HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 04 Rocky Road Pond Property Acquisition AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 4/1/2019
Meeting Type: Regular Meeting
Staff Contact/Dept.: Meghan Murphy/DPW Staff Phone No: 541.744.3385
Estimated Time: Consent Calendar
S P R I N G F I E L D C I T Y C O U N C I L Council Goals: Maintain and Improve Infrastructure and
Facilities ITEM TITLE: ROCKY ROAD POND PROPERTY ACQUISITION
ACTION REQUESTED:
Approve/Not Approve the following motion:
Authorize the City Manager to finalize and record a bargain and sale deed accepting
title to Rocky Road Pond, a water quality facility located at Rocky Road and South 48th Street (Map 18-02-05-11, Tax Lot 1100).
ISSUE STATEMENT: Oregon Finance LLC owns Rocky Road Pond, a water quality facility (WQF) that collects and cleans stormwater runoff from the Rocky Road subdivision, built in
2004. Oregon Finance LLC has been working with staff and wishes to donate the
property to the City.
ATTACHMENTS: 1. Water Quality Facilities in Subdivisions Council Briefing Memo (9/24/18)
2. Rocky Road Pond Property Acquisition Map
DISCUSSION/ FINANCIAL
IMPACT:
At the September 24, 2018 Council Work Session, staff discussed the many issues with WQFs in subdivisions built before 2010 (Attachment 1). The Council
supported staff’s recommended approach of working with owners of WQFs built prior to 2010 on a case-by-case basis to explore transferring ownership and
maintenance responsibilities to the City.
Rocky Road Pond (Map 18-02-05-11, Tax Lot 1100) collects and cleans
stormwater runoff from public streets and 27 private residential lots. The location of
the pond is shown in Attachment 2.
Rocky Road Pond was developed in 2004 and was intended to be transferred to the Rocky Road Homeowners Association (HOA) once 75% of the lots in the subdivision were sold; however, that transfer never occurred. The HOA
subsequently dissolved in 2009, and the property’s ownership remains under Oregon Finance LLC (Lane County Deeds and Records).
A member of Oregon Finance LLC recently contacted staff with a request to donate the property to the City because Oregon Finance LLC has dissolved. Staff has
inspected the pond and found it to be in satisfactory condition.
There is minimal financial impact to the City other than the fees to record the deed
with Lane County. Through an existing maintenance agreement and public
easement, the City is responsible to remove sediment and maintain the pipes and catch basins, while the property owner is responsible for maintaining vegetation
and aesthetics. Upon finalization of the bargain and sale deed transferring the
property to the City, the City will take over management of the vegetation and aesthetics of the facility in addition to its current responsibilities.
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 Environmental
Quality
BACKGROUND:
WQFs collect and clean stormwater runoff from streets, roof tops, parking lots, and other impervious surfaces throughout the City. Installation of these 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, the City also offers to organize volunteer work parties with the HOA or neighborhood group to help maintain their facilities.
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 succeeded in marinating the functionality of WQFs located in subdivisions, especially those serving a single 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; however, this is the exception not the rule. A complicating factor related to
ATTACHMENT 1, Page 1 of 2
maintenance is that many HOAs have dissolved or are otherwise non-functional, and by default City Operations 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 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 to ensure that stormwater runoff is treated properly and WQFs
are consistently maintained. In addition, the practice relieved private residents and/or HOAs
from the maintenance burden as these organizations have difficulty implementing the maintenance requirements.
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 original 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 (photo 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 HOAs 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
ROCKY ROAD POND PROPERTY ACQUISITION
SOUTH 48TH AT ROCKY ROAD (MAP 18-02-05-11 LOT 1100)
SITE CONTEXT MAP
Rocky Road
Pond
ATTACHMENT 2, Page 1 of 1