IN BRIEF: Stiffer penalties for not paying the storm water utility fee - such as turning off the water for delinquent storm water bills, more autonomy for the Storm Water division, and a proactive rather than reactive approach were among the key recommendations given by the Citizens Storm Water Advisory Committee on Monday.
Committee member Paul DeRoches presented the findings of the volunteer committee, which began meeting last August on how to improve the operations and information to the public about the Storm Water division, at the Board of Commissioners work session.
DeRoches said the committee had been delayed in presenting the report due to challenges such as a high turnover of members - about 10 people had joined and left or become inactive on the committee - and an initial lack of timely response and information from the division.
The division has about 20,000 storm water structures, which will cost about $2 million to $5 million over the next 10 years to maintain, and more than 100 miles of pipes, which will cost about $28 million over 10 years to sustain, said DeRoches. Rockdale also has to follow the federal National Pollution Discharge Elimination System regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The staff, said DeRoches, operates on a survival, reactive mode with no time for strategic or long term planning.
The committee found public education and awareness of the purpose of storm water utilities is lacking except in the school system and it's WET program.
Changes recommended fell into categories of legal, finance/billing, operations/managmenet, communication/educaiton, enterprise.
Among the recommendations, the committee suggested the laws should be changed so the county could turn off water service for households and businesses that did not pay their stormwater utility fee for more than two billing cycles.
The drinking water/waste water system is operated by a different county agency - Rockdale Water Resources - which charges for water/waste water services. The storm water division is in charge of the sewers, gutters, and culverts that collect and manage water from runoff and rainfall, and charges a storm water utility fee to fund the maintainence of that system.
The committee also recommended developing a vehicle to collect late bills and to turn over bills delinquent by more than a year to a collections agency and giving the division more autonomy, such as allowing it to develop its own budget.
In the communicaitons/education arena, the committee recommended branding the division and devepoping a professional communication and education plan. It also suggested expanding the WET program to all levels of county education.
