939.01 Purpose and objective.
939.02 Stormwater Utility Program established.
939.03 Definitions.
939.04 Funding the Stormwater Utility Program.
939.05 Stormwater Utility Program Enterprise Fund.
939.06 Stormwater utility operating budget.
939.07 Rate structure charges and fees.
939.08 Necessity for charges.
939.09 Powers of the City Administrator.
939.10 Right to appeal.
939.11 Collection.
939.12 Adjustments to stormwater service charges.
939.13 Payment of charges.
939.14 Falisfying information.
The City Council finds, determines, and declares that the stormwater system, which provides for the collection, treatment, storage, and disposal of stormwater provides benefits and services to all property or parcels within the city limits. Such benefits include, but are not limited to the provision of adequate systems of collection, conveyance, detention, treatment, and release of stormwater; the reduction of hazards to property and life resulting from stormwater runoff; improvements in general health and welfare through reduction of undesirable stormwater conditions; and improvements to the water quality in the stormwater, surface water and subsurface water system and its receiving waters.
(Ord. 068-2022. Passed 1-17-23.)
The function of the newly created Stormwater Utility Program within the Service Department is to provide for the safe and efficient capture of stormwater runoff, mitigate the damaging effects of stormwater runoff, correction of stormwater problems; to fund activities of stormwater management, and include design, planning, regulation, education, coordination, construction, operations, maintenance, inspection, and enforcement activities.
It is the express intent of this newly created stormwater utility program, to protect the public health, safety and welfare of people, property, and the environment, in general, but not to create any special duty or relationship with any individual person, or to any special parcel within or outside the boundaries of the city. The city expressly reserves the right to assert all available immunities and defenses in any action seeking to impose monetary damages or equitable remedies upon the city, its elected officials, officers, employees, and agents arising out of any alleged failure or breach of duty or relationship.
(Ord. 068-2022. Passed 1-17-23.)
(a) Unless the context specifically indicates otherwise, the meaning of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:
(1) "Adjustment" means a modification in a non-residential stormwater user fee for certain activities that impact stormwater runoff or impacts the City's costs of providing stormwater management.
(2) "Agricultural Property" means a parcel, regardless of the size of the building lot or the square footage of the buildings thereon, which is used to raise, harvest or store crops, feed, breed, or manage livestock, or to produce plants, trees, fowl, or animals useful to man, including the preparation of the products raised thereon for human consumption.
(3) "Apartment Property" means a non-single family lot or parcel on which is situated three or more dwelling units.
(4) "Approved plans" means plans approved according to permits and plan review which will govern all stormwater improvements, required or not, made within the City or changes or alterations to existing stormwater facilities.
(5) "Best Management Practices (BMP)" means those practices recognized by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency which provide the best available and reasonable physical, structural, managerial, or behavioral activity to reduce or eliminate pollutant loads and/or concentrations leaving the site.
(6) "Brownfield" typically means a former industrial or commercial site that is considered to be contaminated.
(7) "Buffer" means a designated area adjacent to or part of a stream or wetland that is an integral part of the stream or wetland ecosystem (e.g., greenways). The critical function of riparian buffers include shading, input of organic debris and coarse sediments, stabilization of banks, overflow during high water events and for maintenance of wildlife habitat.
(8) "Condominium Property Multi Story" means a lot or parcel of real estate in which individuals own their units and share joint ownership in common elements with other unit owners on which is situated a building containing more than one multi story.
(9) "Condominium Property" means a lot or parcel of real estate in which individuals own their own unit and share joint ownership in common elements with other unit owners on which is situated a building containing single story units on individual parcels according to the county auditor records.
(10) "Credits" means an on-going reduction in a customer's stormwater user charge given for certain qualifying activities that either reduce the impact of increased stormwater runoff or reduce the City's costs of providing stormwater management.
(11) "Debt service costs" means the average annual principal and interest payments on all outstanding bonds or other comparable long-term capital obligations.
(12) "Duplex Property" means a lot or parcel of real estate on which is situated a building containing two (2) single-family dwelling units.
(13) "Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU)" means a value, equivalent to 2,600 square feet of measured impervious area and is equal to the average amount of impervious area of single-family properties within the City of Maumee.
(14) "Facilities" means various stormwater and drainage works that may include inlets, pipes, pumping stations, conduits, manholes, energy dissipation structures, channels, outlets, retention/detention basins, and other structural components.
(15) "Impervious area" means areas that have been paved and/or covered with buildings and materials, which include, but are not limited to, concrete, asphalt, rooftop, blacktop, and gravel.
(16) "Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System " means a system of conveyances (including roads with drainage systems, municipal streets), catch basins ditches, curbs, gutters, storm sewers, manmade channels or storm drains and similar means of collecting or conveying runoff that do not connect with a wastewater collection system or treatment plan and owned or operated by a state, city, town, borough, county, parish, district, association, or other public body as defined by USEPA.
(17) "Non-residential property" means all property not encompassed by the definition of Single-Family Parcel, Duplex Parcel, Agricultural and or certain Condominiums parcels.
(18) "NPDES" means the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program as administered by the USEPA or the State of Ohio.
(19) "NPDES permit" means the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit setting forth conditions for the discharge of any pollutant or combination of pollutants to the navigable waters of the United States pursuant to Section 402 of PL 92-500.
(20) "Operation and maintenance" mean those functions that result in expenditures during the useful life of the treatment works for materials, labor, utilities, and other items which are necessary for managing and operating the stormwater system in a manner for which such works were designed and constructed. The term "operation and maintenance" includes replacement.
(21) "Operation and maintenance costs" include all costs, direct and indirect, necessary to provide adequate stormwater management on a continuing basis and to produce discharges to receiving waters that conform with all related Federal, State, and local requirements including replacement costs.
(22) "Other service charges" means tap charges, connection charges, area charges and other identifiable charges, other than user charges, and debt service charges.
(23) "Owner" means any and all persons, natural or artificial, including any individual, firm, company, municipal or private corporation, partnership, co-partnership, joint stock company, trust, trustee, estate, association, society, institution, enterprise, governmental agency, State of Ohio, the United States of America or other legal entity, or their legal representatives, agents, or assigns. The masculine gender includes the feminine, and the singular includes the plural where indicated by context.
(24) "Private stormwater facilities" mean various stormwater and drainage works not under the control and/or ownership of the City, County, State and/or Federal government which may include inlets, conduits, pipes, pumping stations, manholes, structures, channels, outlets, retention or detention basins, other structural components and equipment designed to transport, move, or regulate stormwater.
(25) "Public stormwater facilities" mean various stormwater and drainage works under the control and/or ownership of the City, County, State, or Federal government which may include natural streams, inlets, conduits, pipes, pumping stations, manholes, structures, channels, outlets, retention, or detention basins, other structural or not structural components and equipment designed to transport, move, or regulate stormwater.
(26) "Replacement costs" means the expenditures for obtaining and installing equipment, accessories or appurtenances which are necessary during the service life of the treatment works to maintain the capacity and performance for which such works were designed and constructed.
(27) "Shall" is mandatory and "may" is permissive.
(28) "Single-family Residential Parcel" means all single-family residential parcels located within the City of Maumee regardless of the size of the building lot or the square footage of the buildings.
(29) "Square footage of impervious area" means, for the purpose of assigning an appropriate number of ERUs to a parcel or real property, the square footage of all impervious area using the outside boundary dimensions of the impervious area to include the total enclosed square footage, without regard for topographic features of the enclosed surface.
(30) "Stormwater" means stormwater runoff, snowmelt runoff, and surface runoff, subsurface water, and drainage.
(31) "Stormwater service charge" means a charge assessed to users of the City's stormwater system.
(32) "Stormwater system" means all man-made facilities, structures, and natural watercourses owned operated and or maintained by the City of Maumee, used for collection and conducting stormwater to, though, and from drainage areas to the points of final outlet including, but not limited to, any and all of the following: conduits and appurtenant features, canals, creeks, catch basins, ditches, streams, gulches, gullies, flumes, culverts, siphons, streets, curbs, gutters, dams, floodwalls, levels, and pumping stations and including the US EPA definition of the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System.
(Ord. 068-2022. Passed 1-17-23.)
Funding for the stormwater utility's activities may include, but are not limited to: Stormwater service charges; Stormwater permits, inspection fees, the city general fund; Other funds or income obtained from federal, state, locals, and private grants, or loans.
(Ord. 068-2022. Passed 1-17-23.)
City Council shall adopt an operating budget for the stormwater utility each fiscal year. The operating budget shall be set forth for such fiscal year revenues and estimated expenditures for operations, maintenance, and extension and replacement and debt service.
(Ord. 068-2022. Passed 1-17-23.)
(a) For the services rendered as determined in the cost of service analysis and use of the stormwater system, rates and charges shall be collected from the owner of each and every lot or parcel of real estate that is situated within the corporate limits of the City of Maumee, that contributes, directly or indirectly to the stormwater system of the City as defined in the cost of service analysis. Such rates and charges include user charges, debt service costs and other service charges in which rates shall be payable as hereinafter provided and shall be in an amount determinable as follows:
(1) The stormwater rates and charges shall be based upon the quantity of impervious area situated thereon and or vacant undeveloped parcels.
(2) All properties having impervious area within the City of Maumee will be assigned an Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU) or a whole multiple thereof, with all properties having impervious area receiving at least one (1) ERU.
(3) Single-Family parcels. All Single-Family parcels will be assigned one (1) ERU. A flat rate will apply to all Single-Family properties.
(4) Duplex parcels. All Duplex parcels shall be assigned one (1) ERU. A flat rate will apply to all Duplex parcels.
(5) Condominium parcels. All Condominium units shall be assigned one (1) ERU per unit owner.
(6) All other parcels. Any parcels not otherwise defined herein, will be assigned an ERU whole multiple based upon the properties' individual measured impervious area (in square feet) divided by 2,600 square feet (1 ERU). This division will be calculated to the first decimal place and rounded to the nearest whole ERU according to mathematical convention.
(7) Base Rate. City Council shall, by resolution, establish the rate for each ERU for the stormwater utility service charge. This base rate shall be calculated to insure adequate revenues to fund the expenditures of stormwater management and to provide for the operation, maintenance, and capital improvements of the stormwater system within the city limits.
(Ord. 068-2022. Passed 1-17-23.)
It is hereby determined necessary for the protection of public health, safety, and welfare and to conform with Federal, State, and local laws and regulations that a system of charges for stormwater service be established which allocates the cost of providing stormwater service to each user in such a manner that the allocated costs are proportionate to the cost of providing stormwater service to that user, insofar as those costs can reasonably be determined.
(Ord. 068-2022. Passed 1-17-23.)
Stormwater service charges levied pursuant to this ordinance may be collected by Utility Billing. Notwithstanding other provisions of the Maumee Codified Ordinances, the City Administrator or his/her Designee shall make and enforce such rules and regulations as deemed necessary for the safe, economical, and efficient management and protection of the City's stormwater system; for the construction and use of storm sewers and connections to the stormwater system consistent with policies established by the Maumee City Council; and for the regulation collection, rebating and refunding of such stormwater charges.
(Ord. 068-2022. Passed 1-17-23.)
A Non-residential property owner may challenge the ERU multiple assigned to his/her property by filing an appeal with the City Administrator for adjustment thereof, stating in writing the grounds for the appeal. The City Administrator, or designee, shall consider the appeal and determine whether an adjustment of the ERU multiple for any such lot or parcel is necessary, and adjust such ERU multiple if appropriate. A Non-residential property owner has thirty days in which to file an appeal of the ERU or an amended ERU multiple assigned to their property to the City Administrator. (Ord. 068-2022. Passed 1-17-23.)
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