Sunbury staff propose contract with Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District for stormwater inspections and outreach

City staff told the Services Committee on April 2 that they intend to present a draft annual contract with the Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) at a future meeting to provide third-party construction inspections and continued support for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) reporting and outreach.

City staff said the conservation district already supports Sunbury on three of the municipality’s NPDES minimum control measures—public education, public involvement and participation, and pollutant prevention/good-housekeeping practices—and that the newly enacted stormwater legislation requires annual third-party inspections of construction sites (minimum control measure 4). “We are looking to have a partnership and have our own third-party inspection,” a city staff member said, noting the district is a nonprofit and “this is what they do day in and day out.”

Scott Stevens, administrator at the Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District, told the committee the district is a political subdivision of the state of Ohio formed to provide local conservation services. “We’re actually a political subdivision of the state of Ohio,” Stevens said. He outlined the district’s role in both agricultural and urban settings, and described work the district already performs for the county and municipalities, including outfall mapping, camera inspections, post-construction maintenance support and training for operations staff.

Staff said they will include anticipated funding sources in the draft contract; stormwater fees established by recently approved local legislation are expected to cover a significant portion of the contract. No contract was approved at the April 2 meeting; staff said they will return with a draft for committee review and a recommended annual scope, fee schedule and reporting expectations.

Committee members asked about the district’s capacity for construction and post-construction inspections and handoff procedures. Stevens and staff described typical closeout work, including verifying sediment pond capacity, removing skimmers, and ensuring a site meets performance standards prior to transfer to a long-term maintainer such as a homeowners association or, in some cases, the city.

Staff said the district assisted with prior mapping and outfall-tracing work and with a training session for the city operations team last year, and that the district’s camera and maintenance services have been used by the city before. The proposed contract will be presented to the committee as a draft for review at a subsequent meeting.