Stormwater Ordinance Update

On Thursday I attended the third meeting of the Watershed Advisory Committee for Westmoreland County.  We were given the draft copy of the County Ordinance. 

In our fine community issues sometimes are mixed and can be confusing.  Stormwater and the associated MS4 regulations are intimately related to sewage issues but the regulations also differ.  I believe that Borough has been criticised for not Budgeting for Storm water issues for at least 10 years.  The reality is the Regulations addressing stormwater issues did not become final until December 9, 2016.  So, there was essentially nothing to budget for before this date.  There have been many people throwing around the phrase unfunded mandates.  What is an unfunded mandate?  In the "Good ol days" when the Federal Government issued regulations that were delegated to states to run there would be money given to fulfill a portion of costs associated with the program.  There are portions of the program  that require money to operate but do not include sources of funds.  This means it is up to the states, counties, and local governments to decide how to pay for the programs.  Consequently, this means that money can be taken from General funds, or special funding mechanisms.  Unfortunately, most political subdivisions will not have the luxury of simply paying the bills from the General Fund.  I can assure that Delmont does not have the available funds, and as I stated before our Budget is not currently sustainable.  Delmont is going to have to start thinking and even acting on raising funds for these programs.

One of the most interesting parts of the meeting is how normal lightly, to not regulated activities can have impacts on stormwater runoff.  Here is brief non-inclusive list

• Widening a driveway.
• Paving driveway or walkway.
• Building an outbuilding.
• Cutting down trees
• Building patio, pads to hold vehicles or boats
• New gardens

Anything that changes the way water enters the ground can have an impact.  Some jurisdictions that have implemented Stormwater charging programs use criteria such as the amount of pavement in an area of land, or standard fees for residents.  There is a fair chance that the fees associated with stormwater management issues would be slightly higher than the current per capita charge.

Fees are never a pleasant thing to think about.   The reality is someone is paying for stormwater runoff all the time.  Everyone who has a flooded basement, plants or vegetation washed away, structural damage caused by stormwater has directly paid as a result of stormwater.  From a community point of view property values will increase, or at least not decline when a stormwater program is in place.

Ordinance Idea

The fiscal mismanagement of the previous decade, (What I consider fiscal mismanagement is the failure to budget money for Economic Development, Community Development, Parks and Recreation), it is evident that Council needs an Ordinance to force certain levels of Fiscal responsibility.  The examples that I am thinking about are Capital funds for Boiler and Vehicles that previous Council's with some foresight have established.  The two years I have been on Council many members have complained about the statutory amounts we had to set aside.

I believe there should be an Ordinance that would that would require: 1) Money received from Marcellus, 2) Money received from Recycling, 3) A portion of or fees for property use, and yes 4) A small percentage of Sewage be placed in a Special account for Projects similar to areas covered under Act 58 including Stormwater efforts.  This fund could be used to help meet grant matches for these types of activities.  This shouldn't be too hard to do because some of this funds have been referred to as extra icing, or bonus money.  I will probably be expanding on some of these issues as time goes on.

It is a pleasure serving you.  I can be reached at david4delmont@gmail.com