Moses Lake studies storm water fee

MOSES LAKE — Rather than taking a vote on the proposed storm water utility rate Tuesday, Moses Lake City Council scheduled a study session to further investigate the issue.

Mayor Ron Covey set the study session for June 23 from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the council chambers. He said he did not think the issue would be completely resolved by the study session and expects a second study session to be scheduled.

Covey explained the storm water treatment plan is a mandate from the state Department of Ecology (DOE) and the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requiring Moses Lake and other cities to treat their storm water before it enters the water supply. The mandate also requires the city upgrade dry wells and perform other regular street maintenance to remove vehicle debris from entering the system.

“We have no choice and we can’t get out of it,” he said.

To fund the mandate, the city estimates it will cost about $700,000 annually and proposes to have it funded through a utility. The residential utility is estimated to be about $3 per month and all other properties are considered individually.

Municipal Services Director Gary Harer said other cities such as Richland, Wash., Pullman, Wash., and Yakima, Wash., have tried to avoid complying with the mandate through an appeal. So far, no one has had any success.

City Attorney Jim Whitaker said there was an option for Moses Lake to join with the other cities in the appeal, if they paid to cover legal fees, but the city declined.

“It was clear we couldn’t win,” he said.

City Manager Joe Gavinski said the city tried to be excluded from the requirement.

“No matter how we argued, we weren’t getting out of it,” he said.

Gavinski said the main reason Moses Lake was forced into the requirement, even though there is a low amount of annual rainfall and runoff, was due to a nearby body of water — Moses Lake.

Councilmember Richard Pearce asked how the residential rate was created.

Harer said city staff took a sampling of various sized lots and determined the average amount of impervious surface per lot is about 4,000 square feet. Impervious surface is a surface that does not absorb or filter runoff such as a home, pool, gravel or driveway.

The rate suggested for all other lots including commercial and industrial lots would be the total surface of impervious surface, divided by 4,000 square feet and multiplied by the residential rate.

Dick Hansen lives outside the city limits but owns a business on West Broadway Avenue and would be required to pay a monthly utility fee if it is approved by council.

He said the primary source of storm water contaminants stems from vehicles.

“Everybody in the area is contributing to the problem,” he said.

He explained that the city roads are used by city and county residents and tourists. Hansen said the fair solution to the funding issue would be to ensure everyone using the roadways to help to pay for the treatment plan.

“Everybody should help pay for the solutions since they are part of the problem,” he said.

He said the commercial rate should take into account the amount of vehicles they attract to their parking lots. Hansen said a business like Walmart attracts a new vehicle within seconds while a church might only have vehicles a few hours a day on Sundays, yet they are considered using the same rate formula.

He proposed basing the commercial rate on the number of parking stalls available to a business or by increasing the sales tax rate by one-tenth of 1 percent.

Whitaker said sales tax can’t be used to pay for a utility because a utility is required to be self-sustained.

Arlin Hope asked council to consider who uses the storm water system versus those who don’t. He said he has a piece of property that utilizes a grassy swell and does not encroach upon the city’s system.

Hardware business owner Rick Penhallurick said individual vehicles cause the most problems for the storm water system and suggested using “generated trips” as a consideration for commercial rates. He said generated trips are the number of times a vehicle travels to a business.

He said smaller businesses are suffering from the economy and are not seeing as many customers as a busier store might.

Penhallurick asked the council to consider how some business owners have contracted with other businesses to take care of their storm water.

Discussion concluded without a vote.