After a public hearing, members of Roanoke City Council decided to delay their vote on instituting a storm water ordinance. The ordinance would have developed a storm water utility and charged property owners, including the city, 90 cents per 500 square feet of impervious surface per month.
But the ordinance wouldn’t have set the rate and it wouldn’t have included a phase-in of two or three years. Those issues would have to be addressed in future ordinances. City Manager Chris Morrill says the city has a $70 Million backlog of flood projects that must be completed. He says Roanoke is the largest city in Virginia that doesn’t have a storm water utility. At 90 cents, Morrill said the rate would be the lowest amount in the Commonwealth.
Resident Tom Carr was worried some of the numbers keep changing. “My suggestion would be as part of this process the City undertake and publish a rate study like any other utility that shows why those figures are needed and how they’ll be allocated for various components of this storm water utility.”
The more than a dozen people who spoke at the public hearing were divided about the issue. Some, such as Rupert Cutler, were strongly in favor of an ordinance.
“And I urge you to adopt it without delay.”
Others were supportive but had some concerns. Joyce Waugh represented the Roanoke Chamber of Commerce. “The chamber supports a 3-year phase-in of the utility fee. The gradual implementation of this fee would provide business owners more time to absorb the utility fee into their budgets. In addition, a 3-year phase-in would provide business owners at least some degree of flexibility in adjusting lease agreements with their tenants.”
She also urged members of City Council to work with neighboring localities on a regional storm water plan to make the storm water fee uniform across the region.
Susan Williams, executive director of the Local Office on Aging, says her organization would have to pay $48 a month-something they just don’t have and can’t fit into their budget.
“The largest portion of LOA’s funds are federal and we have been hit very hard with the sequester.” Williams says they’ve had to drop 61 seniors from the Meals on Wheels program to balance their budget. “An additional $48 a month we would have to reduce services somewhere. LOA does not have the ability to raise fees to pass on to consumers. We have nothing to sell.”
Another speaker wanted a sunset provision and others said the money should come from the city budget.
But in the end, Council members decided they, too, were unsure about some of the provisions in the ordinance and wanted more time to study it and ask their own questions.
Anyone who owns a driveway or parking lot (or runway) in the city of Roanoke needs to stay tuned.
– Beverly Amsler
