Nearly a year after Cobb commissioners asked the county water department to examine the possibility of imposing a stormwater impact fee, they will hear a preliminary analysis on Tuesday.
A work session has been called for Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. “to present information on stormwater management services and the preliminary analysis of a stormwater fee based on impervious surface,” according to the agenda item.
Since 1994, stormwater management has been handled by the Cobb water system, and is funded by water and sewer revenues. A consultant recommended the county impose a stormwater fee in a 2005 report, but no action was taken.
The county has admitted it lacks staffing and resources to adequately handle demands on the system.
The agenda item for Tuesday’s work session states that “there is a significant backlog of stormwater maintenance projects” including the maintenance of more than 400 detention ponds.
There have been numerous sinkholes resulting from pipe failures
Following floods last fall that damaged the homes and yards of residents in East Cobb and other areas of the county, the subject has taken greater precedence.
Commissioner Jerica Richardson held several virtual meetings. Since a December 2021 meeting the water system has been looking at how other other metro Atlanta jurisdictions manage stormwater utilities and how they charge for them.
A potential impact fee based on impervious surface of a property, instead of water and sewer usage, was raised at the time.
But commissioners were divided along partisan lines, with the board’s two Republicans opposed.
One of them, JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb, said she wasn’t in favor of adding another utility fee with water rates going up in Cobb.
When East Cobb News asked Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt about what specifically will be recommended by the water department Tuesday, he said that “they are still working on final details before presenting it to the board.”
Since it’s a work session, there won’t be a vote. The meeting will take place in the second floor board room of the Cobb Government Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
You also can watch on the county’s website, Facebook Live and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
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Our local GOP activist Mr Wright has pushed the county to address this. Let’s see if he can get his fellow GOP Commissioners to do something this time.