CC Resolution No. 16-043 Approving the Renewal and Collection of the Existing Storm Drain Fees at No Increase in Rates for Fiscal Year 2016-2017RESOLUTION N0.16-043
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 2016-2017
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Cupertino enacted Municipal Code
Chapter 3.36 in part to meet the City's federally mandated Storm water 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 Storm water Management Program was
prepared by the Director of Public Works pursuant to Section 3.36.0SO(B) of the City's
Municipal Code and filed with the City Clerk on April 14, 2016; and
WHEREAS, thereport, 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
to be charged this fee. These relationships or nexuses are described in more detail in the
above referenced report.
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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.
follows:
(a) Annual fees for each category of property will be assessed and collected as
Residential premises
Apartment premises
Commercial/Industrial premises
Unimproved/Recreational
$ 12.00/parcel
$144.00/acre
$144.00/acre
$ 36.00/acre
(b) The following public properties are exempt from, and shall not be assessed
the environmental fee:
Cupertino Sanitary District
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara Valley Water District
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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. Judicial 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 3rd day of May, 2016, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
ATTEST:
Members of the City Council
Chang, Vaidhyanathan, Paul, Sinks, Wong
None
None
None
APPROVED:
~~ Grace Schmidt/itYCkfk
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ENGINEER'S REPORT
ASSESSMENT OF FEES FOR STORM DRAINAGE PURPOSES
NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION PROGRAM
A. Program Description and Purpose
EXHIBIT A
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 2) on November 19, 20015 and . MRP 1 (adopted 10/14/09) and
MRP 2 were 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
added staff and increased the NPS budget to ensure its continued compliance. For FY 2016-2017 ,
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the fee will provide revenue of approximately $371 ,000 , leaving approximately $369 ,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
2016-2017 is approximately $740,000. The breakdown of costs is estimated as follows:
Countywide Program $ 286,000
SCVURPPP 1Program Assessment -Regional Permit Implementation
Regional Watershed Monitoring (administered by EOA, Inc.2)
State NPDES 3 Permit Fees
Countywide Public Education and Municipal Staff Training
CA Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA) Participation
Annual Stormwater Fee Assessment for County
Policy Development
Budget Contingencies
Operations and Maintenance $ 240,000
Catch Basin Cleaning
Trash Capture Device Cleaning twice annually
Street Sweeping (commercial areas weekly; residenti al bi-weekly)
On-call Emergency Spill and Discharge Response
Staff to Implement City's Mandated Litter Reduction Plan
Implementation of PCB reduction requirements
City Public Engagement and Education Awareness
Public Outreach Materials & Events
Third-Grade Creek Education for Local Schools
$
Support High School Students' Watershed and Creek Education
50 ,000
De Anza College Partnership and Community Environmental Education
Creek Cleanup& Watershed Monitoring Events
Green Infrastructure education and outreach
Staff to Conduct Public Education, Training and Outreach
Local Programs $ 164 ,000
Ordinance Revision & CEQA Review
Development, Administration, Tracking and Evaluation of Mandated Programs
Database Administration
Illegal Discharge Complaint Investigation and Enforcement
1SCVURPPP : Th e Santa Cl ara Valley Ur ban Runoff Pollution Prevention Program is a coll a borati ve of 15 muni c ip a liti es and agenci es in
Santa C lara Coun ty of whi ch C upertin o is a memb er and co -pennittee.
2 EOA, In c. is th e environmenta l engin eerin g and regul atory co nsu lting firm th at manages th e Sa nta C lara Vall ey Urban Run off Po lluti o n
Preventi on Program for th e co-p ermittees www.eoa inc .com
3NP DES: Na ti onal Po llutan t Di scharge Elim in ati o n Sys te m
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Industrial/Commercial Discharger Inspection Program
Construction Site Inspection Program
Verification of Treatment Measure Maintenance on Private Property
Low Impact Development (LID) Review and Tracking
Litter Reduction Education and Enforcement
Staff to Implement Enforcement and Track Compliance
TOTAL COST TO MAINTAIN CITY'S COMPLIANCE $ 740,000
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 ofland-use development. The factor for each category is based on a comparison to an average
residential parcel assigned a factor of one.
The following table represents the approximate revenue stream for different categories of
development.
Development Category
Residential
Commercial/Industrial/
Apartments
Unimproved/Recreational
Factor
1
12
3
No. Parcels Annual Revenue
or Acre Cost/Unit Generated
15,676 Pcls $ 12.00 $ 188,112
1,053.26 Ac $ 144.00 $ *151,667
871.39Ac $ 36.00 $ *31,370
TOTAL$ 371,149
Each parcel has been identified and a fee established in a separate report entitled PARCEL
ASSESSMENT REPORT.* Note: Revenue reflects actual amount collected on parcels. Acreage
is affected by rounding.
Timm Borden
Director of Public Works
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