APPRO-2025-24 : An Appropriation from Free Cash (account 01-324001) in the amount of $25,000 to DPW-Admin (#401) to fund a Stormwater Enterprise Study.

Transcript (~5 min @ 2:21:18)

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▶ 2:21:13 Speaker 9: Yeah, so this is an interesting one. This came about, um, from two different directions at the same time. Uh, Jim and I were talking about it in the context of our budget, our proposed budget for next year, and, um, creative ways to, you know, ensure the city has enough money to do the things we are mandated to do by the federal, uh, nip D'S storm stormwater permit. Um, so at the same time, there was some chatter, uh, from some residents about having interest in having a stormwater enterprise fund, um, who contacted the mayor's office and were asking some questions. So the mayor thought it would be a good idea for us to explore this option. She thought it was not a good option to try to institute for next fiscal year because it's just too quick to, um, put together another enterprise fund and, and everything that goes into that. Um, but she requested that we study this, um, with a consultant who's done this type of work. Um, and so our intention would be to use this 25,000 to fund a consultant study on, um, recommending the various ways that we could implement a stormwater, uh, enterprise fund, whether it makes sense for Melrose or not. Um, and just to give a little background on how these work, typically a stormwater enterprise fund is you take all the stormwater line items that are in the budget, and you put those now into the enterprise fund budget. So that would be all the compliance. We have several drainage compliance, um, line items. We have drain maintenance, um, we have catch basin cleaning. Even street sweeping is technically part of the Nip Ds program. Um, so you would take all of those costs and then you decide how to allocate them across the city. And it could be, some communities do it based on impervious area. So if you are a business with a large parking lot, you'd pay a higher fee. If you're a homeowner with a tiny driveway and all grass, you'd pay a lower fee. That's if it's divided up by impervious area. Some communities just have a residential rate and a commercial rate, and it's just a flat fee. It might be, you know, 25 to $50 it appears once a year or divided up on your, um, usually on your water and sewer bill. And that money offsets these budget items. The, the intent of doing it as an enterprise fund is that these are federal requirements that we have to meet, and it's basically an unfunded mandate by the federal government to meet these requirements. Um, sometimes these are things that get cut when there are other budget cuts, but there are things we're required to do. So this just secures a funding source that is reliable, sustainable, um, to go against those items that we need to do.

▶ 2:24:12 Speaker 5: Any questions?

▶ 2:24:19 Ryan Williams: Councilor Williams? Sure. I mean, this is something that I talked about with Vannie years a couple years ago, and, you know, I've talked about it with you. So I think it's a great idea. Um, it's a good example of, of like studying a new way to bring revenue into the city by, um, applying a fee to a activity that has a cost that we're currently just not charging people for. Um, and I know that people hate fees, but, um, you know, as a reminder, most people don't have, you know, a hundred car parking lots on their property. So it's not really something that's gonna hit homeowners, um, much if at all. Um, and I know I was just looking through some of the other cities and towns in Massachusetts that have done this. A number of them do not exempt nonprofit entities such as hospitals from this fee. And so, um, there's just, there's a lot of, um, I think good evidence that this is something that could end up paying for itself over time if we actually were able to implement it. So I'm, I'm happy to support it. Um, and I appreciate the thoughtfulness of bringing it forward.

▶ 2:25:19 Mark Garipay: What's the council there? Romanul? Motion To recommend. Second. Motion to recommend by Council Romanul. Seconded by Council Williams on discussion. Madam Clerk, can you call the role please?

▶ 2:25:32 Speaker 4: Yes. Vice Chair Jamine? Yes. Councilor Occhio? Yes. Councilor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chatty. Yes.

▶ 2:25:38 Speaker 1: Cremsky? Yes. Councilor Romanul? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Van Ver? Yes. Council Williams? Yes.

▶ 2:25:45 Speaker 4: President Moore? Yes. Chair Gareg? Yes. Motion passes

▶ 2:25:49 Mark Garipay: That will be recommended. Next up Id 1, 2, 6, 4 4. And appropriation from free cash. 0 1 3 2 4 0 0 1 in the amount of 75,000 to DPW Highway and traffic improvements.