Membership on the Orange Water and Sewer Authority, OWASA, Board of Directors is meant to reflect the community it serves, and the Board is encouraging anyone who is interested in OWASA to apply with the appropriate appointing body to serve on the Board. We particularly encourage members of traditionally underserved communities to consider applying. Your voice on the OWASA Board can have a large impact on the community.
The OWASA Board of Directors is made up of Carrboro, Chapel Hill, and Orange County residents. Our nine-member Board is comprised of five appointed representatives from Chapel Hill, two from Carrboro, and two from Orange County. Anyone living within the OWASA service area or Orange County may volunteer to become a Board member. Applicants are appointed by the jurisdiction in which they live — the Town of Chapel Hill, the Town of Carrboro, or Orange County.
OWASA provides water supply and wastewater treatment services for Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and parts of Orange County. OWASA’s Board of Directors is a governing Board — we make policy decisions, adopt the annual budget, approve bond issues to fund capital projects, and set customer rates, fees, and charges based on cost-of-service principles. The Board also appoints an Executive Director, independent Auditor, and General Counsel.
Interested in serving on the OWASA Board?
Governing a critical public utility requires a group of dedicated volunteers with a broad range of knowledge and experiences. The OWASA Board of Directors is unique in that it is in fact a governing Board and, therefore, does not simply advise the elected bodies on issues.
Our Board addresses a wide variety of issues including infrastructure investment, employee compensation and benefits, finance and rate setting, customer service and affordability, environmental protection, forestry, public health, and community engagement, among others. Experience in any of these areas can be helpful, but such experience is not necessary — all you need to be an effective member of the OWASA Board is a commitment to serve the community.
Current and former Board members have found serving on the Board to be a meaningful and rewarding experience. The level of community service does require a significant investment of time and energy to prepare for and attend meetings, and some remuneration is given to cover the expenses of serving on the Board.
OWASA embraces diversity and inclusion in everything we do, and we encourage all interested candidates to apply with Carrboro, Chapel Hill, or Orange County for appointments to our Board of Directors. For more information on applying, visit the Boards and Commission pages for the appointing governments:
More information is also available on OWASA’s website - https://www.owasa.org/board-of-directors/
Contact the Board
If you have questions or wish to discuss service on the OWASA Board, please contact the current Chair of the Board, Jody Eimers, at jeimers@owasa.org or (919) 245-8442.
All emails to and from OWASA are public records under State law (Chapter 132 of the General Statutes); however, customer billing records, employment applications and certain other information are not public records.