The Alachua County Commission voted Thursday to increase stormwater assessment fees to $45 to improve infrastructure and tackle new projects.
The vote was 3-2 to raise the fee — collected annually from individual homes — $15 from last year’s fee. The increase will generate an additional $600,000 in revenue, County Commissioner Ken Cornell said. Half of that will go toward maintenance of existing infrastructureand the other will be used for water quality projects that clean out and prevent pollutants from entering bodies of water.
Cornell wanted all of the additional money to go toward the maintenance of stormwater infrastructure, such as ditches, swales and road gutters, he said.
“I think we should be more proactive versus reactive,” Cornell said. “It’s like trimming your trees instead of waiting for them to fall over.”
This money may not directly help residents in flood-prone neighborhoods like Robin Lane, the Hills of Santa Fe or Pine Hill Estates, who were heavily affected by Hurricane Irma because the county can’t use this fee to help individual residents, Mark Sexton, a county spokesperson, said.
“Everybody at the county wants to say yes when someone is in need, but it’s not always appropriate and sometimes illegal,” he said.
Instead, part of the funds will go toward cleaning and repairing systems already set up to absorb or direct stormwater away from private properties and roads, Sexton said. It could also mean improving areas that currently have no systems in place by keeping these areas clear of shrubbery or trash that could block runoff, according to a plan on the meeting’s agenda.
“Storm water that flows efficiently and gets absorbed into the ground in a timely manner benefits us all,” Sexton said.
One of the water quality projects that the money will be used for will help stop the flow of phosphorous into Newnans Lake, located off of State Road 20, Sexton said. The phosphorous is depleting oxygen levels and harming the ecosystem.
Contact Jessica Curbelo at jcurbelo@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @jesscurbelo
Earl P. Powers Park on Newnans Lake experienced severe flooding from Hurricane Irma, damaging the boat ramp and fishing pier.
