Contractors Sought by OWASA for Rogers Road Sewer Expansion

The Orange Water and Sewer Authority issued a request for contractor qualifications on December 20 that relates to a sewer extension project in one of Chapel Hill’s oldest neighborhoods.

The project has remained in a conceptual state for the past decade as a result of events surrounding a defunct landfill that opened over 40 years ago along Eubanks Road.

In 1971, the Orange County Board of Commissioners initiated a search for a site on which to establish a landfill. The primary location under consideration by the board was along Chestnut Ridge Church Road, which facilitated months of deliberation among officials.

Plans to position the landfill near Chestnut Ridge Church Road were rescinded in 1972 when the board began working with the Chapel Hill municipal government to have land along Eubanks Road reclassified for industrial purposes.

When rezoning efforts failed, Howard Lee, Chapel Hill’s first African-American mayor, made concessions to residents of the nearby Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood in order to expedite plans for the construction of the landfill.

According to neighborhood resident David Caldwell, who was a boy when those concessions were made, Lee claimed that the landfill would be closed and replaced with a community center after reaching maximum capacity.

That claim would be honored, but not for another 42 years.

The Chapel Hill municipal government retained control of the landfill on Eubanks Road from 1972 to 2000. During that time, town officials voted on two occasions to retain the landfill, with an expansion approved in 1995.

Two years after relinquishing control of the landfill to the county, the Town Council began to review options for providing public services to the Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood. This review led to the creation of the Rogers Road Task Force in 2006.

The task force issued a final report in 2009 that included concept plans for the extension of sewer lines in the neighborhood. The estimated construction costs of those plans started at $2.5 million.

A survey done by the Orange County Health Department in 2010 found that 12 out of 45 septic systems in the Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood were failing, which prompted OWASA to develop a plan to improve sewer systems in the area . The survey also revealed that nine out of 11 wells in the neighborhood were contaminated.

In 2011, the Orange County Board of Commissioners voted to discontinue the use of the landfill along Eubanks Road. One year later, the board established the Historic Rogers Road Task Force to address the issues of the Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood at the county level.

In June of 2013, after 41 years of operation, the landfill near the Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood was closed. A final report was released later that year by the Historic Rogers Road Task Force that outlined fiscal concerns associated with sewer system revitalization in the area as well as a plan to build a community center.

That plan was enacted in 2014, with commissioners approving the allotment of $650,000 toward the construction of a building that Howard Lee had allegedly promised the Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood in 1972.

According to the recent call for contractors made by OWASA, bids for the 86-lot sewer extension project in the Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood may be accepted as early as March of next year.

A survey performed by URS Corporation in 2015 for OWASA stated that the project would cost approximately $6 million and take 22 months to complete.

Contractors Sought by OWASA for Rogers Road Sewer Expansion

On Air Now: 97.9 FM