the water line along Holly Shelter Road being the responsibility of Progress Energy. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. A copy of the agreement is on file in the Legal Department. NEW HANOVER COUNTY WATER AND SEWER DISTRICT BOARDBOOK 3 REGULAR MEETING, FEBRUARY 2, 2004PAGE 61 ADJOURNMENT Chairman Caster called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion: District Commissioner Boseman MOVED, SECONDED by Vice-Chairman Greer to adjourn the meeting. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Chairman Caster adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lucie F. Harrell Clerk to the Board