Council approves stormwater management ordinances, earlier on-premise alcohol sales

The Vestavia Hills City Council took a few steps tonight toward compliance with the MS4 permit the city received from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management last year.

During its June 11 meeting, the Council voted to approve three ordinances pertaining to erosion and sediment control, illicit discharge and post-construction best management practices for stormwater management.

City Engineer Christopher Brady discussed the updates, which he said would help the city come into compliance with the requirements defined in its MS4 permit.

The first ordinance in front of the Council, Brady said, was in regard to an existing erosion and sediment control ordinance and related to any land disturbing activity, or a construction activity. The ordinance set permit fees of $400 for single family residences and $1,000 for other construction projects, as well as additional fees of $2,000 for sites that are required to have post construction controls. Regulations, details of management and inspection, and details of enforcement and abatement were also included in the ordinance. It also defined post-construction best management practices, which were addressed in a later ordinance, as well as also provided more clarification between enforcement that would be done by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and by the city, Brady said.

There was no comment from the public regarding the ordinance, and it was unanimously approved by the council.

The second ordinance pertained to illicit discharge, or when anything other than stormwater is washed down a storm drain.

“Part of our new permit requirements has to do with water quality, protecting water quality and what kinds of things drain into our storm drains and creeks and streams,” Brady said. “This ordinance specifically identifies what is an illicit discharge.”

The ordinance also gave an enforceable ordinance “to keep things that we catch from being washed down intentionally or unintentionally,” Brady said.

Councilor George Pierce asked if this would also apply to the state, if it was doing work in the roadway, and Brady said that was correct.

There was no comment from the public regarding the ordinance, and it was unanimously approved by the council.

The final ordinance relating to stormwater management was a new ordinance relating to post-construction best management practices.

“This goes a step further and this determines what is required for post-construction, so after a site is complete, what type of stormwater management system they will have to improve water quality of that water that is leaving the site,” Brady said.

This ordinance applies to anything more than 1 acre, he said, and goes into technical details of volume of water that must be caught and treated on site, how that infrastructure should be maintained and so forth.

Mayor Ashley Curry asked if a homeowners association would have to bear these responsibilities, and Brady said, yes, they would. In response to a question from Pierce, regarding what would happen if there is not an HOA in place, Brady said that is something the ordinance helps with — because there will be yearly renewal of permits, the city will be able to make sure a management structure is in place and would be able to keep HOA and ownership information up to date.

During the public comment period, Cahaba River Society Executive Director Beth Stewart commended the city and the council for its work toward developing these ordinances.

“We’re going to be 30 years old coming up in October, protecting the Cahaba River for all this time. And for at least 20 of those years, we’ve been waiting for this day. We recognized the biggest pollution problem and problem affecting the wildlife habitat in the river isn’t just what runs-off during construction,” she said. “It’s how the land changes from forest to hard surfaces after construction and the fact that the rain can no longer get back the ground.”

She also said the Cahaba River Society is “really very supportive of this ordinance,” and that it appreciated Brady’s work in communicating with surrounding communities so that suggestions for the ordinance which he discussed with the Cahaba River Society are in other communities’ ordinances as well.

Following Stewart’s words of support, there was no other public comment. The council unanimously voted to approve the ordinance.

Also at the meeting, the Council:

• Approved an ordinance allowing for on-premise alcohol sales to begin at 10 a.m. on Sundays. Downes said he believes cities across the state are “evolving to allow those alcohol sales at 10 a.m.” and he had received support from multiple restaurants on the topic. As of the meeting, Downes said he had not received any complaints.
• Issued a proclamation declaring June 14 as Flag Day. Boy Scout Troop 4 was present at the meeting to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and accept the proclamation.
• Issued a proclamation declaring June 2018 as Paint the Town Purple Month. The proclamation was presented to representatives of the Alzheimer’s Association.
• Heard from Steve Ammons and Laurie Muller from the Vestavia Hills Sunrise Rotary Club, who also presented a check for $14,000 to first responders. Ammons said the money was fundraised through a yearly picnic and would be able to go toward equipment for the police and fire departments. This year, Ammons said VHPD had asked that the money go toward the police foundation and monument. VHFD asked for money toward an inflatable tent that could serve as a remote command unit.
• Approved a resolution declaring a 2013 police Tahoe vehicle as surplus and directing the city manager to dispose of or sell those items. The vehicle had been disabled for a while, Downes said.
• Approved a resolution accepting the 2016-17 audit for the city.
• Approved a motion to postpone indefinitely consideration of a rezoning on Blue Lake Drive and Pine Tree Circle. The ordinance was previously postponed, but Derek Waltchack, owner and developer for the project, said that they were not ready to present an amended site plan for the property. They are still in discussions with a day care company based in Atlanta, Waltchack said, but are waiting to amend the site plan until that company has signed an official lease. Curry recommended an indefinite postponement of the ordinance, noting that Waltchack could notify them when he was ready to be back on the agenda. This was unanimously approved by the council.
• Approved a resolution authorizing the city to contract with Southern Software Inc. for a records management system for the police department. The total funding would be $114,225, according to the resolution, to be split between fiscal years 2018 and 2019. The city’s current system costs approximately $90,000 per year, according to agenda documents, and is “overall difficult to operate.” Police Chief Dan Rary echoed these issues at the meeting. The cost includes software, conversion of data, interface and project management.
• Approved a resolution authorizing up to $21,000 in additional funding for a filtering system for the swimming pool at Wald Park. This filtering system could be rented for the season until a decision of repair or a replacement filtering system could be analyzed, according to the resolution. The council approved this resolution, and because the amount exceeds the competitive bid limit, Downes said the council would need to declare it as an emergency. The council voted to make that declaration of an emergency expenditure.
• Approved a resolution to rezone a property on Overton Trail from R-5 (multi-family residential district) to R-2 (medium density single-family district). The resolution came with unanimous recommendation for approval from the planning commission, said Councilor Rusty Weaver.
• Approved a resolution to rezone a property on Timberlake Road from R-1 to O-1. The planning commission unanimously recommended approval of a resolution to rezone the property, which is in a transitional area between residential and commercial, Weaver said.

The following items received a first reading, and no action was taken at the meeting:

• A resolution allowing the city manager to execute a supplemental agreement for Neel Schaffer for additional design work for Massey Road.
• A resolution declaring a weed and other vegetation nuisance and directing the city manager to abate the nuisance for a property on Rockbridge Road.
• An ordinance granting non-exclusive right-of-way use for Access Fiber Group for the purpose of constructing an operating a network within public right of way in the city.