Stormwater Committee

Stormwater Committee Meeting June 27, 2022 Human Resources Training Room 1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:03 PM. 2. Roll Call: Roll was called by Barbara Brumbaugh Committee Members in Attendance: Roger Baxter (Committee Chair) Todd Reigle Markiella Moore Michael Poyner Vic Nicholls Michael Battle Crystal Bloom (PW Asst City Engineer) Ross Brockwell (PW Operations Administrator) Barbara Brumbaugh (PW Environmental Program Manager) Cory Wolfe (Assistance City Attorney) Absent Committee Members Traycie West-Pinkoski Mario Aponte Kevin Walker Laura Mae (Alternate) Citizens in Attendance: None 3. Meeting Minutes There was a motion to approve the 3/28/22 and 4/25/22 meeting minutes with a minor amendment to the April minutes. The motion was carried. 4. Citizen Comments None -1- 5. PW Operations Report, Ross Brockwell o Ross presented the Operations Report and discussed the new pay rates that the City has implemented. This should have a positive impact on hiring and retention. o Ross noted that there was a mower in the shop which may have impacted the work completed. o He noted that 2 crews have been combined for a 3 month project in the North Canal. 6. PW-Engineering Update, Crystal Bloom o Crystal explained that the City had to submit the Preliminary Resilience Plan to DCR in order to receive approval and have the ability to apply for Community Flood Preparedness Fund (CFPF) grant funding. o Markiella asked when the final version gets completed. Crystal responded that the Timmons project scope includes incorporation of comments. o Crystal said that at the HRPDC Coastal Resiliency Committee meeting there was a discussion about the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the source of funding for CFPF. The Governor may pull Virginia out of RGGI which would eliminate the CFPF funding. o The Coastal Resiliency Committee discussed the higher design standards. The HRPDC staff received a lot of comments from localities about how to implement the standards. One set of guidelines will be recommended. o Crystal will provide an overview of the Drainage Pro-Rata program at the July meeting. o Mike B. asked about a bumpy road in the Foundation Park area. He will follow up later with the street name. He mentioned that a nearby concrete swale has been re-done. Ross will have the staff who handle resurfacing look into it. o The Committee held a discussion about the Resilience Plan. o Mike B. asked about references to the Chesapeake Environmental Improvement Council and the Natural Event Mitigation Advisory Committee referenced in the Resilience Plan. The CEIC meets monthly and the NEMAC meets bi-monthly. Crystal mentioned that there has been coordination with NEMAC. o Mike Battle doesn’t like the use of the term “red-lining” in the Resilience Plan as it has specific connotations. He asked if it could be replaced. Staff asked where he saw this term and he wasn’t sure. He thought it was in the section about “vulnerable populations”. o Roger noted that in the map of tidal flooding areas there is a reference to a 100 foot buffer that he doesn’t understand. Crystal said that is the Resource Protection Area (RPA). The Development and Permits Dept applies the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act requirements during plan approval. o Markiella said she is excited that the Resilience Plan will be expanded. She believes that it needs to look at the City as a whole, and not just look at previously identified projects. She believes it needs to be data driven and -2-  equity driven. She requested last month’s presentation about the worst flooding areas in the City. o Markiella also mentioned that increased development densities are allowed in the urban overlay areas. She will send the rest of her comments later. o Vic said she has questions about the Plan, but she will e-mail them later. She followed up later in the meeting with a question about page 31. There is a reference to a Greenbrier Redevelopment Study. She asked what it is for and whether there is flooding in Greenbrier. Crystal responded that there has been a Greenbrier Resiliency Study and that there was flooding during/after Hurricane Matthew. The previous PW Director wanted to ensure that this didn’t happen again. o Crystal asked that all Committee comments on the Resilience Plan be submitted within 2 weeks (by July 12, 2022). o Roger believes there should be financial incentives for people to protect their own property from flooding. 7. MS4 Update, Barbara Brumbaugh o Barbara reported that the project to update the BMP Inspection Manual and build the new field application/database has kicked off and a kickoff meeting was held with the consultant who is working on the project. The project will help to provide consistency between Inspectors and more functionality in the database. o Consistent with the summer weather, there has been an uptick in pool discharge and lawn debris complaints coming through the Customer Contact Center. These are generally handled with educational efforts to the residents involved. 8. Old Business/New Business o Roger mentioned that there are logs piled up near the pipes that cross under Eden Way. Markiella mentioned that this area could look nicer. o There was a brief discussion of the by-laws and Cory volunteered to start drafting some updates. o There was a discussion about alternate meeting locations to make the meeting more accessible to the public. Some locations that were suggested included the Planatarium, the Library, or the Registrar’s Office. o Mike P. asked if the public has a right to have input, and how they would speak to the Committee. Cory said the Committee could have a speaker policy (similar to City Council and other committees) and that the Committee has some flexibility. Vic said that the Council has a flexible policy and that the Planning Commission can call people back up if they have additional questions. Barbara mentioned that the Committee has been very loose about speakers in the past. o Barbara mentioned that Mike Battle has been appointed as a full Stormwater Committee member which leaves an opening for an alternate. -3- The meeting was adjourned at 7:07 pm. Minutes approved by the Committee _____________________________ Date _____________________________ -4-