RICHMOND —
A study of Richmond’s storm-water problems completed last year estimated the city would need to spend about $1 million a year for as many as 10 years to correct them all, Commissioner Richard Thomas said at the conclusion of the commission’s Jan. 24 meeting.
The issue is not going away, and the city “will have to get serious” about how to pay for fixing its storm water problems, he said.
A federal grant will pay for a $4 million to adequately drain the storm water that floods Water Street after heavy, sudden downpours of rain. But, grants of that type are “drying up,” Thomas said, noting the irony in his choice of words.
The consultant’s study recommended a storm-water user fee, instead of a tax increase, to fund a long-term repair project, the commissioner said.
Other central Kentucky cities, including Lexington and Danville impose such fees.
A storm-water fee “won’t be popular,” this year or next, Thomas said. “But, this is coming, and I want the public to know.”
Commissioner Donna Baird said the fee recommended by the consultant would not be “very much money per household.”
“Yes,” Thomas said. “But it still won’t be popular.”
Asked after the meeting why he would bring up a politically dangerous issue during an election year, Thomas said, it needed attention and should not be “kicked down the road.”
Following Thomas’ public comments, Mayor Jim Barnes agreed with him, saying the problem “isn’t going away,” and “we will have to get serious about this.”
However, the mayor was not prepared last week to provide a copy of the storm-water study and the consultant’s recommendations to the Richmond Register as the newspaper had requested on Jan. 26.
The Register received a letter Friday from City Attorney Garrett Fowles formally denying its request.
The state’s open record’s law, KRS 61.878, exempts “Preliminary recommendations, and preliminary memoranda in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended,” Fowles stated.
“The report to which you referred in your request is one which discusses various options which the city might wish to consider in evaluation its storm water drainage infrastructure needs, the potential costs associated with those needs, the imposition of fees to defray those costs, and methods of calculating the fees to be imposed. As such, the report falls within the … exemption and is not subject to open records disclosure.”
Asked Saturday why a mayor who had campaigned on a promise of “transparency in government” would not make such a study public, Barnes said he was relying on Fowles’ opinion.
The study and its recommendations, including the type and level of fees, remain “hypothetical,” the mayor said. The attorney feared their release at an early stage would be misconstrued.
Fowles will not be available until Tuesday, Barnes said, but he will then revisit the Register’s request.
In decades past, adequate provision was not made for storm water runoff created by new construction, said Thomas, who served on the city planning commission before being elected in 2010.
When grasslands are paved or covered by buildings with large roofs, rainfall that would have been absorbed by the surface is funneled into low-laying areas where it can flood buildings and streets.
Some of the city’s underground drainage system is unmapped, Thomas said. Older drains, where they are known to exist, often consist of aging clay tiles that are starting to crumble.
Only in the more recent past have developers been required to make adequate provision to handle storm-water drainage, Thomas said. Developers often complain about the size of drainage retention ponds the city requires them to include in their plans, he said. But, city government can get stuck with the bill for repairing problems created by poorly planned developments.
One example is in Brookline subdivision off Goggins Lane, he said. There, the developer put in a 24-inch culvert when a 36-inch diameter was needed, Jason Hart, the city’s planning director, told the city commission in a work session last month.
Because the city accepted the development and released the developer’s bond in 1992, city government is responsible for the repairs, Hart said.
An engineering study is under way to determine the scope of the problem and estimate repair cost, he said.
Bill Robinson can be reached at 624-6622 or at brobinson@richmondregister.com.
Local News
Related Photos
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In this Aug. 2006 file photo, Richmond Public Works Director Stacy Curtis, right, and Chris Rawlins unclog a storm drain on North Second Street in front of the Richmond Parks and Recreation building after a sudden heavy rain. Photo by Nancy Taggart/photo@richmondregister.com
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