Stormwater Committee

Stormwater Committee Meeting November 27, 2023 Chesapeake City Hall, Human Resources Training Room 1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:04 PM. 2. Roll Call: Roll was called by Barbara Brumbaugh. Committee Members in Attendance: Markiella Moore (Committee Vice Chair) Michael Poyner Kevin Walker Theresa Harris Crystal Bloom (Engineering Manager) Barbara Brumbaugh (PW Environmental Program Manager) Absent Committee Members Roger Baxter (Committee Chair)- excused Traycie West-Pinkoski (excused) Mario Aponte (excused) Vic Nicholls (excused) Michael Battle (excused) Dominique Moody (Alternate) - excused Davis Watson (Alternate) - excused Cory Wolfe (Assistance City Attorney) Other City Staff in Attendance: N/A Citizens in Attendance: None 3. Meeting Minutes There was not a quorum so the September and October minutes approval will be deferred to the January 2024 meeting. 4. Citizen Comments None 5. PW Operations Report – Barbara Brumbaugh -1-  o Markiella asked if Cory is coming to the meeting. He will not be attending the meeting. In the future the City Attorney’s Office may not be sending anyone on a regular basis unless assistance is needed. o PW- Operations was not able to prepare last month’s report so it will be included at next month’s meeting. o Markiella asked if the September Operations Report can be forwarded to the Committee. 6. Engineering Update – Crystal Bloom o Crystal reported on the follow-up meeting with Mr. Dennis Cobb, who attended the October Stormwater Committee meeting. The meeting was attended by Mr. Cobb, Crystal Bloom, Sam Sawan (Deputy PW Director), and Mark Curry (Development and Permits Dept). o They were able to clear up Mr. Cobb’s questions regarding Dominion North. o They discussed his concerns regarding the model, pipe sizes, etc. Sam said that staff will re-check some items that Mr. Cobb pointed out. o Mr. Cobb requested to walk the outfall with staff from Operations. Crystal will set that up. o Crystal provided an update on the budget submission. By late October the department has to lay out all funding requests. The Budget Committee has to review and approve it, then Council will see it in May. o All new funds are being used to account for inflation increases for existing projects. Other projects will have to be pushed out or delayed. There are no new projects, but none have been cut either. o There will be a presentation to the Budget Committee. o The Community Flood Preparedness Fund (CFPF) grant closed on 11/14. The City submitted two applications. o The first one is to raise Deepwater Drive where there is a large dip. Kevin asked where it is. It is in Inland Colony. Mike P. asked how long the dip is. It is about 700 feet. When the road is flooded it cuts off access to 60 homes and a school facility. The cost is about $1 million. o The other project is to raise a section of Battlefield Blvd about 3 feet. o The award announcements are supposed to come out in December. Both projects were formerly submitted through the FEMA BRIC grant program but were not funded. o Markiella asked if Deepwater Drive has been submitted to another grant program. She saw a presentation by Troy Eisenberger and thought it might be related. Markiella asked if VDOT gives funding for sidewalks. Yes, they do. o Crystal said that he may have been talking about earmark federal funding or that it might be a Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) grant for new sidewalks. o Markiella asked if the City has applied for community block grants which can cover infrastructure. She mentioned that there is a survey on the City’s web page. -2-  o Markiella asked about South Norfolk Tax Increment Financing (TIF) projects. o Crystal said that TIF money covers more than stormwater and that various departments “compete” for the funding. o There was a brief discussion of City TIFs. There are only two in the City, in South Norfolk and Greenbrier. Markiella noted that the City Manager returned some TIF funds to the general fund. Barbara mentioned that some TIFs are capped at a certain amount and excess goes to the general fund. o There was a brief discussion of sidewalks. The sidewalk along Albemarle Drive from Battlefield to the City Hall complex is a $2 million project. o Markiella asked who is in charge of sidewalks and sidewalk projects. Crystal noted that Troy Eisenberger’s Traffic Engineering team is looking at sidewalk prioritization, ranking, and a list. Public Works Engineering delivers the projects. Rob Matkins oversees Contractual Services. New projects are capital projects and there is maintenance on existing infrastructure. o Markiella noted that Mr. Cobb mentioned that the watershed study recommended a 2nd culvert under Dominion Blvd. Crystal verified that the watershed study does not recommend a 2nd culvert and that all recommended improvements have been completed. o Theresa asked if the City will re-run the model. Crystal noted that the City is reassessing a few things after the meeting with Mr. Cobb. 7. MS4 Update – Barbara Brumbaugh o Barbara reported that the City is currently negotiating the draft MS4 Permit with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. There is still some disagreement over the infrastructure inspection requirements, 8. Old Business/New Business o Markiella thanked Barbara for sending out the link to the Stormwater Planimetric. o Markiella asked about watershed studies updates. The City is working on those. The citywide watershed map is being updated as some boundaries have changed with better data. o Markiella asked if the City is filling the Stormwater Engineer/Project Manager position. They are advertising it and continue to utilize staff augmentation from Timmons. o Markiella requested that Committee members RSVP for meeting attendance by the Wednesday prior to the Committee meetings so that alternates can be contacted if needed. o Markiella asked the Committee to think about what they want to do in 2024. She’d like to start looking at potential fee increases earlier than the Monday before a potential increase is presented to City Council. o Markiella would also like to increase the Committee’s presence on the City’s web page. She’d like to see the Committee page have improved visibility. -3-  o Markiella asked some of the newer members why they were interested in the Committee. Theresa said she was interested in seeing how the City operates and she missed stormwater work. Kevin initially got interested due to a problem that did not get fixed in a timely manner. o Kevin asked if the Committee is making a recommendation to City Council or reporting to Council. Markiella mentioned that the Committee used to do work sessions with Council. Barbara said there used to be Council liaisons but that was ended several years ago. o Crystal mentioned that the City is doing a better job with outreach to citizens through Town Hall meetings in different areas of the City. The Town Hall meetings are typically attended by several departments and Council members. The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 pm. Minutes approved by the Committee _____________________________ Date _____________________________ -4-