The city shall require all new development and redevelopment to develop a maintenance plan and enter into a long-term operation and maintenance agreement with approved best management practices for all stormwater quality BMPs.
(A) Maintenance agreements. Any stormwater management facility or BMP that is not owned by the City of Berea will be required to have a maintenance agreement.
(1) Any storm water management facility or BMP which services individual property owners shall be privately owned. General routine maintenance (controlling vegetative growth and removing debris) shall be provided by the owner(s). The owner shall maintain a perpetual, non-exclusive easement that allows for access for inspection and emergency maintenance by the city. The city has the right, but not the duty, to enter premises for emergency repairs.
(2) Any storm water management facility or BMP which services an individual residential subdivision in which the facility or BMP is within designated open areas or serves as an amenity with an established homeowners association shall be privately owned and maintained consistent with provisions of this chapter. The owner shall maintain a perpetual, nonexclusive easement which allows access for inspection and emergency maintenance by the city. The city has the right, but not the duty, to enter premises for emergency repairs.
(3) Any storm water management facility or BMP which services commercial and industrial development shall be privately owned and maintained. The owner shall maintain a perpetual, nonexclusive easement which allows access for inspection and emergency maintenance by the city. The city has the right, but not the duty, to enter premises for emergency repairs.
(4) All regional storm water management control facilities proposed by the owners, if approved and accepted by the city for dedication as a public regional facility, shall be publicly owned and/or maintained. All other storm water management control facilities and BMPs shall be privately owned and/or maintained unless accepted for maintenance by the city.
(5) The city may require dedication of privately owned storm water facilities, which discharge to the city storm water system. This shall be at the approval of the City Council.
(6) The maintenance and proper operation of all privately owned stormwater management facilities, including nonstructural practices, shall be ensured through the creation of a formal and enforceable maintenance agreement that must be approved by the city and recorded in the office of the County Clerk as a deed restriction on the property prior to final plan approval. This agreement will include any and all maintenance easements required to access and inspect the stormwater management practices, and will outline the procedures and schedule to be followed to perform routine maintenance as necessary to ensure proper functioning of the stormwater management practice. Maintenance may include vegetation clearing, mowing, and removing accumulated trash, debris, sediment pollutants and other forms of pollution. In addition, the legally binding agreement shall identify the parties responsible for the proper maintenance of all stormwater treatment practices and include plans for periodic inspections by the owners, or their designated agent, to ensure proper performance of the facility. The maintenance agreement shall be consistent with the terms and conditions of the "Stormwater Control Facility Maintenance Agreement".
(7) The city may accept, at its discretion, dedication of any existing or future stormwater management facility for maintenance, provided such facility meets all the requirements of this ordinance and includes adequate and perpetual access and sufficient area, by easement or otherwise, for inspection and regular maintenance. The city will not accept any facility that serves as an amenity feature for any property or development. A maintenance agreement will not be required in this instance.
(B) Maintenance easement. The applicant or owner of the site must execute a maintenance easement agreement that shall be binding on the owner, its administrators, executors, assigns, heirs, and any other successors in interest of land served by the stormwater management facility. The agreement shall provide for access to the facility at reasonable times for periodic inspection by the City of Berea, or their contractor or agent, to ensure that the facility is maintained in proper working condition to meet design standards and any other provisions established by this chapter and to, if necessary, implement emergency repairs to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. The easement dimensions shall be as directed by the city and the easement agreement shall be recorded in the office of the County Clerk, with a copy provided to the city. All stormwater management facilities within subdivision plats shall also be protected by a permanent easement for the same purposes as above and also to prohibit any construction on the easement that would be detrimental to the performance of those facilities.
(C) Requirements of maintenance agreements.
(1) The post-construction maintenance plan shall ensure that BMPs are operated and maintained to achieve the goals of this chapter, and not permit the required facilities from becoming nuisances or health hazards.
(2) Written procedures for operation and maintenance and training new maintenance personnel.
(3) An annual inspection to document maintenance and repair needs to ensure compliance with the requirements of this chapter and accomplishment of its purposes. These needs may include; removal of silt, litter and other debris from all catch basins, inlets and drainage pipes, grass cutting and vegetation removal, and necessary replacement of landscape vegetation.
(4) Any maintenance needs found must be identified in writing, along with the schedule and methods to be employed to complete the maintenance. The maintenance repairs and restoration schedules are to be approved by the city prior to commencing the work and the city shall inspect the facility upon completion of the work. The inspection and maintenance requirement may be increased by the city as deemed necessary to ensure proper functioning of the stormwater management facility.
(D) Records of installation and maintenance activities. Parties responsible for the operation and maintenance of a stormwater management facility shall make records of the installation and of all maintenance and repairs, and shall retain the records for at least five (5) years. These records shall be made available to the city during inspection of the facility and at other reasonable times upon request.
(E) Maintenance guarantees for privately owned stormwater facilities. Single entity ownership - Where the permanent storm water runoff control facilities are designed to manage runoff from property in a single entity ownership, the maintenance responsibility for the storm water control facilities shall be with the single entity owner.
(1) A single entity shall be defined as an association, public or private corporation, partnership firm, trust, estate or any other legal entity allowed to own real estate exclusive of an individual lot owner.
(2) Upon approval of the storm water quality BMPs by the city, the facility owner(s) shall demonstrate the ability to guarantee and apply the financial resources necessary for long-term maintenance requirements. The funding mechanism shall be in a form approved by the city. The city will only approve funding mechanism(s) for long-term maintenance responsibilities that can be demonstrated to be permanent or transferable to another entity with equivalent longevity.
(3) In the event that proposed funding is through an owners association, then it must be demonstrated that the association may not dissolve unless long-term operation and maintenance activities are accepted by another entity with equivalent longevity and adequate funding. Furthermore, the owners association's responsibility must be stated in the association's declaration, covenants, or by-laws, as appropriate.
(4) Unless made specifically clear in the preliminary stages of the site design and construction plan review procedure, it will be assumed that all storm water detention, retention, treatment or storage facilities and/or devices shall be owned, operated and maintained by a single entity as defined above.
(5) Where stormwater management and erosion and sediment control facilities are to be operated and maintained by the applicant or by a corporation that owns or manages a commercial or industrial facility, the applicant, prior to construction, may be required to provide the city with an irrevocable letter of credit from an approved financial institution or surety to ensure proper operation and maintenance of all stormwater management and erosion control facilities both during and after construction, and until the city acknowledges compliance with all details of approved site plan. If the applicant or landowner fails to properly operate and maintain stormwater management and erosion and sediment control facilities, the city may draw upon the account to cover the costs of proper operation and maintenance, including engineering and inspection costs, until the city acknowledges compliance with all details of approved site plan.
(F) A fee for BMP inspection may be assessed to an owner for a structural BMP which is not owner inspected, owner maintained, or where the owner has not maintained written records of inspection of the BMPs on the property.
(G) Unlawful acts. It shall be unlawful for any person to:
(1) Not maintain the structural BMPs per the maintenance agreement;
(2) Not correct violations noted by the city;
(3) Prevent or obstruct the city from entering the property with a structural BMP per this chapter;
(4) Not construct BMPs per the direction of this chapter;
(5) Discharge pollutants or effluents not permitted by the NPDES permit;
(6) Falsify records; or
(7) Violate any provision of this section.
(Ord. No. 24-14, § 1, 12-16-14)