Goshen council adopts resolution to allow machine-learning methods for impervious-area calculations

The Goshen Common Council on Feb. 23 adopted Resolution 2026-05 to update how the city calculates individually measured impervious area, allowing the Department of Stormwater Management to use machine-learning and other technologies in place of solely hand-digitized aerial mapping. The motion passed unanimously.

The change was presented by a legal-department representative (speaker 2), who said the revision reflects recommendations from the advisory board for the Greater Elkhart County MS4 partnership and comes with two attached documents: a red-line showing edits to Section 3 (fee structure and calculation) and a clean copy of the resolution. According to the presenter, the council and county will consider related ordinance changes at the Goshen Common Council meeting on Feb. 23 to amend an existing ordinance.

A stormwater-affiliated speaker (speaker 5) explained why the update is needed, saying the city historically "digitize[d] the hard surface areas" by hand from aerials and that the county has begun a contract with a company "to utilize machine learning to generate the hard surface layer." Speaker 5 added the intent is "to switch to using machine learning that allows us to... more quickly do what we have been doing by hand," and to permit the stormwater department to "utilize different technologies" instead of only hand digitizing.

Committee member (speaker 1) moved to approve Resolution 2026-05 on behalf of the Department of Stormwater Management; the motion was seconded and the council voted "Aye" unanimously to adopt the resolution. The action amends how individually measured impervious area will be calculated and updates the city's fee- and measurement-related language to accommodate emerging technologies.

Why this matters: Impervious-area calculations are used to determine stormwater fees and regulatory reporting; allowing machine-learning derived surface layers could change workload, speed, and the technical basis for fee assessments. Meeting remarks referenced coordination with the county and the Greater Elkhart County MS4 partnership; no new fee figures or effective dates were specified in the presentation.

Next steps: The presenter said the Goshen Common Council would consider related ordinance language at a scheduled council meeting (noted in the materials). The resolution and attached red-line are part of the record and the stormwater department will proceed under the updated language.