05-11-2015 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, May 11, 2015 7:00 o'clock p.m. 4. ANNUAL PUBLIC HEARING FOR NPDES PHASE H STORM WATER PERMIT (continued) Edwards stated stormwater has both local and global impacts through a decline in biodiversity, habitat loss, increased flooding, aesthetics, human health and a decline in drinking water quality. As a result, there is a focus on the national, state and local levels to look at stormwater and how human beings interact with that stormwater or create it. The City's basic requirements are to have a stormwater pollution prevention program, which includes best management practices that are used across the nation. As part of the requirements, an annual report is required to be provided to the Watershed District; an ordinance must be developed regulating stormwater, which Orono has done; and a stormwater system map must be created of the City's natural stormwater as well as those manmade features that have been built to carry it. The six control measures under the MS4 permit include: public education and outreach, public participation and involvement, creation of an illicit discharge detection and elimination program, construction site stormwater runoff control, post -construction stormwater management, pollution prevention, and good housekeeping for municipal operations. Typical pollutants include construction erosion, random things that flow into the stormwater system, ice and snow removal from salt and sand, and grass clippings; all of which ultimately make it into the lakes and streams. Edwards stated stormwater solutions start with individual homeowner decisions and people understanding how their activities impact the lakes and streams. Edwards stated other solutions include rain gardens and people properly maintaining vegetation on their property. 2014 compliance activities include articles in the spring and fall City newsletters, including stormwater information on the City's website, links to other sites that have stormwater information, implementation of a grass and leaf disposal program, Christmas tree disposal program, construction debris collection, erosion control inspections, street sweeping, and culvert repairs. Edwards noted in 2014 the Public Works Department instituted a street sweeping sampling regiment where some of the debris is tested in a lab to see what the phosphorus load is. The City did receive a new MS4 permit that was issued in 2013, which covers the period from 2013 to 2018. Changes required as part of that new permit included more formal documentation, identification of enforcement response procedures, formalization of the City's education and outreach plan, creation of an illicit detection and elimination plan, and evaluation of the program's effectiveness. Edwards noted an audit was performed in April of 2015 and showed that the City was not in compliance with several items contained in the permit. Those items mainly related to not formally publishing the required documentations. 2015 implementation activities include the publication of the City's emergency response procedures, the City's training documentation, and publication of the City's illicit discharge program manual. In addition, the City needs to update its stormwater management plan since it was written in 2011 and had a series of projects that took the City out to the year 2016. The new plan will need to outline what the City intends to do proactively after the year 2016. Page 2 of 25