01-11-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Proposal for the Establishment of a Stormwater Utility 01/05/2023 Page: 2 Proposal Background Our original proposal included a robust GIS process for automatically developing impervious area coverage. Our original proposal was for $45,000. We prepared a second estimate that also converted some of our original tasks to City tasks. The costs to complete that work was $37,400. The City decided to utilize an intern in 2021 to develop impervious surfaces manually for all non-residential areas and a representative collection of residential parcels. With the GIS data collection phase complete, Bolton & Menk is proposing to complete the remaining Stormwater Utility work plan for a final fee of $29,200. The tasks described herein reference this evolution in our proposals. Proposed Utility Fee Structure By far, the most legally defensible storm water utilities are based on an Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) methodology. This method bases the fee on the typical impervious area associated with a residential lot. The ERU impervious area will be determined from a random sample of residences from typical Little Canada developed areas. A sample of 100 – 200 residential lots should statistically represent the entire city. Using GIS and aerial photography, the impervious areas are determined for each parcel i n that random sample. If, for example, the average impervious area is 3,000 square feet on the selected sample evaluation, 1 ERU would be equivalent to 3,000 square feet of impervious surface. This ERU is then used to represent all similar residential properties in the city. Then, the impervious area of each non- residential parcel is determined. The imperious square footage of each non-residential parcel is then divided by 3,000 to determine the number of ERUs associated with that parcel. Spreadsheet database, or GIS shapefile and geodatabase, methods are used to assign the number of ERUs for all parcels in the City and the total number of ERUs across the city is determined. When this is done the City can divide its desired annual budget by the number of ERUs to determine the typical fee for a residential lot. This method is very defensible for cities with well-drained soils because rain that falls on turf and other pervious areas typically infiltrates and less runoff is produced than from impervious surfaces. As such the impervious area is a reasonable measure of the relative runoff generated by each parcel. Hence, the ERU methodology would be a reasonable starting analysis for designing your proposed utility. However, our experience has shown that each city is unique in its storm water service, its utility needs and its political determination of multipliers and impervious area factors. As such, we are prepared to work with you and your staff to compare alternative fee schedules in order to assist you in finding the best fit scenario for Little Canada. SCOPE OF SERVICES We have prepared the following proposal based on your request for proposed services. Task 1.0 – Project Meetings and Communication Bolton & Menk, Inc. will hold a Project Kickoff meeting initiating the project. The purpose of this meeting will be to discuss the following. • Introduce the various members of the Bolton & Menk team to City staff, • Finalize the meeting and delivery schedule • Details of the deliverables and data exchange • Desired stormwater budget and what it includes • MS4 permit budget needs • Stormwater components of the Capital Improvement Program