mskutnick posted on October 28, 2010 11:24
July 1, 2010, the Town of Harrisburg instituted a storm water fee in conjunction with its Storm Water Ordinance, effective January 2008.
The Ordinance requires the Town of Harrisburg maintain storm drainage facilities located within the town’s street right-of-way (ROW). Public drainage easements and storm drainage easements conveyed to the town are also maintained. However, Town Engineer Derek Slocum notes that “public works personnel cannot perform maintenance on private property,” such as individual back yards, under the storm water regulations.
Said Slocum, “Many times these facilities can be simply pipes and catch basins or they could be swales or ditches used to convey storm water when in it rains; but they must either lie in the public ROW or in some sort of drainage easement as described.”
Storm water consists of runoff from roads, roofs, sidewalks and other impervious surfaces when it rains. Water runoff carries pollutants like oil, grease, grass clippings and other debris into the drinking water supply. In an effort to rid drinking water of these toxins and assure both the safety and quality of that water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency –- through each state agency -– requires all municipalities, including the Town of Harrisburg, to implement a program to mitigate storm water impacts.
In 2005, the Town of Harrisburg was issued a Storm Water Permit from the N.C. Division of Water Quality. In 2007, the Town Council adopted a Storm Water Ordinance that went into effect Jan. 1, 2008. The corresponding storm water fees were not implemented until July 1, 2010. The August 2010 water/sewer bill was the first month the fee was billed.