07-06-2010 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION July 6,2010 APPROVED 46 The council concurred and acknowledged that the developer has responded to their 47 previous concerns. They are comfortable and directed Ms. Divine to proceed with 48 scheduling an EDA meeting at which approval will be considered. 49 50 2. Storm Water Management Annual Report—Public Works Division employee Tim 51 Payne reported on the city's accomplishments in the 2009 Storm Water Pollution 52 Prevention Plan. He provided a detailed report by use of a Power Point presentation (on 53 file). The presentation included an explanation of the purpose of the National Pollutant 54 Discharge Elimination System(NPDES)to reduce pollution, what the city must commit 55 to and accomplish in order to receive an NPDES permit that allows the discharge of 56 storm water and he provided a review of the city's accomplishments in this area in 2009. 57 There was also a review of 2010 goals. 58 59 The council confirmed that there is good information for the public in this area on the 60 city's Web site. It was noted some cities have utilized their utility bills as a vehicle to get 61 information to their consumers on storm water and to provide advice on such popular 62 items as rain gardens. The council heard that staff will be bringing forward an ordinance 63 soon to put certain illicit activities (in the area of storm water) into the code to help with 64 enforcement. 65 66 3. Storm Water Utility—Community Development Director Grochala reported that 67 staff has responded to the council's direction in March to go forward with an update to 68 the city's Storm Water Utility Feasibility Study. The firm of Short Elliot and 69 Hendrickson (SEH) is in the process of updating the study and has presented the council 70 with a draft for review. He reviewed a schedule that could be implemented if the council 71 wishes to proceed with a utility. 72 73 Jeremy Walgrave of SEH distributed the draft report and indicated that the basic purpose 74 of creating a storm water utility is to institute a dedicated fee to cover storm water 75 management costs. 76 77 The council heard about how the city pays for storm water costs currently from general 78 funds and how a storm water utility would more fairly charge those expenses to users and 79 reach users not currently paying (churches, prison, schools). Staff is in the process of 80 determining where costs are included in the budget and drawing those out to be included 81 in a storm water utility budget. Based on a preliminary review, the proper fee appears to 82 be in the area of$30 per year per resident(average). Commercial properties would be 83 charged on the basis of use. In a basic comparison of what an average homeowner would 84 currently pay(through property taxes), it appears that the amount for a median valued 85 home ($212,000)would decrease from $50 to $30 per year. That shift will occur because 86 industrial properties will pay more and non-profits will begin paying. 87 88 A council member noted that this fee shift has been considered for some time but there 89 has been concern that costs be clearly identified and that the use of the funds be kept only 90 to those costs directly related to storm water functions. There should be no abuse of this 2