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Morganton outlines stormwater program progress, MS4 permit and multimillion‑dollar projects
Summary
Stormwater Administrator Tom Warburton updated the council on the city’s MS4 permit, outreach and inspection activity, and three major projects including a $2.5 million stream restoration at Bethel Park and an asset inventory funded with federal grant support.
Tom Warburton, the city’s stormwater administrator, told the Morganton City Council the city received an approved five‑year MS4 permit on July 1, 2024 and is working to meet its six required management areas.
"We did get an approved 5 year MS 4 permit. It was issued on 07/01/2024," Warburton said, describing the program’s emphasis on public outreach, illicit‑discharge detection and construction runoff controls.
Warburton gave the council an operational snapshot of the program. He said staff responded to 77 citizen inquiries year‑to‑date, investigated and mitigated 12 illicit discharges (mostly sediment and erosion issues), and cleaned or repaired roughly 750 culvert drains. The program also ran two public cleanups and conducted five educational outreach events to engage schools, businesses and festival attendees.
Warburton said the city has reduced a potential list of 512 outfall structures to about 320 confirmed major outfalls and inspected roughly 20% of those in the past year as part of compliance and monitoring efforts. He described an asset‑inventory and hydraulic modeling project — funded in part by a federal grant — as "probably 90%" complete and delivering maps and data the city will use to prioritize repairs and upgrades.
On capital projects, Warburton highlighted a stream restoration at Bethel Park that he said cost about $2.5 million and aims to alleviate neighborhood flooding, and he described ongoing culvert and pipe replacement work tied to the Morganton Day School site. He said construction on the school‑area pipe replacement is underway and includes replacing a large pipe along Bay Street and McDowell.
Warburton invited residents to consult the city’s updated stormwater web page and hotline for information and reporting. Mayor Ronnie Thompson and councilmembers thanked Warburton for the update; no formal action was requested at the meeting.
