PTC may double stormwater fees
Sunday, May 13, 2012 - 2:34pm
Submitted by John Munford
Submitted by John Munford
Peachtree City officials are talking about the potential for doubling annual stormwater fees to handle some $8.2 million in future capital projects. That means residential property owners would be paying between $63 and $142 a year, up from the current range of $32 to $72.
At a workshop meeting last week, the City Council was told that the city’s stormwater department also needed funds for additional employees to conduct additional stormwater pipe maintenance. Stormwater manager Mark Caspar said when a stormwater pipe is replaced, he has to pull his crew off maintenance to perform the replacement.
Increasing the staffing level will cost the city $358,246 a year according to Caspar’s projections.
While the city may well end up doubling the stormwater fees to pay for the new employees and capital projects, there was some discussion of making the fees payable twice a year instead of once a year for residential property owners to soften the blow somewhat.
Of the various capital projects discussed, improvements in the area of Golfview Drive are estimated to cost $1.29 million to prevent ongoing flooding in several locations, Caspar said.
Another $927,000 is needed to work on the two large detention ponds in the Kedron Village area and another $911,000 for rehabilitation of the detention pond in the Rockspray subdivision, Caspar said. Even preventative maintenance of the Westpark detention pond is tabbed at $150,000.
Caspar’s budget also included $2.5 million for a program to re-line existing pipe to improve its lifespan significantly instead of calling for a more-costly replacement.
Pressed by Councilman Eric Imker, Caspar said some of the pipe re-lining projects could be postponed for cost savings.
No final decision was made on the fee increase recommendation from Caspar, but council is expected to delve into the matter at a later date.
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 10:24am
#2
the inevitable
the inevitable and unstoppable Parkinson's law
Mon, 05/14/2012 - 9:39pm
#3
Stormwater Jobs Program
Who says that the FEDS aren't creating jobs?
This is classical example of how a new tax "creates" needs, who knew we needed all this "clean water" work. Now we need to hire people to identify even more areas where we need more work to be done. Then we will create more work for more people who will identify even more work. Isn't government just a wonderful thing? Of course, this will require even more taxes to bring our stormwater standards up to par, but of course those standards must get much much tighter.....so we can create even more jobs.
I'll just bet all this new work will also need more concrete.
How many of you taxpayers out there think this is a good idea? Let's open a dialog on this.
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 5:11am
#4
PTC you are right...It's more
PTC you are right...It's more of an unfunded mandate, and one that the City is ignoring. In this program a city can't dump stormwater in to national streams without following a bunch of rules. PTC (and others) simply don't follow the rules. Every President since John F. Kennedy has approved Congressional laws making clean water rules tougher. So even people like our congressman went along with it.
Mon, 05/14/2012 - 12:31am
#5
Residential Property Owners?
Last I checked, stormwater is an occurrence that travels thru every facet of life here in the PTC. Since when are businesses not being included in any rate increase?
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 1:28pm
#6
Businesses would be doubled
Businesses would be doubled as well, I believe. And, since they are assessed at a higher rate it is fairer for homeowners. Last I checked, churches are not exempt either. Kudos for Council considering this. It appears long overdue.
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 3:00pm
#7
Good point on churches, Mr. Ergofay
Churches should not be exempt from property taxes either, but that's another subject.
There is no larger and less used non-impervious surface in the city than a church parking lot. 4 or 5 hours a week it has cars and the rest of the time all it does is collect water that adds to the runoff volume. If the city really wanted to improve the stormwater situation, it would require churches, schools and even shopping centers to have some or even most of their parking areas (not the driveways and sidewalks, but the area directly under parked cars) to be impervious - gravel, grass, open pavers, etc. It sure works in other places and it is considered a leading edge technique.
It might be a good idea to encourage (not require) some residents to do this as well. Maybe converting 500 square feet of your driveway to impervious gets you a 5-year exemption from the stormwater fee.
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 3:58pm
#8
Hmm, yet again Morgan
Impervious defined: Not allowing something to pass through; not penetrable; perhaps the best antonym would be permeable in this example. The use of gravel would make the lot permeable, not impervious. I disagree with you on parking lots. Stormwater pollution, such as oil pollution, is far easier to abate on impervious mediums than permeable ones. Also, the use of gravel would add a significant load to particulate pollution- a subset of air pollution. Since Fayette is within the EPA designated Atlanta area nonattainment zone, perhaps the conversion of large impervious surfaces to permeable ones would cause more trouble than it is worth.
Tue, 05/15/2012 - 10:19pm
#9
Pervious Concrete Pavement
I'm sure PTCO will love this. We make a product called pervious concrete pavement. It has little to no fines which makes it a little weaker and therefore not suitable for higher volume roads but it is perfect for parking lots. There are many of these in the state and throughout the country and here is a link to one we did at the East Atlanta Library in 2005. Take a look at the picture on the right to see how well water passes through it.
http://www.secement.org/PDFs/aEast%20Atlanta%20Branch%20Library%20-%20Ca...
Mon, 05/14/2012 - 9:22pm
#10
PTC is missing the boat on stormwater
PTC is missing the boat on stormwater. They are going to have to reissue another bond. This user fee increase will be only a slight increase. It won't change much. They need to decide if they want to follow what the Feds require or not. Figure Imker sticks his head in the sand.
The Earthen stormwater swale that cuts through my neighborhood requires maintenance?
Sure.