11/16/2009 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Regular Council Meeting Minutes 11-16-09 Page 7 starting in July we are going to see new three part bills. It will be water, sanitaxy and stormwater which the Feds look at as just another form of water pollution. The idea is to generate enough revenue so that they can tackle stormwater problems that are pervasive in our area. Again, at the Mayors and Managers meeting the other day, there was a cry coming out from any Mayors who say we have spent millions of dollars on these projects, is there any kind of way to recoup, credit, whatever. Mayor Rinker thinks the quick answer is, no. The best way going forward is going to be to spread the pain if you will across a broad population in order to generate the types of revenues that will go into making the massive infrastructure improvements that have to be made. The fact is all of us - -A member of the audience asked how you measure stormwater. Mayor Rinker replied they measure a flow just like they do any other kind of effluent. They look at water pollution quality in streams, rivers, ditches, ponds, backyards, anywhere water collects, they will measure it. The fact of the matter is we all have to comply, so the mechanism that NEORSD is talking about is one that is going to spread that pain to another unfunded mandate. If there is a positive in terms of the dollars, it's that NEORSI) should be a more effective lobby and will be looking for ways to leverage the dollars to help cover some of these costs. You should be aware there have been already two public meetings. The first one was attended by three people. It's going to be a whole lot different when these Bills come out and they know it and they are kind of bracing for it. The next meeting will be tomorrow night at the Eastman Library at 11602 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland at 6:30, on Thursday at 6:30 at the Richfield Library in Richfield, 3761 South Grant Street and then next Monday at 6:00 p.m. at the Parma Library on Snow Road. That's the main regional library. These are town hall type of ineetings. Mayor Rinker imagines they will all be pretty sparsely attended, but you should be aware that going forward, we are going to find out more information about this, but more bills are going to go up. Mayor Rinker thought you should be the first to know. Linda Butler asked if there is any way there is a relation to the water issues and the gas wells. Mayor Rinker replied he was just covering two different subjects. He do.es not think they are connected other than we know that the materials are always mysterious and what kind of pollution they cause is becoming more and more of a concern. Mayor Rinker picked up on the comment from Jean Triner, but no, these were two totally different issues. - COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL PRESIDENT BUCKHOLTZ: There were no comments.