12/18/2007: "Here We Go Again? CC Takes Up Storm Water Ord"

The .County Council subcommittee on stormwater has agreed upon a first draft -well sort of, Committee Chair Rich Peterson said the three member committee has 2.5 votes in favor of it; which does not bode well for a quick and satisfactory resolution for a stormwater funding mechanism the public will find acceptable. (Previous story & links)

The full County Council will discuss Draft One of the ordinance today (Council Room, 2:15 p.m., Tuesday, December 18) as a part of their normal work session. While the public may attend, public comment is not normally allowed during their “work sessions”.

But according to the County, Tuesday is the last day to start the formal process of adopting an ordinance for 2008. The Draft includes a Sunset Clause that will “terminate” the ordinance one year from adoption.

Regardless of the outcome of today’s meeting, the Council has stated they will work on a new ordinance to replace the one the voters previously rejected by a two to one margin.

the new proposal from the subcommittee is intended to simply generate some money in 2008, and is not being advertised as anything beyond that. The ideal was suggested by Councilman Howard Rosenfeld. The overall content of the draft differs little from the original funding ordinance that was rejected by two to one vote in the last election, but there are some changes.

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The source of the money is a “basic fee for one year” of $6 per developed parcel. For parcels located in an Urban Growth Area (UGA) that are other than a single family home, the flat rate “shall be multiplied by a factor of 1.5”. In other words, a UGA does not get a free ride.

It is estimated that, as written, the new one year ordinance would generate approximately $100,000.00 to be used for the following:

Watershed basin planning - $60,000
Water quality monitoring - $20,000
Gathering data and measuring actual impermeable surface area for commercial institutional and industrial parcels - $20,000
Staff time and materials - $5,000

What makes a parcel developed is defined as land that has “not been altered by grading or filling of the ground surface, removal of natural vegetation, or by construction of any improvement or other impervious surface area which affects the hydraulic properties of the parcel.”

One can make an argument that there is very little land in San Juan County that has not been impacted to some degree that would qualify it for inclusion in that definition. How this will be interpreted was an open question in the original ordinance, and remains so in the current proposed draft.

Councilman Rich Peterson had previously questioned the need for some of the funding now being proposed, citing ongoing work by other committees and agencies that are dealing with some of the issues the new ordinance would address, and expressed concern about a duplication of effort and funding.

And for an ordinance that will sunset in one year there will, nonetheless, be a “standing advisory committee that shall evaluate and make recommendations to the County Council on matters related to needed projects, annual fees based upon projected cost estimates, and other matters relating to the effective conduct of the utility.”