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Delaware County board introduces stormwater ordinance amendment and reviews draft stormwater-rate RFP
Summary
Board introduced an amendment to the county stormwater management ordinance and reviewed a draft RFP for a rate study; staff noted a new state statute creates a window for fee changes and recommended a cost-allocation study.
Delaware County’s Stormwater Board on July 6 introduced a proposed amendment to the county stormwater management ordinance and reviewed a draft request for proposals for a stormwater rate study aimed at modernizing fees that date back to a 2006 ordinance.
Chair presented the draft RFP and asked board members to return comments within a week if they wanted changes; absent comments, staff planned to issue the RFP on July 20. “So our current is a 2006 ordinance establishing stormwater utility rates and there is a proposal in front of us,” the chair said. Board members agreed the timing could allow a comprehensive rate study.
A county official, Carroll, briefed the board on a recently passed statute and the practical effect on fee changes. Carroll said the statute was effective July 1 and that changes made now could remain in place for five years; he recommended a cost-allocation study to document county costs in case a citizen challenged fee changes. “State board of accounts suggested that you do a cost-allocation study to determine what your actual cost is for the county ... because saying it’s comparable to neighboring counties won’t be a good case for our county attorney to defend,” Carroll said.
The board also voted to introduce (for first consideration) an amendment to the Delaware County stormwater management ordinance that would, among other things, permit construction-side language to better allow contractors to work on municipal projects and shift design-review fees to applicants rather than the county. The vote was to introduce the ordinance for further review; it did not adopt final changes.
Next steps: staff will collect RFP comments from board members, plan to issue the rate-study RFP around July 20 if no substantive changes are requested, and bring ordinance language back for additional review and formal action at a future meeting.
