TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
MINUTES
TOWN COUNCIL WORK SESSION
COUNCIL CHAMBERS JULY 19, 2004
SOUTH WINDSOR TOWN HALL 7:00 P.M.
1. Call Meeting to Order
Mayor Havens called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. Roll Call
Members Present: Mayor Edward Havens
Deputy Mayor John P. Pelkey
Councillor William Aman
Councillor Thomas Delnicki
Councillor Deborah Fine
Councillor Elizabeth Pendleton
Councillor Matthew Streeter
Councillor Muriel Yacavone
Members Absent: Councillor Judith Paquin
Also Present: Town Manager Matthew B. Galligan
Town Attorney Barry D. Guliano
Public Participation - None
4. Communications - None
5. Town Manager’s Report - None
Items for Discussion
Storm Water Management Plan
Town Engineer Jeff Doolittle began his presentation by stating that both Joe Perna, Project Engineer, and Mike Gantick, Director of Public Works, were present this evening. He then presented the following information:
The Town has put together a Storm Water Management Plan, as required by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). One
6. A. (Continued)
of the requirements of the DEP is that the plan be made available for public comment. This evening’s meeting was one opportunity to do just that. Eventually it would be presented to the DEP as the Town’s plan for the next five years.
This stems from the Cleanwater Act which was established by the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) in 1972 to improve the quality of the nation’s water bodies. During the past thirty years, it has been determined that pollutants contained in storm water constitute a major source of water quality pollution. Therefore, the EPA established new permit programs to address this pollution, the overall goal being to improve the water quality in streams, lakes, rivers, and the Long Island Sound by reducing the discharge of pollutants.
Phase I of the EPA National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) was established in 1990 and required permit coverage to address storm water runoff by medium and large municipal separate storm water sewer systems (“MS4’s”), construction activities with five acres or greater of land disturbance, and ten categories of industrial discharges. This targeted cities and towns with a population of 100,000 or greater, such as Bridgeport and New Haven. Hartford was, however, not in this category because it has a combined storm water and sanitary sewer system.
The Town Garage, as well as other Towns, had to register under Phase I due to the type of industrial classification of that facility.
Phase II (which we are currently under) was established in 1999 and expanded the program by requiring smaller towns and municipalities, classified as towns with urbanized areas and operators of small construction sites greater than or equal to one acre in land disturbance, to implement programs and practices to control storm water pollution. This permit requires coverage by small municipalities with urbanized areas as defined by the 2000 census, and would include South Windsor and all surrounding communities.
The federal government passed on the responsibility for establishing these regulations to the state and in Connecticut, the Department of Environmental Protection is the permitting authority for the regulations.
6. A. (Continued)
In January of this year, a five-year general permit was issued for the discharge of storm water. Over 130 towns in Connecticut are required to submit a Storm Water Management Plan.
The mission statement of the permit is “to develop and enforce a storm water management program to reduce the discharge of pollutants from the small systems to the maximum extent practicable to protect water quality and to satisfy the appropriate water quality requirements of the Clean Water Act.” In the past, municipal storm water plans have focused on drainage and flood control; now these plans must also focus on storm water quality.
The Town registered with the Connecticut DEP in April of this year, and the Plan must be submitted in August. The permit requires public review and comment 30 days prior to submittal, and this is the stage we are currently in. Copies of the Plan will be available for public review at the Town Hall and the Library. A notice will also be published in the newspaper and information will be posted on the Town’s web site.
The Storm Water Management Plan must address six minimum control measures, define goals, and assign a person responsible for each. Mr. Perna then addressed the six minimum control measures set by the DEP, together with the Best Management Practices (“BMP’s”) selected by the Town staff.
Public Education and Outreach
Storm water education materials to be made available in the public schools, the Town Hall, the Library and other high visibility areas.
Web site, where links to the DEP and the EPA web sites are available.
Educational displays at various locations.
Proper disposal of household hazardous wastes – hazardous household waste collection program; recycling program.
Storm drain marking/stenciling – the labeling of storm sewer inlets or catch basins along the side of the road. Storm drain marker kits are provided by the Connecticut DEP on a limited basis.
6. A. (Continued)
Tributary signage – signs posted identifying rivers, streams and tributaries.
Public participation/involvement.
The South Windsor Storm Water Committee expansion to include members of the public.
Town sponsored annual volunteer activities.
Comply with state and local public notice/FOI requirements.
Storm drain marking/stenciling – distribute kits to civic groups and public schools.
Wetland plantings – Town sponsored annual volunteer activity.
Illicit discharge detection and elimination. The Town must develop a storm sewer map and a plan to detect and address illicit discharges. Illicit discharges might be illegal sanitary connections, failed septic systems, sanitary sewer overflows, or industrial waste.
Develop sewer map. This task has been broken down into a five-year period. In year two, they will have mapped the outfalls in urbanized areas of Town in pipes that are larger than 15"; in year three, they will have mapped the outfalls Town-wide in pipes that are larger than 15". In year four, they will have mapped the outfalls in urbanized areas in pipes that are larger than 12".
Establish a database system utilizing the geographical information system.
Perform field surveys (utilizing GPS technology) to verify drainage structure locations.
Consultant/testing lab to conduct storm water monitoring program.
Annually monitor six outfalls from selected areas of Town – two each from industrial, commercial and residential zones.
Test DEP mandated pollutant parameters.
Establish ordinance which will identify methods for controlling the introduction of pollutants into MS4. The ordinance would provide the Town with the authority to deal with illicit discharges.
6. A. (Continued)
Construction Site Runoff Control. The Town must have a program to develop, implement and enforce the reduction of pollutants and storm water runoff from construction activities that result in the disturbance of one acre or more. (Most of these BMP’s are currently being performed.)
Review land use regulations to meet requirements of MS4 Permit and E&S Guidelines.
Procedures for notifying construction site developers and operators of requirements for registration. The existing Inland Wetlands Application will need to be modified to include the requirement that they register with the Connecticut DEP.
Requirements for construction site operators to implement appropriate E&S control BMP’s. This is addressed during the plan review process.
Requirements for construction site operators to control waste at the site. This is addressed pre-construction meetings which are scheduled with developers.
Procedures for Site Plan Review. This is part of the Town’s Land Use Regulations.
Procedures for receipt and consideration of information submitted by the public. This is handled through Street Services and is referred to the Engineering Department and the Inland Wetlands Officer.
Procedures for site inspection and enforcement of control measures. These are performed by the Engineering Department and the Inland Wetlands Officer.
Post Construction Storm Water Management. The Town must develop, implement and enforce controls to reduce the long-term discharge of pollutants in storm water runoff from new development and re-development construction projects.
Review Land Use Regulations to meet requirement of MS4 Permit and E&S Guidelines.
Develop Post-Construction Ordinance or Regulation. They will evaluate the current Land Use Regulations. If it is believed that an ordinance is necessary, it will be considered.
6. A. (Continued)
Develop and implement Post-Construction BMP Strategy.
Develop program to ensure long-term operation and maintenance of BMP’s. The Public Works Department will be responsible for Town facilities. The developers will provide an operations and maintenance program for private sites.
Develop and implement strategies that include non-structural BMP’s.
Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping. The Town must develop and implement an operation and maintenance program that has a training component and has the ultimate goal of preventing or reducing pollutant runoff from municipal operations.
Expand the current employee training program.
Continue current street sweeping program, and evaluate the program for the possibility of sweeping more than once per year for specific areas of town.
Catch Basin Maintenance Program. The current program cleans catch basins every other year, so approximately half are done per year.
Preventative Maintenance Program. This involves the inspection and replacement repair of the existing infrastructure – the storm sewer system.
Develop and Implement Operation and Maintenance Program. There is currently an operation in progress, and this will be upgraded.
Town Vehicle Washing Program. This was completed in July, 2001.
Road Salt Application and Storage Program. The salt storage facility was completed in October, 2003.
In summary, Mr. Perna stated that the management plan must be implemented by the end of the first year, and South Windsor is well under way.
Mr. Doolittle then addressed the budget for the program ($116,000), which was included in the Town’s overall budget approved this year (See attached Exhibit A). This budget involves a modest increase over previous
6. A. (Continued)
years’ budgets. Mr. Doolittle explained that they would be coming before the Town Council as the program is expanded to provide updates and discuss possible ordinances and financial increases.
Explaining that a Public Hearing was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. this evening, Mayor Havens asked that Messrs. Doolittle, Perna and Gantick remain so that any questions concerning the above could be addressed following the hearing. The Work Session then recessed and was reconvened at 7:45 following the close of the Public Hearing.
When asked for clarification regarding the process of treating the water, Mr. Doolittle explained that if you have a development which encompasses more than one acre of land, there must be compliance with these regulations as set forth by the DEP and the Town. Currently used for water treatment are detention basins and sedimentation chambers (large concrete chambers which go under ground to hold sediment). These don’t require chemical treatments; “trap hoods” which go over the outlet pipe and prevent oils and greases from going into the outlet pipe are used. The use of grass swales and rain gardens has been started, and these are present in a variety of the projects that have been approved and are under construction. The idea is to clean out the
pollutants before the storm water gets into the natural receiving water bodies, such as rivers.
Councillor Pendleton asked if there was already an ordinance created by the DEP or EPA with suggested guidelines, fines, etc. Mr. Doolittle responded that the intention is for the Town to create its own ordinance which meets its own individual needs.
Councillor Delnicki asked that Mr. Doolittle explain the meaning of an “outfall,” and Mr. Doolittle said that the “outfall” is the end of the pipe where the storm water discharges into the natural water body. When asked how the outfall monitoring would be accomplished, Mr. Doolittle said that it is currently being evaluated but we would probably contract with someone to perform the monitoring, as it has to be done at a specific time during a storm and all six sites have to be done during the same storm.
Continuing, Councillor Delnicki asked if this would affect the traditional use of rock salt in the treatment of streets during the winter season, and
6. A. (Continued)
Mr. Doolittle didn’t believe that sodium was one of the items being analyzed in the samples and he, therefore, didn’t believe it would change substantially.
Deputy Mayor Pelkey asked whether the stencil discussed earlier this evening would include the amount of the fine, and Mr. Doolittle stated that the amount of the fine would not be included, since the stencil was made by the State and distributed to all the towns.
7. Executive Session - None
8. Adjournment
A motion to adjourn was made by Councillor Fine at 7:53 p.m. The motion was seconded by Deputy Mayor Pelkey and was unanimously approved.
Respectfully submitted,
Merlyn P. Guild
Asst. to the Clerk of the Council
Attachment – Exhibit A
| 
