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Consultant says Hainesville met MS4 inspection expectations; new permit increases reporting duties
Summary
A consultant told the Hainesville Village Board that last year’s storm‑sewer inspections showed no illicit discharges at sampled outfalls and commended the village’s work, but warned a new MS4 permit requires more frequent inspections, watershed work‑group participation and additional documentation.
Mike Warner, principal engineer with Gaywolf Hamilton Associates, told the Hainesville Village Board on May 26 that the village’s recent municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) inspections went well and that the consultant rated Hainesville highly.
"We did great," Warner said, noting inspectors found no illicit discharges at the three village outfalls his team sampled. Warner identified the inspected outfalls as Hunter’s Way Pond, the Tower Drive/Hunter’s Way outfall and the outfall on East Beladier Road between Mickey Lane and Belvadier Road.
Warner walked trustees through the MS4 permit timeline and new requirements. He said the permit is issued on a multi‑year cycle that presently lags the calendar year and that the April notice starts a year‑long compliance timeline. Among the requirements he emphasized were regular outfall inspections, a facility inventory of village‑owned parcels with outfalls or vehicle access, and participation in watershed work groups.
Warner described technological improvements the consultant uses to speed inspections and recordkeeping, including an iPad‑based Field Maps application that lets inspectors take geotagged photos, annotate features and file reports from the field. He said inspectors typically inspect 20% of required sites each year so the full inventory is completed within a five‑year permit cycle and that communities can reduce inspection frequencies from four times a year to twice a year if sites show no problems after the first year.
Warner said Lake County’s Stormwater Management Commission offers a qualifying local program that hosts trainings and templates municipalities can rely on to meet documentation requirements. He also said the consultant keeps a document repository on its site for client stormwater program plans and noted the village’s plan cited in his slides dated to 2013.
The board asked several operational questions — who performs the field inspections, how often watershed groups meet and whether the village will be charged for consultant attendance. Warner said his firm represents multiple municipal clients at watershed meetings and that, when charged, the cost would typically be about $65 per client per meeting given the firm’s practice of dividing meeting time across clients. He said the firm can either perform inspections for Hainesville or train village staff and interns to conduct them.
Warner reminded trustees that annual MS4 reports are due June 1 and that the consultant would prepare the annual documentation for submittal after the board signs the required cover page.
The presentation concluded with trustees thanking Warner and moving on to public comments.
