05-11-08: Carteret candidate, developer says stormwater plan unfair

(c) Carteret County News-Times

By Mark Hibbs, Staff Writer

NEWPORT — A former county commissioner seeking election again to that board, pleaded with town councilmen Wednesday not to saddle developers with the entire cost of a proposed stormwater utility fee intended to fund existing drainage problems.

Pat Joyce, who is also a prominent building contractor based here, spoke during the public comment portion of the council’s regular monthly meeting at town hall.

He said the plan is unfair because it would put the burden on builders to pay for all the town’s stormwater problems when developers are already forced to meet expensive and time-consuming state requirements.

“All our stormwater is dealt with the way it’s supposed to be,” said Mr. Joyce, a Republican candidate on the Nov. 4 ballot for District 5. He faces Democratic candidate Deborah Van Dyken.

The board took no action on the matter, proposing instead to join the town planning board in a future meeting or public hearing to get more input from developers and citizens on how to best structure the fees, which would be used to generate revenue for the town’s matching requirement in a recently applied for grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund.

The fund was created in 1996 to make grants to local governments, state agencies and nonprofit conservation groups to help finance projects that address water pollution problems. Consultant Landin Holland of Holland Consulting Planners of Wilmington told councilmen about $14,000 would be required as the town’s match for the $70,000 grant.

As currently proposed, the utility fee would be assessed at a rate of 55 cents per square foot of the construction project. Mr. Holland said the costs for a single-family home would be reasonable but could soar on larger projects.

“I will be honest, these costs can escalate very rapidly,” Mr. Holland said.

He said the proposed fee is one of three options the town has to provide the funding mechanism required for the grant. Fees could be tied to building permits for new construction or assessed against all existing residents as a town utility charge or the town could adopt a combination of those funding methods.

“You must decide which option is best for the town,” Mr. Holland told councilmen.

Mr. Joyce objected to attaching the fee to building permit costs, saying the existing drainage issues are not related to new construction, which has to comply with rules that often require the installation of engineered systems to control stormwater runoff.

“The person who’s doing it right shouldn’t have to pay,” Mr. Joyce said. He said the proposed new state Coastal Stormwater Rules will likely exacerbate problems for builders.

Mr. Holland said he agreed but noted there are no state requirements that enforce the maintenance of stormwater systems.

“This plan would address that,” Mr. Holland said. “Stormwater systems – if it’s over an acre, it’s going in but how effective it is two years down the road, that’s a different issue. Systems become less-than-effective over time.”

He said the best approach would be to set  “modest, moderate fees” for existing homeowners and on developers of new construction, a move town officials resisted at first.

“I know the town does not want to do that – it’s been expressed to me,” Mr. Holland said.

Councilmen said they wanted to get additional input before deciding. Although Town Attorney Nelson Taylor said a public hearing would not be required for the establishment of stormwater fees, the board is free to hold one if it desires.

Mayor Pro Tem Ken Davis asked town staff how many existing stormwater problems currently exist.

“They’re everywhere,” said public works supervisor Marty Mensch. “Every ditch we’ve got is silted.”

He said many stormwater retention ponds, including the ones in the White Sands subdivision, are failing and “flooding the entire area.”

“We’ve got some major problems we have to deal with,” he said.

Mr. Holland said if the town wants to fix those issues, it must determine how it plans to fund the repairs and whether it wants to proceed with the grant application, which is due for a decision in September. By then, a funding mechanism must be in place.

“Obviously, you all are uncertain of the path you want to go down so I think we need to look at other options,” Mr. Holland said.