Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 21, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
FLOOD CONTROL ISSUES:
Storm-drain user fee possible fix to
WATER PUMP STATION DEDICATION:
Water agency pump station slated for May 1 dedication - Auburn Journal
FLOOD CONTROL ISSUES:
Storm-drain user fee possible fix to
Inside Bay Area – 2/21/08
By Mark Abramson, staff writer
The city has decided to pursue a storm-drain user fee, in which property owners would be charged according to how much water runoff from their property ends up in the city's drainage system.
Implementing the fee, which would involve examining about 8,500 parcels, could take up to 11/2 years, but City Council members are aiming to put the idea before voters by next winter. The fee would have to be approved by a majority of property owners, including those who live outside the city.
Burlingame City Council members opted for the storm-drain fee at a special study session Tuesday after considering other ideas, including a bond measure and the creation of a community facilities district.
In November 2006, voters defeated Measure H, a $44 million bond measure to improve the city's flood control system and retrofit some public buildings. Council members now hope to raise that amount through the storm-drain fee.
City officials had considered waiting to see what would happen with a proposed state constitutional amendment that would allow cities to charge a rate for storm-drain use, as they do for garbage or sewer services, but decided they had to go ahead with their own plans.
"I think this is very important for us to move on this quickly rather than sit on it again. ...
I think it's a good way to go," Mayor Rosalie O'Mahony said of the fee.
City Manager Jim Nantell said he does not want to take on the bond opponents again. The opposition protested Measure H on the grounds that new homeowners would have to pay more than longtime residents because the bond's assessment is based on property values.
If a storm-drain fee were put into place, city officials estimate that property owners would be charged an average of $130 a year. The estimated cost to the city to implement the fee would be $250,000. The process would include polling property owners to gauge how much they would be willing to pay, studying the parcels, mounting a public education campaign, and putting together a citizen's advisory committee to help gather public input. The voting would likely be done via a mail-in election.
City Attorney Larry Anderson, who attended the study session via speakerphone, said a simple majority of property owners would have to approve the fee, and that one vote would be allowed per parcel, regardless of whether the land contains an apartment building, business or home.
"The problem with property owners is you have to convince people who may not live in
WATER PUMP STATION DEDICATION:
Water agency pump station slated for May 1 dedication
Auburn Journal – 2/12/08
By Gus Thomson, staff writer
May 1 is the target date for dedication of the new Placer County Water Agency pump station.
The pump station, part of a $75 million project that includes restoration of the American River channel through the Auburn dam site, has passed through a rigorous testing period, said water agency Director of Strategic Affairs Einar Maisch.
The May 1 dedication, which would also have a component marking the completion of public access facilities near the river, would provide an opportunity for the public to commemorate completion of the work, Maisch said.
With minor work at the pumping plant still ongoing, attention has turned to efforts in
The equipment currently belongs to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which contracted for the work and owns the
“The pump station itself is doing just fine,” Maisch said.
Jeff McCracken, spokesman for the bureau, said details for the dedication ceremony are still in the planning stages.
One of the possible dignitaries at the event could be bureau Commissioner Robert Johnson.
An actual opening date for allowing the public access to the river through a new
“We’re still working in cooperation with state parks and hopeful we can come to a fair resolution,” McCracken said.
Water started flowing in the
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