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McMinnville staff warn of aging stormwater system; advisory committee urges new utility
Summary
Public Works and engineering staff told the council the city’s stormwater infrastructure is in varied and often poor condition, cited regulatory requirements under the Mercury TMDL, and reported that the citizen advisory pack unanimously recommended creating a stormwater utility and a master plan to fund repairs and proactive maintenance.
Public Works Director Jeff Hunsicker and City Engineer James Lofton briefed the McMinnville City Council on the condition of the city’s stormwater system, regulatory obligations tied to a Mercury total maximum daily load (TMDL), and advisory‑panel recommendations for creating a stormwater enterprise fund.
Staff said the system includes pipes of widely varying age and construction, roughly 45 miles of open channels, about 3,600 catch basins, and 17 detention basins. Staff also described major gaps in asset data and condition assessments and said maintenance has been largely reactive — crews repair failures and respond to localized flooding rather than fund programmatic replacement.
The advisory panel and staff recommendations
Hunsicker told councilors the stormwater advisory panel (PAC) unanimously recommended creation of a stormwater utility to generate ongoing, dedicated revenue for maintenance, capital repair and regulatory compliance. The PAC also recommended first funding a master plan and capital improvement program to prioritize replacement and to enable system development charges (SDCs) for stormwater.
"The city is responsible for taking care of [the stormwater system]," Hunsicker said while outlining the difference between the existing infrastructure and the enterprise fund model staff proposes.
Regulation and immediate obligations
Staff said the city must comply with a Mercury TMDL that "came online" earlier and that the council adopted the associated implementation plan in November (the meeting transcript did not specify the year). Hunsicker said that compliance work and new requirements will drive program costs, including needed street sweeping, catch-basin cleaning and ordinances for illicit discharges and erosion control. Staff explained the city will need to develop an illicit-discharge ordinance and an enforcement-response plan, and later an erosion-control ordinance; DEQ’s construction-stormwater permit requires controls at disturbances of more than one acre, while the city will need to administer permits for smaller sites (0.5 acre), staff said.
Condition, maintenance and costs
Staff presented examples of failing infrastructure: root intrusion, corroded corrugated metal pipe from earlier decades and sinkholes caused by pipe collapse. They said video inspection is limited to problem areas and that one recent 36-inch line replacement near Orchard cost close to $100,000. Catch-basin cleaning has been limited: staff vacuumed about 150 catch basins in one year (roughly 4% of the system) and had reached roughly 500 so far in the current year.
Available funding and constraints
Staff outlined current funding constraints: state gas-tax and transportation funds can pay for stormwater work only within the right-of-way; wastewater enterprise funds cannot legally be used for stormwater; and general-fund transfers are the only immediately available source for off‑right‑of‑way repairs. Staff noted limited grant opportunities for maintenance and replacement, though stream-restoration grants might apply to a subset of projects. The city has one ARPA-funded stormwater capital project (the Midtown Basin at Thirteenth and Galloway) in design; modeling shows about a 50% reduction in localized flooding for that site, and staff hopes to bid construction this summer.
Finance and accounting
The city’s finance director told councilors stormwater activity is currently recorded inside the wastewater fund and recommended creating a separate stormwater fund for clearer accounting and audit trails. The director proposed implementing a separate fund as part of the FY2026 budget rollover.
Policy choices ahead
Councilors asked about rate structures, credits for private stormwater systems (owners that maintain their own detention infrastructure), insurance effects and the scale of replacement needed. Staff said the PAC considered tiered-rate options, recommended a master plan before SDC adoption and advised that credits are administratively feasible but were not recommended by the PAC. Staff also noted the legal and practical limits on using gas-tax and wastewater funds for stormwater.
What council will decide next
Staff plans to present the PAC’s final recommendations, a staff implementation recommendation, and financial-accounting changes to council for direction. Councilors will decide whether to pause, direct an implementation schedule, or request more information on rates, credits and staging of capital work.
Ending
Councilors thanked staff for the update and asked for follow-up information on master-plan timing, credit policies for private storm systems and whether improved maintenance might affect municipal insurance exposure.
