Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight wants more “breathing room” between now and the implementation deadline for the Jordan Lake Rules.
Knight has submitted a proposal to amend the current rules, and garnered support from other big-city mayors at last week’s North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition winter meeting in Greensboro.
Burlington leaders expressed some support for the idea, but also concern about increasing costs by delaying implementation.
Knight is asking state officials to push the Jordan Lake Rules implementation deadline from 2016 to 2020, so cities would have more time to raise funds for the necessary adjustments outlined in the rules. The Jordan Lake Rules were implemented in 2009 by the state to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous that flow into Jordan Lake.
According to the original rules, cities in the Jordan Lake watershed would need to have the necessary upgrades to storm water systems completed by 2016. Knight wants that date changed to 2020, and presented his amendment to the Guilford delegation in the General Assembly, at their request.
Knight said the statewide bill should soon be introduced and cosponsored in the Senate, and has already been drafted. “It’s the same language as the (rules) before,” said Knight. “The only thing that’s been struck is the date.”
Knight said that when the rules were enacted, “We were in a much, much better economy.” Now we’re not, he said, and cities need more time to make the necessary upgrades. Revamping Burlington’s storm water system is estimated to cost $120 million, according to city officials, and Burlington Mayor Ronnie Wall is on board with Knight’s proposal.
“What they want to do is change the timeline from 2016 to 2020,” said Wall. “I think that’s better for all municipalities involved.” Wall said he thinks the extension would definitely benefit Burlington, since it would help stagger the borrowing of funds for improvements.
Councilman Jim Butler said part of the original negotiation with the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources involved extending the deadline from 2014 to 2016, because the former wasn’t achievable. “That was an initial concession DENR made,” he said.
Now that there’s another push to extend the implementation date, Butler thinks, “It’s going to be a rushed job.” He said he thinks 2016 is doable, but a later deadline would make finances “easier to digest.” Councilmember Celo Faucette said the extension might give “everybody upstream and downstream” more time to gather revenue for the necessary changes.
However, Councilman Steve Ross has mixed feelings about pushing the deadline, since time could negatively affect borrowing rates. “We’ve already gone ahead and made the preparations for what has to be done (by 2016),” he said.
Ross said Burlington’s bond rating has gone up in the past few years, and the cost to borrow has gone down, making now the ideal time to borrow funds.
He said he foresees a strong period of inflation down the road – which typically happens after coming off a recession – and fears having to pay higher borrowing fees and construction costs in a few years if the implementation deadline is pushed to 2020.
Water Resources Director Bob Patterson has the same concern, and says inflation could affect the second phase of updates to the city’s waste water treatment plants.
“We’ve already designed and obtained bids and ordered a contract for the first phase of the nutrient removal project, which is a new filtration facility,” said Patterson. Regardless of whether or not the extension is granted, he said, “It kind of makes sense to move forward with that (phase) and have it ready.”
The second phase of waste water treatment upgrades is currently being designed, and is what would be most affected by the deadline extension. Patterson said, if given more time, he would probably continue with the design, but, “We could certainly not bid them out if there were a delay in the effective date.” Patterson said if that were the case, he’d be concerned about increased interest rates and the availability of contractors.
Though Patterson and Ross remain cautious about holding off the deadline, Ross said, “ We’ll certainly support what neighboring communities want to do.”
Molly Mc Gowan/Times-News
2011-03-04 16:22:36
