Could a new fee be added to your utility bill to help prevent flooding?

The disastrous flooding that happened in southern Manatee County weeks before Hurricane Irma made local leaders take a hard look at how they could better address unprecedented rainfall. So far the leading idea isn’t at all new.

To finally make a stormwater fee a reality, commissioners said they are willing to take the next steps.

The concept of a stormwater fee tacked onto residents’ monthly utility bill has been around ever since a stormwater fee ordinance was adopted nearly 30 years ago, but a mechanism to fund it was never established.

“We’ve had studies, but we haven’t had the funding to complete the recommended actions of the studies,” Commissioner Betsy Benac said.

The purpose of the fee would be to create a bank for all stormwater projects related to old infrastructure, improving water quality and controlling flooding.

During a work session Tuesday, HDR Group, an engineering consulting group contracted with the county, gave commissioners an idea of how they would start to investigate how the county currently tackles stormwater issues, where the needs are, the best method for gathering funds and who would be credited for areas that already have on-site retention.

The board shared with the consultants what they believe should be the focus of what could be a 12-month process. Commissioners should be given a more detailed update later this year.

“We need to know where the water is going,” Commission Chairwoman Priscilla Whisenant Trace said. “Our engineers are great ... but when you start getting excess water, the water will go where the water wants to go.”

Trace wanted to make sure the more rural parts of the county weren’t forgotten, thinking back to her experience with flooding on State Road 62.

Although fixing stormwater issues would bring some relief, Commissioner Vanessa Baugh was convinced that it would be a mere bandage.

“There are not total solutions to be had when it comes to flooding,” she said. “It just happens. We’re not going to be able to control everything.”

Still, Baugh said, she would prefer that residents pay a nominal fee rather than fork over thousands to rebuild their homes like some residents in the Whitfield area had to do when 23 inches of rain fell in late August.

Commissioner Stephen Jonsson said it was a “gargantuan job,” but “the sooner we get this, the better off we are.”

Even though there has been no direct means of funding stormwater projects, the county hasn’t been sitting on its hands, said Sia Mollanazar, the county’s deputy director of engineering services. In conjunction with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, staff is studying the Pearce Drain and Bowlees Creek in the Whitfield area and coming up with projects that would reduce flooding.

“Nobody thinks they need a roof until it leaks,” Mollanazar said. “This is the exact same setup.”

This story was originally published January 30, 2018 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Could a new fee be added to your utility bill to help prevent flooding?."