ALBANY, GA –When heavy showers fell Monday afternoon, crossing a section of Whispering Pines was more like crossing a river. The rising water stopped some cars in their tracks.
The city is looking at ways to prevent such problems.
"Our storm water utility authority is just in it's beginning stages," said Commissioner Roger Marietta.
He and other commissioners heard from an Ecological Planning Group today. The firm outlined how the storm water utility could be funded.
"It will provide a way to fix the problem on a more permanent basis so that cities, such as ours, won't be having to combine sewer and stormwater anymore and we'll be able to fix individual areas," Marietta said.
Other cities like Valdosta, Camilla, and Americus have implemented a stormwater utility.
Cities typically fund the service through fees and not the general fund.
In the case of Americus, a 3,000 square foot home is charged a fee of $4 dollars per month.
Georgia Southwestern, which encompasses nearly 2 million square feet, pays a rate of nearly $2,500 a month.
"Well that was my main concern because I don't think individual residents should have to pay that much to deal with stormwater. The good news is that we get to set that at wherever we want it," said Marietta.
But public works officials say the utility is necessary. Our pipes can only handle about 2 inches of rain per hour before they back up.
Money would be used to build more retention ponds and drains designed specifically to handle stormwater.
"We can't keep using the Band-Aid approach to fix these problems. We need a long term solution," said Marietta.
He says there are other ways to curb fees through rainwater recycling and green space initiatives.
The city is planning to hold public forums to get input from people about the proposed utility.
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