Joey Garrison

jgarrison@tennessean.com

The city’s aging rain drainage system has parts that date back 150 years.

Needed: clearing storm drains, enclosing ditches, repairing pipes, removing trees and restoring drains.

Nashville faces $207 million in backlogged stormwater projects, a sign that a first-ever user fee that was tacked on to the bills of Davidson County water ratepayers seven years ago has struggled to meet the demand of a growing city.

Metro Water Services Director Scott Potter told a special joint Metro Council committee last week that he wants a discussion on stormwater needs ahead of next year’s budget proposal. He called this “step one” before the city decides whether it should explore ways to boost revenue to address 950 outstanding stormwater projects countywide — a list that continues to grow.

These projects include a wide range of work aimed at managing the city’s aging rain drainage system, parts of which date back 150 years: clearing storm drains, enclosing ditches, repairing pipes, removing trees and restoring drains. Some are necessary to comply with state and federal environmental rules.

Nashville needs new stormwater infrastructure projects in neighborhoods that have become hotbeds for new construction, such as Sylvan Park and The Nations in West Nashville.

“Davidson County is 262 square miles, and we’re responsible for every square inch,” Potter said. “The issue is with each day the system gets one day older, and we’re going to have to continue that maintenance.

“It’s an issue that needs to be addressed,” he said, though quickly adding that infrastructure needs also exist for roads, bridges and other work in Nashville besides stormwater. “It’s a question of prioritization and funding availability. We’re not the only people in town that needs infrastructure funds.”

Mayor Barry cleared to finish designs, get input on flood wall

Although Potter stopped short of making recommendations, some council members are already advocating an overhaul of Metro’s stormwater fee — which equates to an average $3 monthly charge for homeowners — to generate more revenue. The fee, which former Mayor Karl Dean orchestrated and the council passed in 2009, produces about $14.5 million annually earmarked just for stormwater issues.

Potter said revenue from the stormwater fee has gone mainly toward smaller maintenance projects and operational costs such as salaries, benefits and street sweeping. He said capital projects have come from $50 million in general obligation bonds that Metro issued in 2012. Those dollars are now entirely sapped.

Davidson County has the fourth-largest municipal stormwater system in the nation, but the fifth-lowest stormwater fee among large municipalities. Memphis, Chattanooga and Charlotte, N.C., have greater fees than Nashville.

“I think that’s fairly out of whack,” Councilman Jeremy Elrod said at a joint Budget and Finance and Public Works committee meeting last week. He said he had incorrectly assumed the fee covered capital projects, not just maintenance issues.

“This is something that I think could be somewhat self-funded,” he said.

Budget and Finance Committee Chairman John Cooper said the $207 million backlog is big enough that Metro needs to look at both an expanded stormwater fee and general obligation bonds.

“In a city that flooded recently, and in some areas has flooded twice, you can’t ignore stormwater needs,” Cooper said.

He said the council looks forward to receiving a recommendation from Mayor Megan Barry’s administration, but called for action sooner than later. “We don’t need to lose a year by indecision.”

Thousands may need flood insurance under new FEMA maps

Rich Riebeling, Barry’s chief operating office, said the mayor’s office will take a “hard look” at stormwater needs and hasn’t ruled anything out, including pursuing changes to the city’s stormwater fee. He said the administration plans to talk to council members over the next two months to come up with an “action plan.”

“There are lots of needs, and current funds and fees will address a certain portion of that, but if we’re going to make a dent in the sizable backlog it would have to take some additional funding,” Riebeling said. “I think we’ll look at everything.”

Riebeling was finance director under Dean, who pushed for the current stormwater fee structure in 2009 despite a push from some council members for an alternate plan they said would be more equitable.

Monthly charges for stormwater are based on a tiered system that depends on the amount of impervious square feet of a property. Impervious surfaces are hardened areas such as rooftops, parking lots, sidewalks and driveways that limit the entry of water.

Challenges, expectations grow as Mayor Barry enters year 2

Nonresidential stormwater rates are capped at $400. But an alternate plan pushed in 2009 by former council members Jason Holleman, Emily Evans and others — that would have generated more revenue — would have eliminated that cap and simply charged $3 for every 3,200 square feet of impervious surface.

Under the current structure, a company with 1.5 million square feet pays about $400 per month. Under the competing plan that failed in the council, the same company would have to pay $1,400 a month.

“We have only ourselves to blame,” Evans said of the backlog in projects, noting that the alternate stormwater fee proposal was projected to produce about $23 million in annual revenue.

“It used a very equitable fee arrangement that did not negatively affect small property owners to the benefit of large property owners,” she said, recalling the 2009 debate. “And the mayor, and in particular the deputy mayor, decided at the time they didn’t want to do that.”

Potter was asked at last week’s committee meeting about the equity in rates for residential and nonresidential property owners.

“That’s something that I think is a valid discussion,” Potter said.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.