League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria Co-sponsored Event: Storm Water/Combined Sewer Overflow &Possible New Utility Tax
The League of Women Voters of Greater Peoria, with the Heart of Illinois Sierra Club and the Peoria NAACP will host a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 9 at the Advanced Medical Transport auditorium, 1718 N. Sterling, Peoria, IL. on the topic of Storm Water and the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) and possible new utility tax.
The event is sponsored at the request of the City of Peoria’s Public Works Department. City staff will make a presentation and answer questions.
Peoria’s storm water issues and CSO problem should have been addressed before 2015, and is the subject of a lawsuit by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The 100% Green Solution to the CSO that the city has proposed to settle the EPA lawsuit against the city is cheaper initially, employs local businesses and labor, but has higher operating costs. And it depends on citizen acceptance. (The alternative to the ‘green solution’ is an initially more expensive pipe solution.)
- The proposal is strictly based on square footage of impervious surface of each parcel – so residential and commercial (including non-profits and schools) would have the same rate. (Some other nearby communities use a flat residential rate.)
- The average residential figure of $20 a month for a storm water utility fee starting in July 2016 was suggested at committee meetings.
- Credits and/or incentives may be used and should be asked about at the Nov 9 meeting. Credits and incentives would possibly be offered because a homeowner or business changes something to significantly lower the amount of storm water going to the city’s system.
- Information and videos of what other communities have done to solve their CSO problems are at: http://www.peoriagov.org/wetweather/
The city’s staff will be at the meeting to discuss the problem and possible solutions, and answer questions.