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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12.07.2009 (2)COUNCIL WORK SESSION December 7, 2009 4:35 p.m. Council Chambers Members present: Getty, Greenwood, Steve Schmitt, Welper, Reggie Schmitt. Absent: Cole, Hart. Moved by Reggie Schmitt, seconded by Steve Schmitt that the Agenda, as proposed, be approved. Ayes: Five. Absent: Cole, Hart. Motion carried. Councilperson Hart now present at 4:37 p.m. Mayor Hurley stated that this process has been in the works for about three years. He stated that while other cities imposed the Storm Water Management Program ordinance and fee schedule, Waterloo did not. He stated that it is now time to finesse the ordinance and fee schedule. He stated that he has received several calls pertaining to both ordinances and is sure that council members have also. He stated that he doesn't blame the citizens for their concerns about the fee. Mayor Hurley stated that this is not a tax and that it is a user fee. He acknowledged that it is all out of our pockets. He stated this has not been a hidden thing kept undercover and was mentioned a number of times over the last couple of years. He stated that the fee is to accommodate a federal unfunded mandate to take certain safeguards to protect the quality of the water that is dumped into the water through the storm water system. Mayor Hurley stated that it is what it is and no one likes unfunded mandates whether they come from Washington, D.C. or Des Moines, Iowa. He stated that council has set this year's budget up with 12 months of the fee in place. He stated that we have done a good job at keeping this fee from the citizens for several years, but the time has come. He stated that we are trying to make the fee as fair and equitable between the different property classes as we could. He stated that staff met and there have been work sessions to stay informed on the progress. He stated that it got to a point where some money was asked and granted to spend money on a consultant to help drive this down to the most fair and equitable system that nears what other communities have done so that we are not too far out. Mark Rand of Snyder & Associates presented the Storm Water Management Program ordinance and fee schedule. He stated some common questions that will be answered: what is a Storm Water Management Program; what is the fee; how was the fee determined; why would this be considered; why is this important to have; how is it implemented. Mr. Rand stated that the Storm Water Management Program deals with all facets of storm water within the city of Waterloo. He stated that the program would cover maintenance of the system, design and engineering of storm water pipes and channel improvements. Mr. Rand stated that the city has a permit from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) that has very specific items that the city is mandated to follow. He stated that there are water quality improvements that are being required from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He stated that the system functions similar to the water or sanitary sewer utility that is already in place. Mr. Rand stated the program was created in 2005; it just has not had a specific funding source associated with it. He noted that this is a user fee and is similar to the water and sanitary sewer system. Mr. Rand stated that the State of Iowa has authorized all cities within the state to adopt a Storm Water Management Program. He stated that the city current has the program, but the funding comes from several different sources including sewer fees and road use tax funds. He stated that what this user fee does is consolidates that and puts the funding right in the direct source of what it is intended to be used for. He stated that currently they are aware of at least 40 cities that have already adopted similar ordinances. Mr. Rand stated that there are a number of reasons why a number of cities have adopted this. He stated it is to relieve the financial burden on the current funding sources, it is more equitable because it is based on the users not the property tax system, its based on how much storm water leaves the property, and it is a stable and secure source of funds. Mr. Rand stated that The National Pollutant Discharge System (NPDS) is an unfunded mandate and what it says is that you have a permit from the IDNR that has a list of requirements for the program. He stated that it allows the city to improve and repair the storm water system. Mr. Rand stated that this is based for anyone that runs storm water off their property, not just those individuals that flood or have storm water problems. He stated that everyone contributes to the water quality by having storm water run off from their property. Mr. Rand stated that there is Page 2 a large amount of requirements that both the IDNR and the EPA have required of not just the City of Waterloo, but all large cities within the State of Iowa and within the country. He stated that all cities are wrestling how to fund these mandates from Washington, D.C. and many have chosen this funding method to do that. Mr. Rand stated that we are trying to educate people on water quality via websites, public meetings, neighborhood cleanups, teaching people connected to the sanitary sewer system how to disconnect to them and find them. He stated that a large amount of erosion can occur on construction sites, and we put the contractors into a frame of mind on considering the run off and erosion from their construction site. Mr. Rand stated that post construction is once the project is completed there are elements in place that help improve the water quality after the construction is complete. He stated that some good housekeeping operations such as street sweeping contribute greatly to the storm water system and some cities fund operations such as these from the fees collected. Mr. Rand stated that there are training programs, and the city is required to do an annual report. He stated that the report goes to the IDNR to inform them all of how the city is meeting the terms of the permit. He stated that there are special conditions such as how the city is creating special maps, how salt is stored, etc. Mr. Rand stated that the permit will need to be updated eventually and typically how things work to expect new changes. He stated that most cities that have adopted this program can see the future and it's an increase to standards. Mr. Rand stated that it is important to look forward and lay that groundwork now. He stated the maintenance of the existing system when problems arise with the intakes or erosion; the funding can be used for solutions to flooding problems in neighborhoods and different drainage studies. He stated that funding could be used when you have drainage issues, small projects in alleys, culvert improvements and large projects. Mr. Rand stated that maybe the city would try to get a grant. The city can use this as starter money to try and get more money from other locations. He stated that there are a number of options that the funding could be used for but the number one thing is the concept of the unfunded mandate. Mr. Rand stated that after discussions with other cities, the IDNR is honed in on this and those cities that don't meet the terms of their permit are subject to fines. He stated that this is not something that can be taken lightly. The cities with these permits are required to follow these regulations and the IDNR follows up to make sure the terms are being met. Mr. Rand stated that there have been questions if there is going to be a storm water program fee and then how will it be set. He stated that there are several different ways to determine the fee. Mr. Rand stated that one option is the flat fee where all the users pay the same and the concern was that some properties run off more than others. He stated another option was to determine the fee according to parcel size and the concern is the development of the parcels. He stated that some parcels run off more storm water than others. He stated that sometimes the size of the parcel doesn't always dictate how much water that lot is running off. Mr. Rand stated another option is the impervious area basis. He stated that when the storm water falls from the sky, it is the buildings, etc. that water can't physically soak into the ground and it runs off the property and goes somewhere else. Mr. Rand stated that after looking at institutional and industrial type properties along Commercial Street, a calculation was made on how much impervious area all of those parcels had. He stated that what was determined was an Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) where the number of single family or standard household units was determined to equal a lot like a strip mall or similar parcel. Mr. Rand stated that there are over 20,000 residential parcels in Waterloo. He stated that he looked at across the state of fees and funding amounts because part of this analysis did include understanding how much revenue would be generated. He stated that the concept of how much revenue we need to generate was coupled with making sure we are fair and reasonable between neighboring cities and cities around Iowa. He stated that what was determined was a fee of $2.75 per month per dwelling unit. Mr. Rand stated that for anything residential, a count of how many dwelling units there are was used to determine the fee per month. He stated that for commercial and industrial institutions the impervious area is measured. Mr. Rand stated that what was done was roof, parking lot, pavement and anything that water would run off was determined and measured. He stated they were fortunate to be able to work with the County for the information to help with the mapping that allowed them to determine each commercial parcels impervious area. Mr. Rand stated that the recommendation is to have a base fee of $2.75 per month plus $2.75 per ERU with one ERU equals 5,000 square feet. He stated an example of a 55,000 square foot impervious area divided by 5,000 would be 10 ERUs. He stated that you take that times $2.75 per month and end up with a total of $27.50. Mr. Rand stated that everyone pays a base rate of $2.75, so that would be added with a final monthly charge of $30.25. He stated that what was done with the spreadsheet is every parcel in town was • • Page 3 calculated. He stated the amount of impervious area was determined for each parcel and what the corresponding fee for that would be. He stated that this boils down to the ordinance, fee rate and the data management or billing on how the money will be collected. Mr. Rand stated that generally the $2.75 fee is at the lower side and if you factor in all of the cities that have a storm water management fee, this fee that is being imposed is right in the middle. He stated that educating the public is important and the fact sheet will be available on-line and sent with the bills. He stated that the presentation will also be aired for additional public education. Councilperson Getty asked how we determine if this is working. Councilperson Getty stated an example of a street sweeper that goes down a particular neighborhood one or more times a year and then asked who would go to the river to see if the water that is coming out is not clean. Mr. Rand states that is part of the City's permit with the IDNR and there are provisions in there where the City takes water samples at predetermined locations to get an assessment. He stated the hope and desire is that there really isn't much data to make determinations, but over a longer period of time there should be some data to show some positive impacts being made. He stated there is also new regulations being brought on to construction sites that will have requirements on how much they can run off, even tighter than what is out there today. Mr. Rand stated that that whole process gets more detailed on what the options are and it's all really going to improve water. Mayor Hurley stated it is a requirement of NPDS under this storm water management and if you look back at the permit requirements besides public education and involvement, we have to do elicit discharge detection and elimination. Mayor Hurley stated the annual report does include a summary of data gathered during the report year and that's water quality and testing. Mayor Hurley stated that with all of the millions of gallons of water that flows into the storm sewer system at the end of the year, the EPA believes that if these things are fully enacted, the water will show an improvement over time. Councilperson Getty asked if the chemicals that we use for the ice is going to be allowed or do we have to come up with another system of keeping the streets safe in the winter months. Mayor Hurley stated that it is soluble and it looses its strength over time. He stated that if that was the case, we would have heard about it from Des Moines, Milwaukee, Chicago, Minneapolis and Cedar Rapids. He stated that he doesn't think so, but will follow up on it. Councilperson Greenwood asked whether the road use tax fund and sewer fund could carry this. He asked how this $1.5 million dollars will be spent and what departments are carrying it now. Mayor Hurley stated that we are already doing things towards storm water management now. He stated that the streets are swept at least three times a year. He stated that Waste Management goes into the catch basins and collection points to clean them out. He stated that during the floods of 2008, everything was done to deal with backed up storm water. He stated that by this mandate there have been two or three circulars sent out to every resident, household and parcel in Waterloo. He stated that the Engineering Department will have to have someone go out and make all of these checks and fill out the forms so that we have a year end report. He stated that street sweeping currently comes out of the sanitation fund and in that $1 5 million dollars is several hundred thousand that will pay for the street sweeping as we do today. He stated that it would come out of this fund rather than sanitation. Wayne Castle, Associate Engineer, stated that the city is required to do annual testing of the inlets. He stated that there are five locations around the city that are tested. He stated that as far as the outfalls, each year the city has to do an annual dry weather inspection. He stated that there is only so much money to do testing at certain times. Mr. Castle stated that this provides the city with the money to get this rolling. He stated that the city is meeting the permit right now, but not by much and allows the city to look forward to the future to get things rolling for when the EPA decides to raise the standards and we can adjust with it. Page 4 Mayor Hurley stated that these funds would be used for watershed management. He stated that we can do everything we can within the city limits. He stated that as soon as it gets outside the city limits, there is no control of the largest, unregulated industry in the state, farming. He stated that the Black Hawk County Soil and Conservationist has offered to create a position of watershed management, design and engineering. Councilperson Steve Schmitt asked if there are any clearly defined fines for violations. Mayor Hurley stated that he believes there is a provision in there for municipal infractions. Mr. Castle stated that there are municipal infractions and engineering works with code enforcement to get those taken care of. Mr. Castle stated according to the fee schedule it is $200.00 for the first offense, $500.00 for the second offense and $750.00 for the third and each offense thereafter. Councilperson Hart asked if there was some type of form that shows that we need to raise another $150,000.00 a year, or staffing charges going up on that particular area, or we need to do certain testing to get to a certain dollar amount. Councilperson Hart stated that he'd like something concrete to tell the citizens when speaking to them. He stated that he is hearing some great opportunities that can and will be done but would like something concrete. Mayor Hurley stated the costs associated with the $1.5 million. He stated that the main thing was to generate the money the city needs to be in compliance with the mandate. With no further business before the Council, it was moved by Reggie Schmitt, seconded by Steve Schmitt that the meeting be adjourned at 5:23 p.m. Ayes: Six. Absent: Cole. Motion carried. Carol Failor Deputy City Clerk • •