Regional stormwater management concept advancing, Scranton taking lead

Nov. 20—SCRANTON — Years in the making, a regional stormwater management authority involving the city and several surrounding municipalities is closer to becoming reality.

Scranton, which has taken the lead in advancing the regional concept, recently issued a request for qualifications seeking consulting services to help establish a joint authority that could consist of the city, South Abington Twp. and the boroughs of Clarks Summit, Dickson City, Dunmore, Moosic, Old Forge and Taylor.

The number of participating municipalities could ultimately grow. Officials involved in the regionalization effort noted the state Department of Environmental Protection encouraged them to consider incorporating additional participants.

The RFQ's scope of work is extensive, but includes developing proposed stormwater management fees for property owners covered by an authority. The fee likely would be based on a property's impervious surface and cost less than $10 a month for most residential property owners. Nothing is set in stone.

Harrisburg-based Herbert, Rowland & Grubic Inc., the firm Scranton hired to explore the feasibility of a regional collaboration, shared figures last month showing Scranton could save nearly $8 million over 20 years by managing stormwater regionally, based on an eight-member authority model. That's an estimated 25% savings compared to doing so on its own. Other participants would also see savings, according to the firm.

Responses to the city's RFQ were due Thursday, and HRG was the lone respondent.

Background and vision

Scranton hired the firm Arcadis U.S. Inc. in 2017, to conduct a preliminary analysis of its stormwater situation and how to best manage it.

Advocates of doing so on a regional basis contend a joint authority could allow participating municipalities to better meet federal pollution-reduction mandates — designed to reduce sediment, phosphorus and nitrogen in stormwater runoff that eventually drains into the Chesapeake Bay — at less cost, and more strategically plan infrastructure projects to mitigate flooding.

In May 2019, then state Sen. John Blake convened local municipal leaders and others to discuss the potential benefits of forming a regional stormwater authority.

The city later engaged HRG for stormwater-related engineering services and to conduct a feasibility study for a regional stormwater initiative. Updating city council in October, HRG engineer Adrienne Vicari proposed the eight-member regional startup stormwater authority.

Those municipalities currently must maintain Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) permits and are subject to the pollution-reduction requirements imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. .

HRG originally explored the feasibility of establishing an authority at the county level, but Vicari said the county's potential timeline did not match the needs of the municipalities.

The firm then revised the vision for the regional approach and proposed the eight-member startup authority.

Scranton's RFQ sought technical, financial and legal services supporting the implementation of a regional stormwater authority, including facilitating meetings with and developing an intergovernmental cooperation agreement for participating municipalities. HRG's response is under review by the city.

Benefits

Pollution reduction requirements needed for MS4 permit compliance are largely considered an unfunded mandate, meaning they're the financial responsibility of the permit holder.

Absent collaboration, the eight municipalities would be individually responsible for implementing best management practices and infrastructure projects to reduce sediment and other stormwater pollutants. While those projects could be prohibitively expensive for individual communities, officials said an authority funding stormwater management through a fee paid by property owners would cut the majority of stormwater costs from municipal budgets.

"In general, I'd say one of the biggest benefits of coming together is going to be the cost savings," Vicari told Scranton City Council in October. "So, for many of the regional programs that we've been able to help implement in Pennsylvania, we've seen costs cut in half for municipalities, and then those savings get passed on to the property owner."

A collective of municipalities could also result in more competitive grant applications for infrastructure and other stormwater projects.

Officials tentatively target 2023 and 2024 for the first phase of the regional effort, including establishing the authority. Early on, it's likely a portion of any authority-levied fee would be returned to participating municipalities for existing infrastructure maintenance and improvements.

During phase two, which could commence as early as 2027, Vicari said the authority could take on a larger role, including potentially assuming ownership of municipal stormwater assets, performing more in-depth operations and maintenance and implementing regional flood-control projects.

If a joint pollution-reduction plan is ultimately created and approved, the communities covered by the authority could also receive credit toward their MS4 permit compliance for infrastructure projects and best management practices implemented in other participating municipalities.

Savings, fees and input

HRG's presentation showed Scranton could save 25% over two decades by managing stormwater regionally under the eight-member authority model.

Estimated savings of 39% to 49%, or similar savings, over 20 years are possible for the other participating municipalities, Vicari said.

The monthly stormwater fee would likely be about $5 to $8 for residential households. Detractors sometimes refer to such a fee as a "rain tax," but advocates of the regional approach contend funding stormwater management through a fee actually saves residents significantly more than they'd pay by funding those costs through municipal taxes.

"It's about the best way to do it where you're impacting the taxpayers the least, but still giving yourself the resources to actually address the (stormwater) issues," said outgoing Scranton council president and state representative-elect Kyle Donahue, an advocate of regional stormwater management.

HRG estimates Scranton homeowners would save about 56% under a fee model. Residents of the other municipalities could see higher savings of up to 93%.

Clarks Summit Borough Manager Virginia Kehoe noted residents bear stormwater management costs regardless of a fee, but, without a fee, those costs are reflected in taxes. In theory, a regional approach sounds reasonable and realistic, she said.

"From Clarks Summit's perspective, if the communities around us aren't involved in stormwater we're negatively affected, because we're kind of in a bowl and the areas around us are slightly higher than us and their water comes down into our community," she said. "We see working together as more productive to all than working individually."

South Abington Twp. Manager David O'Neill said the township is willing to entertain anything in its best interest, but noted he hasn't seen a concrete proposal to this point.

"If there is a proposal that's out there that would eventually or currently save the township money, it is always good to look at," O'Neill said.

Dickson City Borough Manager Cesare Forconi expressed a similar sentiment, noting the borough would be receptive to regionalization as long as it ultimately benefits borough residents and businesses.

In Taylor, Borough Manager Dan Zeleniak said there's definitely interest in forming some form of a regional stormwater management authority in the interest of anticipated cost savings. He said Taylor would ideally like to see it happen at the county level, but applauded Scranton for its efforts to address stormwater and flooding issues the municipalities face.

"Taylor, obviously, Old Forge, Moosic, we're the Downvalley people and we're at the bottom of all the flow more or less," he said.

Attempts to reach Moosic and Old Forge officials were unsuccessful.

Dunmore is interested in exploring the potential cost savings an authority could deliver, Borough Manager Greg Wolff said.

Each individual municipality's government would have to approve its participation in a stormwater authority. What exactly an authority looks like, when it would form, how it would function and which communities would ultimately participate remains to be seen.

The process will see potential participants provided a memorandum of understanding, followed by an intergovernmental cooperation agreement. Municipalities that approve or adopt those pieces would be part of a municipal steering committee to help finalize the vision for the authority and how to fund the cost of providing services, Vicari said.

Scranton Business Administrator Larry West hopes to see progress made.

"If we're not putting ourselves out there now to make sure that we are setting up the government infrastructure ... to take care of the physical infrastructure, then I think we'll be behind the 8 ball," he said last month.

Contact the writer: jhorvath@timesshamrock.com;

570-348-9141;

@jhorvathTT on Twitter.