Butler County Engineer
Greg Wilkens presented a comprehensive funding plan for the countywide
Storm Water District to the Butler County Commissioners today.
This plan was developed by an Advisory Committee formalized by
Wilkens to evaluate the financial needs of the District. The
Committee was an outgrowth of the original Storm Water Steering
Committee and consisted of representatives from local government
agencies, chambers of commerce, developers, environmental groups,
the Farm Bureau, and the Home Builders Association.
The Advisory Committee
has established an annual budget of $957,400 to implement the
NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) Phase
2 permit. This budget is based on an annual rate of $13.00 per
year for one ERU (Equivalent Residential Unit), which equals
4,000 square feet of impervious area. The Committee has recommended
that the rate be in conjunction with an impervious area measurement.
An impervious area is described as any area where rainfall is
not absorbed by the ground, such as driveways, parking lots,
and rooftops.
Based on the plan,
owners of single-family residential, vacant, and agricultural
parcels will be billed as one ERU, or $13.00 per year. All other
parcels, including multi-family, industrial, and commercial,
will be billed based upon their impervious area. It is important
to emphasize that the bill will not be based on total square
feet of the parcel, but on the square feet of impervious area
only.
Wilkens noted that
compared with other drainage districts in Ohio, these proposed
rates are among the most reasonable. "Our Advisory Committee
and staff at the Engineer's Office worked diligently to deliver
the most cost-effective plan to meet this new federal mandate,"
he said. "When the federal government requires that you
implement a plan to meet strict new regulations but provides
no money to do so, a funding plan must be developed at the local
level. We feel that this is a realistic and efficient plan."
For more on the establishment
of the Storm Water District funding proposal, click
here.
Storm Water
Management - A Brief Overview
In accordance with
the Federal Clean Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) imposed strict new regulations on water quality
in creeks, streams, lakes, and rivers. Adopted in 1999, this
unfunded mandate requires certain communities to submit a plan
which outlines how they propose to protect bodies of water from
pollution.
The Butler County Commissioners
appointed the Engineer's Office as the lead agency to develop
Butler County's Storm Water District, which will evaluate the
quality of storm water pollution runoff from construction sites,
commercial and residential properties, as well as agricultural
and park lands. The District will be required to closely monitor
storm water runoff and possibly fine offenders. What the plan
does not involve is resolving flooding issues or infrastructure
maintenance, i.e., storm sewers and drainage facilities. All
affected entities were required to obtain permit coverage by
March 10, 2003.
During 2002, a steering
committee was assembled by the BCEO to formalize the plan for
the Storm Water District in Butler County. Monthly meetings were
held to address OEPA's six minimum control measures, including
construction site runoff control, pollution prevention, and public
outreach. Then in 2003, an advisory committee was established
to identify a funding plan for the newly established District.
For details about the
development of Butler County's Storm Water District, please see
the web site that has been developed for Storm
Water Management.
# # #
For more information contact:
- Chris
Petrocy, BCEO Public
Information Supervisor
- Greg
Wilkens, P.E., P.S.,
Butler County Engineer
Phone 513.867.5744 • Fax 513.867.5849
