MEETING MINUTES

February 19, 2009

The DeKalb County Stormwater Management Planning Committee (SMPC) met on February 19, 2009 at 3:00 p.m. in the DeKalb County Administrative Building, Conference Room East, in Sycamore, Illinois.  In attendance were Committee members Pat Vary, Ken Andersen, Roger Steimel, Donna Prain, Bill Lorence, Joe Misurelli and Paul Miller.  Also present was Assistant Planner Rebecca Von Drasek and Aaron Ruder.

1.         Roll Call -- Mr. Miller noted Joel Maurer, Bill Nicklas, Tom Thomas, and Mark Biernacki were absent.

2.         Approval of Agenda -- Mr. Andersen moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Ms. Vary, and the motion carried unanimously.

3.         Approval of Minutes:

Ms. Prain asked that her comments on page four of the draft December 4, 2008 minutes be amended to include that she, “suggested that the repetitive loss areas should be identified as part of a watershed approach to addressing stormwater management and finding solutions to these problem areas.”

Ms. Vary also amended the Committee’s next steps listed on page five of the draft minutes to include, “what standards are used to identify and prioritize the repetitive loss properties.”

Mr. Misurelli moved to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by Mr. Beeh, and the motion carried unanimously.

4.         Status of the Contour Mapping Project

Mr. Miller informed the Committee that DeKalb County had received numerous responses to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the joint aerial mapping/contour mapping project.  Staff is now in the process of finalizing a contract with an aerial photography and cartography company called Sanborn, based in St. Louis, MO, for the production of new countywide aerial photos and contour maps.  The contour maps will be two-foot intervals with break lines depicting waterways and identifying elevation above mean sea level.  The project will likely be flown in April of 2009, but the contour maps will not be delivered until near the end of the year.  The information, once produced, will be integrated into the County’s GIS system and then be available to the County, municipalities and public.

Mr. Andersen asked how the topography was recorded. Mr. Lorence explained that the contractor would use a system called LIDAR, which consists of a radar imaging device mounted on the plane.

Mr. Misurelli stated that he felt the project would create a wonderful asset.

Mr. Lorence agreed noting that the County has never had two foot contour maps and that the information would be very useful.

Mr. Miller offered to keep the Committee informed of any future developments in the process.

Mr. Andersen asked when was the last time the County took aerial photographs. Staff responded that it had been at least three years.

5.         Review of Goals and Objectives

Mr. Miller noted that his February 9, 2009 memo to the Committee outlined prospective goals for Phase II of the Stormwater Management Plan as:

1.         To complete the necessary work to allow stormwater to be managed on a watershed basis;

2.         Preliminary identification of needed major stormwater management projects;

3.         Consideration of a fee-in-lieu of detention facilities for downstream development projects, where the funds would be dedicated to improving or increasing the capacity of upstream stormwater management facilities;

4.         Measures to improve water quality protection and enhancement;

5.         Identification of areas critical to regional stormwater management and groundwater recharge;

6.         The possibility of requiring stormwater management plans for certain agricultural buildings and structures; and

7.         The possible inclusion of recommended “best management practices” for green and sustainable stormwater management.

Mr. Miller noted that the contour maps would assist the Committee in accomplishing many of these goals.

Ms. Vary asserted that the preliminary identification of needed major stormwater management projects project could be started before the contour maps are finished.  She asked that staff create a preliminary list of projects. After some discussion by the Committee, Mr. Miller concluded that County staff would contact representatives from each municipality to identify key areas that experience flooding problems and determine whether or not the causes and possible solutions for the flooding are already known.

Mr. Miller also shared Joel Maurer’s e-mail which outlined the planned purchase of four flood prone homes in the City of DeKalb with the use of CBDG funds.

Ms. Prain suggested that by identifying the locations of flooded areas the Committee could begin to discover the larger watersheds and where the water was coming from and what possible solutions could be created to address the flooding on a watershed scale.

Mr. Lorence stated that he felt communities that have flooding may already have the answers to where the water is coming from and may even know how they wish to resolve the problem.  He noted that often the communities lack the funding to address the flooding issues and that many of the problems stem from the lack of maintenance of existing facilities.

Mr. Beeh noted that if the Committee identified a particular location maybe the contractor, Sanborn, could deliver the related contours first. Staff explained that, unfortunately, receiving partial maps were not included in the Sanborn proposal.

Mr. Miller stated that another item that would not need to be postponed for the contour maps would be the “best management practices” goal for green and sustainable stormwater management.  He noted that Mr. Maurer’s e-mail indicated that the City of DeKalb was encouraging rain gardens, permeable pavement, underground detention vaults, reusing street base materials, and that Mr. Maurer also suggested that the Illinois Urban Manual as a good resource about sustainable practices.  Mr. Miller also stated that the he and Rich Gentile with the City of Genoa sat down with a group called the Sustainable Water Action Team (SWAT) and that they had offered their services to encourage sustainable practices. He emphasized that the Committee may want to, “recommend best management practices for development,” but not make them “required”.  Mr. Lorence agreed that mandatory requirements were difficult to meet.

Mr. Andersen suggested offering incentives to encourage the use of these important environmental practices.

Ms. Vary agreed that the incentives may be a good method to encourage developers to utilize these practices.

Mr. Miller emphasized that the County’s Stormwater Management Ordinance could include both mandated and recommend practices, but he added that the municipalities would be required to have standards equally restrictive.  He also noted that the State’s Attorney office would need to be consulted to determine if the recommended practices would also need to be offered by the municipalities.

Mr. Andersen mentioned a recent conference he attended by Encap that covered the conservation of water and soil and the required federal permits such as the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) which address water run-off. 

The Committee briefly discussed the process of enforcement and requirements for the NPDES and SWPPP permits.

Mr. Lorence noted that the County files an annual permit called an MS4, which allows for the earthwork associated with roadwork and related projects by the County.

Mr. Miller also noted that the County exempts agricultural operations from Site Development Permits, and has not required a Site Development Permit for agricultural buildings provided that they were not in proximity to floodplain, a water body, or exceeding any other of the Site Development requirements.

Mr. Andersen noted that the SWPPP were required for any project disturbing one acre or greater other than tillage. 

Ms. Prain asked Mr. Steimel his thoughts on the requirement for a Site Development Permit for agricultural buildings disturbing one acre of land or more.  Mr. Steimel responded that he was concerned about the amount of regulations, especially during an economic slow down.

Mr. Miller offered to get a better handle on the federal requirements.  He then listed the three tasks proposed for completion prior to the next meeting.

1.         County staff would contact each jurisdiction and try to create a list of repetitive loss properties and prospective solutions for addressing those flooding problems;

2.         Contact the SWAT group and request information on “best management practices”;

3.         Lastly, staff would research the SWPPP requirements and contact Dean Johnson, at the DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation and gather their take on the SWPPP requirements.

Mr. Miller concluded that the Goals and Objectives could be better refined once this additional information was collected.

7.  Next Meeting:

Following a brief discussion, the Committee agreed to meet on April 2, 2009 at 3:00 pm in the Conference Room East.

8.         Adjournment -- Ms. Vary motioned to adjourn, seconded by Ms. Prain, and the motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Paul R. Miller, AICP

Chairman, DeKalb County Stormwater Management Planning Committee

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