May 25, 2004
Storm water report
Most of my Town Board reporting this month has been late because I've been too busy to get to it. Today's story is a little different, in that I'm lucky to have waited for the final draft of the Town of Dryden Storm Water Management Program Annual Report (747KB PDF, or 16KB executive summary).
Town Environmental Planning Debbie Gross gave a presentation on the plan at the May Town Board meeting as part of a required public hearing on the plan. Because the Town of Dryden contains parts of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Urbanized area - running roughly from Etna to Varna and the airport, as well as along the south side of Route 79 in Bethel Grove, the town is required by New York State to develop a stormwater plan for those areas. (The state is now providing funding for work on these plans.) Except for "illicit discharge detection and elimination," the town is implementing the plan for the whole town, not just the area considered urban.
Environmental Planner Debbie Gross presents the draft storm water plan.
Gross explained that the increased interest in storm water as an issue that needs to be address was tied to increasing development, as paved and otherwise built surfaces can have a dramatic impact on runoff, increasing it up to 45%. The runoff can cause erosion and carry pollution, spreading problems across a wide area.
The project itself covers five years, starting with last year, 2003. In year 1, most of the activity was data collection, hiring an environmental planner, and promoting public awareness. Year 2 will focus on required ordinances for controlling runoff, as well as further public outreach, on topics like septic system maintenance, post-construction stormwater management, and lawn care. It also includes discussion of watershed management and flood mitigation. The Town of Caroline is also paying for some of the Dryden Environmental Planner's work in this area.
The full report (747KB PDF) has an incredible amount of detail if you have the time to explore it.
Posted by simon at May 25, 2004 7:46 PM in planning and zoningNote on photos