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CC Resolution No. 15-035 Approving the renewal and collection of existing storm drain fees at no increase in rates for FY 2015-16 RESOLUTION NO.15-035 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CUPERTINO APPROVING THE RENEWAL AND COLLECTION OF THE EXISTING STORM DRAIN FEES AT NO INCREASE IN RATES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2015-2016 WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cupertino enacted Municipal Code Chapter 3.36 in part to meet the City's federally mandated Stormwater Pollution Prevention . and Management Program and establishing the authority for imposing and charging a storm drainage service charge; and WHEREAS, a report entitled "Engineer's Report, Assessment of Fees for Storm Drainage Purposes Nonpoint Source Pollution Program (Exhibit A)," concerning the method of assessing an environmental fee to fund the City's Stormwater Management Program was prepared by the Director of Public Works pursuant to Section 3.36.080(5) of the City's Municipal Code and filed with the City Clerk on April 17, 2015; and WHEREAS, the report, filed with the City Clerk, was available for public inspection and review twenty (20) days prior to this public hearing; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cupertino finds and determines as follows: 1. After considering the report entitled "Engineer's Report, Assessment of Fees for Storm Drainage Purposes Nonpoint Source Pollution Program" and the testimony received at this public hearing, the City Council hereby approves the report and herein incorporates it in the resolution. 2. There is a need in the City for the continuation of a storm drainage service charge to cover the costs of the federally mandated program as heretofore described, in that properties within the city' will not otherwise contribute a portion of costs toward this program and without the availability of such storm drainage service charge, the City's general fund will eventually be negatively impacted in such a manner as to jeopardize other essential services. 3. The facts and evidence presented establish that there is a reasonable relationship between the need for this fee and the impacts for which this fee shall be used, and that there is a reasonable relationship between the fee's use and the properties, which are Resolution No. 15-035 Page 2 to be charged this fee. These relationships or nexuses are described in more detail in the above referenced report. 4. The amounts of the fee for each category of property, as set forth below, are reasonable amounts as such fees are based on runoff coefficients established in the Master Storm Drain Study and below the cost recovery. 5. It is further determined that each and every parcel of land contained in said report will, and has received a benefit of flood control from the storm drainage system and that the charges imposed herein on each such parcel are in conformity with, and in fact lower than, the benefits that such parcel has received as further described in the report. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Cupertino, that: 1. Charge. The storm drainage service charge shall continue to be charged to each parcel within the city to contribute to the costs of the City's federal and state requirements for Nonpoint Source Control and a Stormwater Management Program. 2. Use of Revenue. The revenue derived from said charge shall be used in connection with implementing and enforcing Chapters 3.36 of the Cupertino Municipal Code entitled "Storm Drainage Service Charge" and Chapter 9.18 entitled "Stormwater Pollution Prevention and Watershed Protection." 3. Schedule of Charges. (a) Annual fees for each category of property will be assessed and collected as follows: Residential premises $ 12.00/parcel Apartment premises $144.00/acre Commercial/Industrial premises $144.00/acre Unimproved/Recreational $.36.00/acre (b) The following"public properties are exempt from, and shall not be assessed the environmental fee: Resolution No. 15-035 Page 3 Cupertino Sanitary District; Santa Clara County Santa Clara Valley Water District Southern Pacific Transportation Company State of California The Santa Clara County Fire Department The City of Cupertino The Cupertino Union School District The Foothill-De Anza Community College District The Fremont Union High School District The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District United States of America 4. Tudicial Action to Challenge this Resolution. Any judicial action or proceeding to challenge, review, set aside, void, or annul this resolution shall be brought within 120 days from the date of its adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Cupertino this 5th day of May, 2015,by the following vote: Vote Members of the City Council AYES: Sinks, Chang,Paul, Vaidhyanathan,Wong NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None ATTEST: APPROVED: Grace Schmidt, City Clerk Rod Sinks, Mayor, City of Cup rtino Resolution No. 15-035 Page 4 EXHIBIT A ENGINEER'S REPORT ASSESSMENT OF FEES FOR STORM DRAINAGE PURPOSES NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION PROGRAM A. Program Description and Purpose The purpose of this assessment is to collect fees for funding the City of Cupertino's Nonpoint Source Pollution.Program mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Regulations by the EPA and the State of California require cities to take specific actions to eliminate or control pollutants in waters of the State. The term "nonpoint source pollution" represents a process whereby pollutants, debris, sediment and chemicals which accumulate on streets, in .neighborhoods, construction sites, parking lots and other exposed surfaces are washed off by rainfall and carried away by stormwater runoff (via'City drain inlets and pipes installed for flood control) into local creeks and the San Francisco Bay. Sources of these pollutants may include automobile exhaust and oil, pesticides, fertilizers, eroded soil, detergents, pet waste, paint, litter and other material carried through the City's storm drainage system—without treatment— directly to the Bay. Many of these pollutants are hazardous to aquatic and human life. The City of Cupertino has implemented several mandated and pro-active programs to mitigate this problem. Among other activities, these programs include an illegal storm drain discharge investigation and elimination complaint response program; scheduled inspections of outdoor housekeeping practices at business sites within the city; bi-weekly sweeping of residential streets and weekly sweeping of commercial streets; installation of trash capture devices and curb drain inlet screens to prevent litter from entering City's storm drainage system; inspection and cleaning of storm drain structures; public education and engagement with teachers and students, educational activities offered at City events; and a popular, unique and well-established district-wide third-grade creek education & field trip program led by the City's naturalist at McClellan Ranch and Stevens Creek. The State San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) approved the Municipal Regional Permit (MRP) on October 14, 2009 and is currently developing and preparing to adopt new requirements for the next permit in fiscal year Resolution No. 15-035 Page 5 2014-2015. The MRP was issued to the City of Cupertino and 75 agencies or co-permittees which discharge storm water through municipal drainage systems to local creeks and the San Francisco Bay. The City and 14 other co-permittees are members of the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program (SCVURPPP) which work collaboratively to maintain compliance with the MRP. In addition to conducting local activities, City staff work closely with the other SCVRUPPP members to implement pollution prevention, source control, monitoring and outreach programs. The MRP includes several mandated requirements that are phased in over each five-year permit term. The SCVURPPP has increased its co-permittee membership assessments to help meet these requirements. With these and new MRP-related costs and requirements on the horizon, the City has increased the NPS budget to ensure its continued compliance. Staff will request in the proposed FY 15-16 budget to increase the time of a currently shared full-time Environmental Specialist position and fill a vacant part-time Environmental Programs Assistant position with a full-time EPA'. For FY 2015-2016, the fee will provide revenue of approximately $372,000, leaving approximately $294,000 to be paid from the General Fund. While Proposition 218 essentially prevents the City from increasing stormwater fees, it is important that the fees in place since 1992 continue to be collected. B. Estimated Expenditures The total estimated budget to implement the required programs described above for fiscal year 2015-2016 is approximately $666,000. The breakdown of costs is estimated as follows: Countywide Program $ 262,000 SCVURPPP2Program Assessment-Regional Permit Implementation Regional Watershed Monitoring (administered by EOA, Inc.3) State NPDES4 Permit Fees Countywide Public Education and Municipal Staff Training CA Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) Participation Annual Parcel Stormwater Fee Assessment for County Policy Development Contingencies 'The full-time approved Environmental Programs Assistant position has been under-filled for several years with a part- time Environmental Programs Assistant that became vacant in December 2014. 2SCVURPPP:The Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program is a collaborative of 15 municipalities and agencies in Santa Clara County of which Cupertino is a member and co-permittee. 3 EOA,Inc.is the environmental engineering and regulatory consulting firm that manages the Santa Clara Valley Urban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program for the co-permittees www.eoainc.corn '4NPDES:National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Resolution No. 15-035 Page 6 Operations and Maintenance $ 190,000 Catch Basin and Frequent Trash Capture Device Cleaning Street Sweeping (weekly in commercial areas) On-call Emergency Spill and Discharge Response Staff and Equipment to Implement City's Mandated Litter Reduction Plan City Public Engagement and Education Awareness $ 50,000 Public Outreach Materials & Events Third-Grade Creek Education for Local Schools Support High School Students' Watershed and Creek Education Support De Anza College and Community Environmental Education Community Engagement-Creek Cleanup&Watershed Monitoring Events Staff to Conduct Public Education, Training and Outreach Local Programs $ 164,000 Development, Administration, Tracking and Evaluation of Mandated Programs Environmental Impact Review and Ordinance Revision Database Administration Illegal Discharge Complaint Investigation and Enforcement Industrial/Commercial Discharger Inspection Program Construction Site Inspection Program Verification of Treatment Measure Maintenance by Private Property Owners Low Impact Development (LID) and Green Infrastructure Oversight Litter Reduction Education and Enforcement Staff to Implement Enforcement, Verification of Compliance and Local Programs TOTAL COST TO MAINTAIN CITY'S COMPLIANCE $ 666,000 C. Revenue and Assessment Revenues generated to fund this program are based on a factor calculated from the City's Master Storm Drain Study runoff coefficients and average area of impervious surface per acre based on type of land-use development. The factor for each category is based on a comparison to an average residential parcel assigned a factor of one. Resolution No. 15-035 Page 7 The following table represents the approximate revenue stream for different categories of development. No. Parcels Annual Revenue Development Category Factor or Acre Cost/Unit Generated Residential 1 15,575Pcls $ 12.00 $ 188,100 Commercial/Industrial/ Apartments 12 1,057.68Ac $ 144.00 $ 152,305 Unimproved/Recreational 3 871.68Ac $ 36.00 $ 31,380 TOTAL $371,786 Each parcel has been identified and a fee established in a separate report entitled PARCEL ASSESSMENT REPORT. Timm Borden Director of Public Works