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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSSM091801CITY OF CENTRAL POINT City Council Study Session September 18, 2001 MEETING CALLED TO ORDER Mayor Walton called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. II. ATTENDEES Mayor: Bill Walton Council Members: Dave Gilmour, Dick Halley, Donna Higginbotham, Dennis Richardson and Bill Stults were present. City Administrator Jim Bennett; Public Works Director Bob Pierce; Building Official Lois De enedetti;CommunityPlannerMattSamitore;PublicWorksSupervisorRickBartlett,and Public Works Technician Mike Ono, were also present. III. BUSINESS A. Storm Water Regulations -Phase II The meeting began with an overhead slide presentation by Craig Harper of RVCOG. The slide show contained information on preparing for Phase II and six basic guidelines to use as control measures. These guidelines are as follows: • Public Education and outreach • Public involvement and participation • Illicit discharge detection and elimination • Construction site storm water runoff control • Post-construction storm water management • Pollution prevention or "good housekeeping" for municipal operations These regulations and others will become effective in March 2003. The USEPA will require medium-sized Oregon cities to apply for storm water permits. The Oregon jurisdictions in the Rogue basin that are likely to be included are: Central Point, Medford, Phoenix and Jackson County within the Urbanized area as defined by the US Census Bureau surrounding Medford. The municipalities that are to be included are based on population and acreage. RVCOG is coordinating a regional storm water project to assist local municipalities to develop their own "multi-objective' storm water plans. One of the major contributing factors to the the storm water issues is caused by an increase in development. Some of the problems that arise from the increase in development are as follows: More impervious (less likely to absorb moisture) surfaces: driveways, parking lots, roads and rooftops. Leaving less area for storm water to be absorbed, such as fields, etc. For example, in the summer months ,parking lots with storm drains in the center allows storm water that has been warmed up from the hot pavement go into the creeks and streams, through the storm water systems. This raises the water temperature of the creeks and streams. Sediment problems are also linked partly to development. Construction sites, in and out traffic can track dirt and other particles out into the streets, causing additional sediment to build up in the storm drain systems. Pesticides used by homeowners and agricultural areas contribute to the pollutants in our local streams and creeks. Over applying pesticides will just wash away from rains or sprinklers into the storm water system, and into the creeks and streams. Councilman, Bill Stults stated that he thought the presentation was very informative, however,he wanted to know where the City of Central Point stands in terms of being able to comply with Storm Water Regulations Phase II. Bob Pierce commented that we are far ahead of the game, in being prepared to comply with the added regulations. In fact, further ahead than many other municipalities in the state. Bob has been following this subject for sometime, and has already started taking measures toward Phase II. Currently, it is uncertain exactly what storm water systems feed into which creeks. There are still pieces of the puzzle missing to accurately determine what expenses the City will incur to meet these future standards. In answer to Mayor Walton's question, Bob hopes to be hiring someone through Personnel Source in October, 2001, that will strictly be dedicated to filling in the missing pieces needed. Other areas that are being addressed will be included in the Public Works Standards, which are 95% complete, and should be ready before the next building season starts. Some of these items are: requiring silt fencing around building lots, requiring subdivision developers to include manholes for maintenance, putting gravel down where the driveways are to eliminate dirt being tracked out and washed down the storm drains. Educating the public, and asking for their assistance has already been mentioned a couple of times m the City's newsletters. There are a lot of little ways that residents can make a difference. Plants and vegetation can absorb a lot of the pollutants prior to them going into the storm water systems and into the creeks and streams. Planting along stream and creek banks can eliminate a great deal of erosion as well. Trees and plants provide wildlife habitat, and shade to creeks and streams thus keeping the water temperatures down promoting healthier waterways. Some other ways of controlling storm water pointed out by Craig Harper, would be to have cut-outs in curbing, and allow for swale ways. This would allow for storm water to "cool down", in addition to collecting a lot of sediment to be, filtered, before overflowing into the storm water systems. Another way, is to allow a buffer between future developments and creek or stream banks. Medford currently has a 50ft buffer from top of banks on each side. Dedicating more land to wetlands, which acts as a natural filtering system, has proven to be very effective, and even financially successful for the Hubert J. Stone Nursery. Bill Stults commented that due to the obvious costs that are going to be involved, and once the missing pieces have been filled in, we should determine which areas have the greatest, most immediate need for these improvements, and concentrate on those first. IV. ADJOURNMENT The Study Session for September 18, was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.