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City adopts Chapters 19 and 20 for stormwater regulation; utility ordinance deferred while staff works with GlobalFoundries
Summary
The council adopted Chapter 19 (permit transfer authority) and Chapter 20 (stormwater management regulations) and postponed the separate stormwater utility ordinance (Chapter 21) pending further work with GlobalFoundries and clarification of how large industrial parcels will be treated in a fee-based utility.
Essex Junction City Council voted on Feb. 26 to adopt amendments to Municipal Ordinance Chapter 19 and to adopt a new Chapter 20 establishing the city’s stormwater management regulations. Councilors approved the two chapters unanimously.
"We collected public comments during the process," Chelsea Mendigo, a staff member involved in the project, told the council, and staff summarized those comments in a memo included with the meeting packet. Mendigo said Chapter 19 was updated to reflect the city-only regulatory framework (it had been a joint ordinance with the town) and Chapter 20 moves stormwater-specific regulatory language out of the Land Development Code into a standalone ordinance.
Staff and councilors explicitly deferred adoption of Chapter 21, the ordinance that would form a stormwater utility and the associated credit manual, while continuing negotiations with GlobalFoundries. "GlobalFoundries is exempt from the utility," Mendigo said during the meeting, and staff have met with the company to work through permitting and regulatory interactions; councilors asked staff to return with details on March 12.
The motion to adopt Chapters 19 and 20 passed unanimously. The council approved the two regulatory chapters so the city could proceed with enforcement and permitting under the new technical standards; staff will bring the Chapter 21/credit manual back for council consideration after resolving outstanding questions related to large industrial parcels.
Ending: Staff will return to council with the stormwater utility details and the credit manual, including how GlobalFoundries and similarly large properties will be treated.
