Paul D. Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP, Commissioner, Development Services Department. Proposed Storm Water Pond Maintenance Fee

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1 Public Report To: From: Report Number: Development Services Committee Paul D. Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP, Commissioner, Development Services Department DS Date of Report: December 1, 2016 Date of Meeting: December 5, 2016 Subject: File: Proposed Storm Water Pond Maintenance Fee B Purpose The purpose of this report is to recommend that Council adopt a policy to require developers to pay a Storm Water Pond Maintenance Fee for cleaning new ponds that will be owned and maintained by the City. Attachment 1 is a copy of a letter dated November 14, 2016 from the Durham Home Builder s Association and BILD objecting to the Storm Water Pond Maintenance Fee. 2.0 Recommendation That the Development Services Committee recommend to City Council: 1. That, pursuant to Report DS dated December 1, 2016, entitled Proposed Stormwater Pond Maintenance Fee that for any development the City continue to apply a condition of approval that requires a developer to pay a storm water pond maintenance fee to the City and that any fee be in an amount acceptable to the Director of Engineering Services based on sound engineering and financial practices. 2. That a copy of the Report DS and the related Council resolution be forwarded to the Building Industry Liaison Team which includes the Durham Home Builder s Association and BILD. 3.0 Executive Summary Not applicable. 10

2 Report to Development Services Committee Item: DS Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page Input From Other Sources 4.1 Other Departments and Agencies The following have provided input for the preparation of this report: Finance Services Works and Transportation Services. Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (C.L.O.C.A.). Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (M.O.E.C.C.). Other municipalities Local engineering consultants, who are actively involved in subdivision development in the City. 4.2 Building Industry Liaison Team (B.I.L.T.) On October 26, 2016 staff overviewed the Storm Water Pond Maintenance Fee principles and methodology with B.I.L.T. B.I.L.T. does not support the City collecting a Storm Water Pond Maintenance Fee from developers and continues to believe that it should be the responsibility of the municipality to maintain the stormwater ponds much like the roads, storm sewers, parks and other municipal infrastructure constructed by developers. The Durham Region Homebuilders Association and BILD letter dated November 14, 2016 outlining their objection to the payment of the storm water pond maintenance fee forms Attachment 1 to this report. City staff note that B.I.L.T. and BILD object to the principle of the fee not the methodology used to calculate the amount of the fee. 5.0 Analysis 5.1 Financial Strategy In 2015 City Council approved the Financial Strategy. The goal of Infrastructure Investment in the Financial Strategy is to ensure long-term planning and commitment of adequate funds to build, maintain and renew City infrastructure including addressing the existing infrastructure funding gap to protect the City s investments and ensure infrastructure continues to meet the needs of the community within the financial capacity of residents and businesses. One of the strategies in the Financial Strategy under Infrastructure Investment is to continue to investigate implementation of a storm water pond maintenance fee, subject to applicable legislation. 11

3 Report to Development Services Committee Item: DS Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page Need for Storm Water Management Ponds Both the Province and Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority (CLOCA) require new development to appropriately address water quality and water quantity issues. The requirements are in place to mitigate the impact on the water quality of the lakes and creeks and to mitigate downstream flooding implications. A storm water pond (quality and/or quantity) is a typical solution to address the Province s and CLOCA s requirements. As a result, as a condition of approval of new developments, the developer is required to construct a storm water pond, as appropriate. In order to protect the public interest, the storm water ponds are conveyed to the City for long term maintenance. Many more storm water ponds will be constructed and conveyed to the City as development proceeds in areas such as the Kedron, Windfields and Taunton Communities. 5.3 Rationale of Proposed Storm Water Pond Maintenance Fee Policy Staff recommend that the City continue to collect a fee and adopt this approach as a City policy. The rationale for the fee is as follows: The cost to the City for cleaning storm water ponds over time has been increasing as shown in the annual budget submissions. The cleaning function includes sediment removal. In 2015 Council asked staff through the approval of the Financial Strategy to continue to investigate the implementation of storm water pond maintenance fees. In recent years the City has imposed a condition of draft plan of subdivision approval (for such subdivisions proposed by Tribute Communities, Minto and Metrontario) that requires the developer to pay the City a fixed contribution satisfactory to Engineering Services for the long term maintenance and repair cost of the storm water management facilities. These developers did not object to the condition and have paid this fixed payment as part of the subdivision agreement process. During the process of preparing the Kedron Part II Plan the developers in this area would not agree to include a policy in the Part II Plan requiring the payment of the fee unless there was a City wide Council policy. Other municipalities collect a similar fee. City staff worked collaboratively with local engineering consultants to establish a methodology to determine the amount of the fee for each development based on matters such as the size of the forebay, pond storage volume and estimated cost rate for sediment removal. The fee is only used for one future clean-out of a pond. 12

4 Report to Development Services Committee Item: DS Meeting Date: December 5, 2016 Page Financial Implications There will be less financial burden to the City for maintaining ponds in the future. 7.0 Relationship to the Oshawa Strategic Plan The Recommendation advances the Economic Prosperity and Financial Stewardship, Accountable Leadership and Environmental Responsibility goals of the Oshawa Strategic Plan. Patrick Lee, P. Eng., Acting Director, Engineering Services Paul D. Ralph, BES, RPP, MCIP, Commissioner, Development Services Department 13

5 Item: DS Attachment 1 November 14, 2016 Susan Ashton Manager, Development and Urban Design 50 Centre Street South Oshawa, ON L1H 3Z7 Dear Susan Ashton, RE: Comments on the City of Oshawa s Proposed Pre-Pond Maintenance Fee As advised by City staff at the October 26 th Building Industry Liaison Team the Durham Region Home Builders Association (DRHBA) and Building Industry and Land Development Association (BILD) understand that the City of Oshawa is currently considering implementing a pre-pond maintenance fee for developers. DRHBA and BILD are very concerned about the proposed fee as these storm water maintenance ponds are built, landscaped and maintained at the request of the City, but at a developer s own expense until assumption, at which time the developer carefully cleans the pond and hands it over to the City. This whole process may leave the developer responsible for the pond for 7 years, and it is generally another 10 years before any maintenance is required on the pond. All new homes are subject to a large development charge which is calculated to include all growth related infrastructure costs, and all home-owners must pay an annual property tax bill which covers maintenance of all infrastructure needs as well as all the services provided by the City of Oshawa. We are of the opinion that this should include the costs associated with pre-pond maintenance. Further, contaminants in ponds are created from a variety of sources. For instance, if a school is built a few years after assumption, sediment from the process of building that public venue may flow into the 14 Durham Region HBA

6 pond, or sand and salt from street maintenance crews may flow downstream to the pond. There may be any number of reasons why the pond will eventually have to be maintained; therefore it should not be the sole responsibility of the developer to undertake this work. DRHBA and BILD strongly disagree with the City s proposed Pre-Pond Maintenance Fee, and affirm that the development community should not be responsible to maintain storm water management ponds after the subdivision has been assumed by the City. We trust that you will take our comments into advisement and hope to be consulted on this subject further, prior to any decisions being made. Should you require more information, please do not hesitate to contact Anita DeVries at the DRHBA office. Respectfully, Anita DeVries, Hon. BA Executive Officer DRHBA Carmina Tupe, B.URPL Planning Coordinator, Policy & Government Relations BILD Durham Region HBA 15