StopChathamNorth
To the Residents of Briar Chapel,
HOA Board Elections
The deadline for voting in the HOA Board elections is today at 5pm. Given recent events, we strongly encourage you to make a change and vote. Although the HOA Board has been unwilling to respond to our direct question on how many votes Newland and the builders will have in this election, we understand that Newland and the builders will have two votes per lot that have been given final plat approval and not yet owned by a homeowner. Current estimates are they have approximately 360 votes. If we want a change and do not want Newland to continue to influence the makeup of our board – we need to vote.
We have asked each candidate for their views on wastewater issues in our community. We have included each of their responses to these questions.
Sewage Spill
Another sewage spill was reported on 11/9/20, along the SD East forcemain behind Beacon Ridge about 50 yds from the storm pond. There was standing water on a slight rise about 15 ft. from a sewer hole, every few minutes, the water starts to bubble and there is fluid coming up from the ground. (Video of the sewage spill). We reported the spill to Integra Water, who came out last night and repaired the pipebreak. We also reported the spill to NCDEQ.
We have asked Integra Water for more information about what caused the pipe failure. This is the new forcemain that runs between SD East (commercial property at 15/501) and the WWTP. Our understanding is this pipe is a stronger material (iron ductile). This is also the forcemain that Integra Water is planning to use when they bypass the problematic forcemain that currently runs between Pump Station A and the WWTP.
This brings us up to 31 sewage spills with a total of over 85,000 gallons of sewage being spilled onto Briar Chapel property and most of which flows into Pokeberry Creek.
Chatham County Board of Commissioner’s (CC BOC) Meeting (November 16th 2020)
Newland’s final two plats have been rescheduled for decision by the CC BOC on Monday, November 16th at 6pm. During the Public Input, SCN will ask the CC BOC to delay approval of these final plats until the system capacity, sewage spills and odor conditions near the WWTP are addressed. Our attorney will be submitting a legal brief on the basis for making this decision.
This meeting will be a remote format meeting. We will send out a link for you to sign up for the webinar on Thursday/Friday this week. In the meantime, we encourage residents to write letters or make phone calls to their CC commissioners. It is important for our CCBOC to hear directly from residents on this issue.
The key message to get across is:
Briar Chapel residents do not want additional development added to our WW system until the system can be stabilized (implementation of force main bypass to prevent/resolve sewage spills), additional spray irrigation capacity is permitted and constructed, and implementation of an odor control system.
CC Commissioners: [Note: Chatham County government recently had a cyberattack and all of their emails have been disabled. The Chatham County Clerk has set up a temporary email address that can be used to send letters to the CC Commissioners: bocclerk@chathameoc.com. You can also mail letters to P.O. Box 1809 Pittsboro, NC 27312.
Karen Howard (Phone: 919-626-5799)
Diana Hales (Phone: 919-663-2372)
Mike Dasher (Phone: 919-530-9511)
Jim Crawford (Phone: 919-933-9858)
Andy Wilkie (no phone number available)
Documenting our Concerns
We need to continue to document resident’s complaints/concerns. Since February 2020, we have documented over 325 resident complaints, with more than 225 involving odor complaints in the area around the WWTP. While we regret that our residents are experiencing these issues, we believe this documentation will make a difference in showing that Briar Chapel residents have serious concerns that have been underreported.
When you have a complaint, please call Integra Water’s customer service number 877-511-2911. To make sure your complaint is documented, we ask that you also email your concern to us at STOPCHATHAMNORTH@gmail.com. We will make sure your complaint is shared with our HOA, reported to NCDEQ and documented/tracked.
Fundraising
Total amount donated: $46,424.80 (455 families contributing)
Spent to date: $38,789.27
You can donate via PayPal by using this link:
https://paypal.me/STOPCHATHAMNORTHNC?locale.x=en_US
If you prefer not to use PayPal:
You can write a check to: STOPCHATHAMNORTH and mail it to: STOPCHATHAMNORTH in care of Liz Rolison, 1900 Briar Chapel Parkway, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 or simply drop the check at Liz’s house.
We are maintaining a full accounting of these funds and will return any unused funds to all homeowners who contribute on a prorated basis. Thank you again for contributing. If we all work together, we have a better chance of achieving our goals.
StopChathamNorth
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Mission Statement
StopChathamNorth is an unincorporated non-profit association representing concerned homeowners within Briar Chapel. StopChathamNorth does NOT support a regional wastewater treatment plant within the residential community of Briar Chapel. We are aware that there are several new communities surrounding Briar Chapel that are planning to utilize our WWTP, in addition to the current proposal to add Fearrington Village to our WWTP. We are opposed to all of these plans to expand Briar Chapel’s WWTP for uses outside of the Briar Chapel residential community. We also believe that the WWTP and ONSWC must be fully compliant with all governance and regulatory guidelines to ensure operations do not create a nuisance, unhealthy or hazardous conditions for Briar Chapel residents.
For more information: www.stopchathamnorth.com