HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 02 Water Quality Facilities in Subdivisions AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 9/24/2018
Meeting Type: Work Session/Reg. Mtg
Staff Contact/Dept.: Meghan Murphy
Staff Phone No: (541) 744-3385
Estimated Time: 25 minutes
S P R I N G F I E L D
C I T Y C O U N C I L
Council Goals: Promote and Enhance
our Hometown Feel
while Focusing on
Livability and
Environmental Quality
ITEM TITLE: WATER QUALITY FACILITIES IN SUBDIVISIONS
ACTION
REQUESTED:
Provide direction to staff regarding maintenance obligations for water quality
facilities in subdivisions that were constructed prior to 2010, are located on private
property, and accept public stormwater runoff.
ISSUE
STATEMENT:
Water quality facilities (WQFs) in subdivisions built prior to 2010 are typically
owned and maintained b y homeowners associations (HOAs), many of which have
dissolved or are otherwise non-functional. In many cases, these facilities accept
stormwater runoff from public streets, and lack of proper maintenance can cause the
City to be out of compliance with its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer (MS4)
permit issued by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
ATTACHMENTS: 1) Council Briefing Memo
2) Water Quality Facility Photos
DISCUSSION/
FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
WQFs collect and clean stormwater runoff from streets, roof tops, parking lots, and
other impervious surfaces throughout the City. Installation of t hese facilities is a
required element of the City’s MS4 permit (issued by the DEQ) and the Springfield
Development Code. In 2010, staff developed a program to inspect these facilities to
ensure they are functioning properly as required by the City’s MS4 permit. WQFs
that serve subdivisions have been one of the more challenging aspects of the
inspection program. These facilities collect and treat stormwater from both public
streets and private properties. In subdivisions built prior to 2010, maintenance of
the WQF is usually the responsibility of the HOA, neighborhood group, or other
private entity. Since 2010, the City’s practice with respect to WQFs in subdivisions
has changed such that new WQFs are owned and maintained by the City.
A complicating factor related to facility maintenance for WQFs built prior to 2010
is that many HOAs have dissolved and are no longer performing facility
maintenance. By default, City Operations staff have been performing base-level
maintenance to ensure the WQFs function, do not flood, and that the City is in
compliance with its MS4 permit.
There are approximately 40 WQFs in subdivisions built prior to 2010 in the City.
Despite a proactive approach from staff (including efforts to organize work parties,
providing information to facility owners about corrective maintenance, and offers to
use the City’s Clean Water Trailer ) little progress has occurred in engaging
property owners to maintain their WQFs.
Recently, the City has been approached by a few owners of WQFs interested in
transferring ownership and maintenance obligations to the City (consistent with
current practice for facilities built after 2010). Staff is amenable to looking into
these requests on a case by case basis , and wishes to discuss this issue with the
Council at work session. Additional information is provided in Attachment 1.
M E M O R A N D U M City of Springfield
Date: 9/24/2018
To: Gino Grimaldi COUNCIL
From: Tom Boyatt, Interim DPW Director
Matt Stouder, Environmental Services Manager
Meghan Murphy, Environmental Service Tech
BRIEFING
Subject: Water Quality Facilities in Subdivisions MEMORANDUM
ISSUE:
Water quality facilities (WQFs) in subdivisions built prior to 2010 are typically owned and
maintained by homeowners associations (HOAs), many of which have dissolved or are
otherwise non -functional. In many cases, these facilities accept stormwater runoff from public
streets, and lack of proper maintenance can cause the City to be out of compliance with its
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer (MS4) permit issued by the Oregon Department of
Environmental Quality (DEQ).
COUNCIL GOALS/
MANDATE:
Promote and Enhance our Hometown Feel While Focusing on Livability and Envir onmental
Quality
BACKGROUND:
WQFs collect and clean stormwater runoff from streets, roof tops, parking lots, and other
impervious surfaces throughout the City. Installation of t hese facilities is a required element of
the City’s MS4 permit (issued by the DEQ ) and the Springfield Development Code.
In response to required conditions of the City’s MS4 permit, staff implemented a program in
2010 to inspect these facilities to ensure they are functioning properly. Staff takes an educational
approach to engage WQF owners in facility maintenance, and mails each facility owner fact
sheets about the facility, information on invasive and native plants, and facility inspection
results. For WQFs located within subdivisions, an offer to organize volunteer work parties with
the HOA or neighborhood group to help maintain their facilities is also included.
After the WQF is inspected, corrective maintenance may be required if the facility is not
functioning as it was designed. Corrective maintenance could include removal of invasive
species (e.g. blackberries), removal of sediment which has accumulated over time, trimming of
overgrown vegetation, or replanting vegetation that has died. Overall the program has been
successful, especially for WQFs that collect and treat runoff from only one tax lot.
WQFs that serve multiple tax lots (often located in subdivisions) have been one of the more
challenging aspects of the inspection program. A few photos of these types of WQFs are
included with attachment 2 to this memo. These facilities collect and treat runoff from both
public streets and private properties, and are usually managed by neighborhood groups or
HOAs. Ownership and maintenance of WQFs in subdivisions occurs in a variety of ways.
In subdivisions built prior to 2010, the maintenance obligation is usually the responsibility of the
HOA or other private entity (in some instances, the City has agreements in place whereby the
City will perform functional maintenance, and the private entity will provide aesthetic
maintenance; this is the exception not the rule). A complicating factor related to maintenance is
that many HOAs have dissolved or are otherwise non-functional, and by default City Operations
ATTACHMENT 1, Page 1 of 2
staff has been providing base-level maintenance to ensure the facilities function, do not flood,
and that the City is in compliance with its MS4 permit and ongoing clean water initiatives.
Since 2010, the City’s practice with respect to WQFs in subdivisions has changed to require that
newly constructed facilities that accept both public and private stormwater runoff be owned and
maintained by the City. This practice was adopted for several reasons, including to ensure
stormwater runoff is treated properly, to ensure consistent maintenance occurs over time, and to
relieve private residents and/or HOAs (who have difficulty understanding the maintenance
obligations) from the maintenance burden.
DISCUSSION:
There are approximately 40 WQFs in subdivisions that were built between 1993 and 2010 that
are privately owned by HOAs or another private entity (individual residents, the origina l
developer, etc.). As mentioned above, the City has taken a progressively more active role in
maintaining these facilities over the past five years. With the approval of Council in 2013, the
City’s Operations Division hires a temporary work crew each summer to manage vegetation in
the facilities and ensure they are functioning properly.
In 2013, Council also authorized the purchase of a small trailer (p hoto in Attachment 2)
furnished with hand tools to be used by volunteer groups for WQF maintenance and streamside
restoration. While the trailer has been well received by local volunteers performing streamside
restoration, it has not been widely used by HO As for facility maintenance despite ongoing
efforts by staff.
Recently, the City has been approached by a few owners of privately held WQFs in subdivisions
who are interested in transferring ownership and maintenance obligations of their facilities to the
City. City staff is amenable to taking on the maintenance obligations by easement and/or transfer
of ownership on a case by case basis. This would allow the City to reduce the risk of being out
of compliance with its MS4 permit by ensuring the WQFs are under City control, and that
stormwater runoff in the WQFs is being treated properly. Ownership of the facilities would
result in additional workload for Operations staff; however because the City is already
performing base level maintenance requirements on the WQFs in many cases the level of
additional effort is not expected to be significant. Moreover, moving to own and maintain
(permanently or by easement) those facilities built prior to 2010 will help ensure equity and
fairness among residential stormwater ratepayers.
Transfer of property will likely only be feasible when the WQF is situated on its own tax lot. In
other instances (where the WQF is on the same tax lot as the residence, or situated across
multiple tax lots), acquiring and recording a public maintenance easement would likely be the
best option. Staff would evaluate each facility on a case by case basis, and work with legal
counsel prior to determining if maintenance responsibility by ownership or by easement would
be in the City’s best interest.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Provide direction to staff regarding maintenance obligations for water quality facilities in
subdivisions that were constructed prior to 2010, are located on private property, and accept
public stormwater runoff.
ATTACHMENT 1, Page 2 of 2
Mt Vernon WQF
Performing corrective maintenance at
the St Lucia WQF
Springfield’s Clean Water Trailer
Montclair WQF
ATTACHMENT 2, Page 1 of 1
WATER QUALITY FACILITIES PHOTOS