6.2. SR 04-09-2012`~~ REQUEST FOR ACTION
.......River
TO ITEM NUMBER
Ma or and Ci Council 6.2
AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY
Work Session April 9, 2012 Rebecca Haug, Environmental
Administrator
ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By
stormwater Utility Fee Justin Femrite, City Engineer & Tim
Simon, Finance Director
REVIEWED BY
Cal Portner, Ci Administrator
ACTION REQUESTED
Staff is requesting direction on the implementation of a storm water utility fee.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Since 2003, the city has been required to comply with the state and federal National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) Program rules and regulations. The state is in the process of revising the
permit which is proposed to be approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Board
sometime in August 2012. This new permit has several new mandated requirements for the city.
The city's current levy for the stormwater program ($50,000) will not sufficiently cover the costs of these
requirements without some significant future increases. A majority of other Municipal Separate Storm
Sewer System (MS4) communities in Minnesota have implemented a storm water utility fee to cover the
costs of this unfunded state and federal mandated program. Utility fees are considered to be a more .fair
means to pay for the stormwater maintenance activity than local property taxes because each property is
designated a charge based upon the amount of their contributed stormwater runoff. As you know,
property tax levies are designated based upon the value attributed to your property, with no correlation to
the amount of services used.
Council approved engaging Stantec to conduct a storm water utility fee analysis on November 14, 2011.
The purpose of this fee would allow for the City of Elk River to continue meeting the existing NPDES
program rules and the proposed rule changes in the new permit. This fee would allow the city to charge
for stormwater services to clean up the lakes, rivers, and streams.
Currently, several communities along the Minnesota River and in the South Metro along the Mississippi
River are required to implement measures to clean up the rivers. The costs for the Minnesota River are
estimated at $175 million and the South Metro Mississippi River is $850 million. Work on determining
the costs for communities along the Upper Mississippi River, which extends from Hastings to St. Cloud
and includes Elk River, are just beginning but are projected to cost about the same as the South Metro
Mississippi River. In addition, the city is required to maintain our current system. Anticipated projects
include dredging of the Lion's Park wetland and possibly Lake Orono in the next few years as part of this
C6NtEREIf BY
N:\Public Bodies\City Council\Council RCA\Agenda Packet\storm water.docx ~~
program. Based on the costs bared by the city's dredging of Lake Orono in 1998, it could cost
approximately $800,000 to do each of these projects.
Staff has been working with Stan Hanson of Stantec to complete the storm water utility fee analysis.
Through this work, some questions have been asked that need Council direction. Mr. Hanson will be
giving an update on some possible fee structures depending on Council direction.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
N/A
ATTACHMENTS
None
Action Motion by Second by Vote
Follow Up
N:\Public Bodies\City Council\Council RCA\Agenda Packet\storm water.docx
.~
fl„. ~,~,~
rl
N,c~.~ ~.~. ~I.a~~z
_. ~ ~~ ~~_
D Cn Cn C)
-~
~ ~ O ',~'
~ ~
`~
~ _ ~
~ O
~ ~
~
-+,
0 o ~
~ rn
~
N ~
~ ~ ~
m ~ ~
C -'
,_.,~
- •
CD
_ • -~
CD
CD
s~
~.
•
I I I I n~
~ ~ ~ ~ C7 n ~ ~ -' ~
~ ~, ~ ~ o o ~ < _.
Q ~ -CD ~ ~•~ .. ~
~ ~ ~ ~ O r+ ~ ~ Cn
~ n ~ Q ~ O ~ ~
~ ~ CD D ~ ~ CD
~ ~ ~ n ~ ~
~~~~~~~~
Q ~ ~
~ C7 O~ ~ ~ ~ ~ CAD
-~ O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Q
~, `~ ,~ ~
~ ~ CAD ~ C~
~ ~ o ~ ~ ~
~ _ ~ ~ ~
~~ V
~ ~ CD
~ ~
~--~ r--~
CD
O
CD
3
N
(~
CD
CD
•
O
<.
CD
CD
cD
CQ
0
C~
CD
0
O
CD
-~
~--~
O
-~
C
~C
VJ
r--f
~1
TZ
V
0
rn
~'
~~
0
rn
rn
Z
~•
V
0
D
c~
_m
o'
'1
^~
~I
C
•
C
~_
v
0
c~
v
Z
O
.v
•
D
~_
e-~F
^^`••
Yid
~--~
~G
z
0
.~
•
rn
v
o'
•
V J
rn
~.
rn
~~
•
~'
o'
0
`.
• •
V
~ o
~ ~
o ~
~ ~.
~ ~
o ~
~ ~
~ ~
~ ~
~ ~
~. ~
~ ~
~ ~
o ~
~ ~
~ ~
~ -
~ ~
0
Z
O
.v
•
V
^~
`•
e~y-
X
~~
^~
A
rF
0
^~
/r'1
/11
Z
O
•J
Q
00 ~
0
,Nrt
o~'-
~~
m
~„ ~.
N ~ ~-
~ ~
~~ ~
~ ~
C~
v
W ~
o ~
O
~.
(D
n
~+
N
Q
~ ~' C
o ~ ,.+
n ~
cv ~
~ ~
~ ~.
~ ~
n ~
(D ~
m
~~
_.
cn ~
o~
°o~
o~
~ ~
c~ _
~ ~
~D
~+
I
/~
~1
I
O
CD
~+
m
x
v
m
V
rf
O
CD
C
~^
r'1
rf
', ' ~,\~;; ~ o
f e c ~+ e
y c e
a~da
~ n 6 0 i~ S_ ~f a s
m a9.~1O.°o 3~ °'
,~;•oS, fi~ ~,
3 e
o
`, a ~° ~ `
~ ~
a ~ ~ = 3 o a
n
~ ~ - g s, ~ c
. " ° S d
~ 3 A ~
c ~ r ~
h C S P
S ~ n ~ y D
d ~ t o
e
d
~, ~ ~ ~. n
o tr d
n
S
C
.. a
z,
~
. N
_
3
,
t
4~`1 ~
~ , 1
tx
~~~ "
'... Xr D~
F.+ f ., ~
N ; W
i r~~ ;
i~
~ ~``,/
~ i
°~
~ Q ~
~f • '
^
}~ f ;
1
~--- < ~ ~
1
~' '
~ _ __
~~~ ~ S
i I_ ~