Stormwater Fee Again Postponed

The Powder Springs City Council voted on Monday to table setting an amount to the city’s stormwater fee, the third postponement since the ordinance behind the fee  in early June.

At Monday’s meeting, Mayor Pat Vaughn read a memo from Director Greg Ramsey and Director Pam Conner. The memo requested the vote be delayed for the preparation of a priority list of projects the money can go to, a credit manual for reduced payments on the fee, and a summary of comments provided at .

Conner had hoped to have everything ready by Monday’s meeting, Vaughn said, but her father recently passed away.

“It would have been ready for tonight like we had planned,” Vaughn said, “but she lost a couple weeks.”

When the council voted to , Vaughn explained that the delay was to better educate citizens on what the fee would be going to. The city then hosted the open houses in September and October.

A primary reason for was council members wanting more information about what the fee would cost businesses, churches and schools.

In a meeting before Monday’s vote, Vaughn referenced a Powder Springs church that is listed to pay at least $3,000 a year for the fee—a figure that was also mentioned in from former Councilman Ra Barr. Vaughn said the number is inaccurate because no credits have been applied since the credit manual is incomplete.

“So someone went and put that information out there before the job was finished,” the mayor said. “Pam (Conner) was in Missouri, and they were working on it and didn’t have time to finish it.”

Councilman Tom Bevirt asked if everything would be ready to go by the next meeting on Nov. 21.

Vaughn said Conner was hoping so, but that it will likely take about three to four weeks.

A brochure distributed at a town hall meeting earlier this year says the fees 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

At an August work session, starting the fee at $2 a month per household and raising it 50 cents a year until reaching a $4 cap.

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 footage 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 council approved a special use permit and other legislation that will allow for at the corner of Sterlingbrook Drive and Highway 278. The permit says the facility may be open from 6 a.m. to midnight, Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday; and 1 to 8 p.m. on Sunday. Bevirt said the range will likely bring further development to the area.
• The council approved for city vehicles to last at least 12 months.
• Councilwoman Cheryl Sarvis congratulated and for following summer testing.
• Councilwoman Nancy Hudson said she enjoyed attending the Christmas open houses of the downtown businesses and encouraged citizens to check them out for Christmas shopping. She also complimented Police Chief Charlie Sewell for his Sunday column in the Marietta Daily Journal.
• City Manager Rick Eckert noted the importance of Veterans Day. “My mother is in a veterans’ nursing home in Colorado and she’s 100 years old and she is the fourth oldest person there,” he said, “so some of these veterans have a way of hanging on a long time. I’m very proud of her.” Vaughn noted the American Legion’s on Friday at the .
• Vaughn said Ken Landers, a member of Keep Powder Springs Beautiful, was recently given the city's Volunteer of the Year award.
• Vaughn recognized the Powder Springs Community Task Force for recently celebrating its 10-year anniversary.