Council Again Postpones Storm Water Vote

For the second time in two months, the Powder Springs City Council has postponed setting a storm water fee.

“The council has discussed extensively having a storm water utility fee, but … we need to educate the citizens on precisely what it’s going to be used for,” Mayor Pat Vaughn said immediately before members decided to table the vote at Monday's meeting. 

She said she would like to have a meeting with citizens and see the council vote on setting the fee at the first meeting in November.

The ordinance behind the fee  in early June, and now all that’s needed is the actual amount. The council was scheduled to vote on the fee at the mid-July meeting to postpone the vote.

At last week’s work session, starting the fee at $2 a month per household and raising it 50 cents a year until reaching a $4 cap. Members also discussed placing inserts in residents’ next water bill to explain why a storm water utility fee would soon be collected for the first time in the city.

A brochure distributed at April’s town hall meeting said the fee will go to:

• Drainage system assessments
• Inspections, maintenance and repair of the city’s storm sewer system
• Storm sewer system inventory and mapping
• Roadside and trail litter pickup
• Business inspection and education programs
• Public education and outreach programs
• Minor flood reduction projects
• Watershed monitoring
• The stabilization of stream banks
• And more

The fee is what will be applied to homeowners and stays consistent regardless of the size of the home. For other properties like businesses and churches, the fee would go up depending on each one’s square feet of impervious surface, which is basically areas like asphalted ground that water can’t penetrate and must “run off.”

The average runoff contribution of Powder Springs households—called one ERU or Equivalent Residential Unit—is 2,840 square feet.

That average is what will be used to figure what other properties must pay monthly. For example, if a business has 5,680 square feet of impervious surface, it must pay twice the monthly rate a homeowner would pay. So if the rate was $2 for homeowners, the business would have to pay $4 a month.

Also on Monday:

• The week of Sept. 5 was proclaimed National Payroll Week.
• The council approved a new retiree health plan, which Councilman Tom Bevirt presented at as one that would save both the city and retirees money. 
• Relocation expenses for new Police Chief Charlie Sewell were approved. The council of up to $10,000 at last week’s work session.
• The council approved 3-2 the second reading of an ordinance requiring contractors who install vinyl siding to be certified. Council members Al Thurman and Nancy Hudson voted against, with Hudson saying before the vote: Voting in favor of this ordinance is saying citizens are “not capable of choosing a qualified contractor” to do the work for their homes. “They are homeowners and should have the right to choose whoever they please without government interference.” In July, Vaughn mentioned homeowners who had ran into problems with vinyl siding being installed incorrectly and not receiving relief for it. 
• The second reading on the millage rate, which is being kept at 8.5 mills, was approved.

In keeping with the summer schedule of only meeting once a month, the council will not meet again until the Sept. 14 work session, followed by the Sept. 19 legislative meeting.