Bowling Green staff outline proposed stormwater utility, timeline and property purchases to tackle flood-prone infrastructure

City staff told Bowling Green commissioners that a proposed stormwater utility and a related fee-in-lieu-of-construction (FELOC) program would help the city address aging storm infrastructure and fund larger, off-site water-quality projects.

Courtney Howe of the Environmental Compliance Division said the consulting team — which includes Public Works, Environmental Compliance staff, GPD Group and environmental legal counsel — is completing baseline analysis and expects to return an ordinance for consideration in the next two to three months. She outlined a preliminary residential fee structure of $4 per month for single-family and duplex units and $2 per month for multifamily units and mobile-home community units, with commercial rates based on equivalent residential units (ERUs).

Howe said the program’s FELOC component would allow developers required to provide on-site water-quality controls to instead pay a one-time fee into a city pool. "They'll be able to pay a fee that will go into a pool. Then we'll use that for larger scale programs and projects that we will maintain with the support of the stormwater utility," Howe said.

Staff emphasized that FELOC would not remove developers’ obligations for stormwater quantity and drainage on their own sites. "Developers will still have to comply with all stormwater quantity and drainage requirements," Howe said. She said the city would design and maintain FELOC-funded systems and be responsible for long-term maintenance when the city installs systems funded by the pool.

Howe described the city’s existing network — roughly 200 miles of storm pipe — noting that staff have inspected less than 10% of the system and have identified more than $10 million in repair needs so far. Much of the city area built before 1976 lacks required drainage basins or conveyances under modern standards, she said, and utility funds would allow targeted repairs, regular inspections and larger-scale treatment facilities.

Howe also reported outreach to the builders association, saying staff received questions and support and that several development projects are temporarily on hold pending the program’s implementation. She said the consulting team is calculating an ERU tailored to Bowling Green (the team had initially considered a statewide value near 3,100 square feet) and that the ordinance will follow once the consultant’s baseline is complete.

Commissioners asked about potential waivers or reduced rates for residents on fixed incomes; Howe said staff had discussed the idea but had not developed a formal waiver policy and had found limited peer examples beyond reduced multifamily unit rates. She said staff would consider existing utility-bill-relief programs as part of future policy work.

In a related vote later in the meeting, commissioners approved the purchase of a property at 1112 Cave Mill Road as a candidate site to add stormwater retention capacity following April flooding, a separate municipal order that staff said would allow the city to create holding areas and help mitigate neighborhood flooding.

The presentation said the intended FELOC/utility program launch date is Jan. 1, 2026, but that an ordinance with the final fee structures and ERU baseline is expected for commissioners’ review within two to three months. The meeting ended with no public comments.

The city did not present a final ordinance in this meeting; next steps are completion of the consultant ERU analysis and formal ordinance drafting and review.