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Council awards contract for stormwater-fee impervious mapping to Freeze & Nichols; planning for fees and flood-mapping begins
Summary
Council approved a professional-services contract not to exceed $129,350 to Freeze & Nichols to perform impervious-area mapping and floodplain mapping needed for a revised stormwater-fee assessment and FEMA-related flood mapping.
The Indian Trail Town Council voted on March 11 to award a professional-services contract to Freeze & Nichols, Inc. for a stormwater-fee assessment and related floodplain mapping in an amount not to exceed $129,350.
Scope and purpose: The selected firm will create detailed impervious-area mapping for residential and nonresidential parcels, generate the data needed to produce an updated stormwater-fee structure, and complete floodplain mapping tasks requested by FEMA and town staff. Town staff explained that updated impervious tracking will allow the town to better bill commercial properties and to ensure residential tiers reflect current lot coverage (driveways, patios, pools, accessory structures). The town intends to complete the impervious mapping in time to bring fee recommendations to the stormwater advisory committee and council to consider a fiscal-year (FY) assessment next year.
Why it matters: Town staff said existing residential assumptions (a baseline “1 ERU = 2,060 square feet” metric) were established many years ago and do not capture newer driveway expansions, patios and other hard surfaces created during the pandemic-era building surge. Accurate, parcel-level mapping will refine fee tiers and identify commercial properties that added impervious surfaces without corresponding fee adjustments.
Budget and schedule: The award was for $129,350; freez & Nichols will deliver mapping outputs on an approximate five-month schedule, with the stormwater-fee component expected by June so staff can consider fee recommendations for the next fiscal year. The contract also includes a floodplain-mapping phase to document accessory structures and other elements in the floodplain for outreach and mitigation planning.
Vote and next steps: The council approved the professional-services award by unanimous vote. Freeze & Nichols will begin the mapping work and staff expects to present fee-tier options and floodmap results to the stormwater advisory committee and then to council.
Ending note: Town staff emphasized the contract is an investment to make the fee structure accurate and defensible; any subsequent changes to residential tiers or commercial billing will be brought to council for formal action prior to implementation.
