Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Stormwater Credit topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Oshkosh advisory board to workshop stormwater‑credit application after members call it confusing
Summary
Members of the Oshkosh Sustainability Advisory Board agreed to hold a workshop to simplify the city’s stormwater‑credit application after several members described the current form as difficult to complete and a potential barrier to participation.
The Oshkosh Sustainability Advisory Board voted March 2 to take the stormwater‑credit application to a dedicated workshop after members said the current application process is too complicated for many residents.
Board members and staff discussed data from the common council’s February update to the city’s stormwater credit policy and compared Oshkosh’s form to simpler versions used by nearby cities. A Committee member said the application ‘‘took me, like, 45 minutes to an hour’’ and required mapping tools and manual calculations to estimate impervious-area measurements, a burden that discourages participation. (Committee member (S5)).
Staff (Emma) told the board staff currently reviews applications, conducts a field visit and performs calculations before applying a monthly credit; members asked whether the city could remove the calculation burden from applicants and perform those checks after a streamlined submission. (Staff member (Emma) (S2)).
Several members proposed simple, step‑by‑step guidance (‘‘Step 1: find the area of your roof; Step 2: find the area of your driveway’’) or a ‘‘check‑the‑box’’ application that would trigger a staff verification visit, modeled on Madison and Appleton examples discussed during the meeting. One member suggested the board could perform site visits and recommend approvals to reduce staff workload if application volume increases. (Committee members (various)).
Board members also noted the local context: speakers highlighted Oshkosh’s large watershed and the city’s position at the convergence of a major river and the state’s largest inland lake, framing easier access to credits as both a climate resilience and water‑quality issue. (Committee member (S6) and others).
Chair closed the discussion by directing staff to organize a workshop in the coming month or two to draft recommended application changes and to return with engineering requirements and sample forms from other municipalities. The board did not adopt policy language at the meeting; it agreed to develop detailed recommendations in the workshop for later staff and council consideration.
The advisory board listed the stormwater‑credit workshop as a future agenda item; no formal ordinance or ordinance number was introduced at the meeting.
