FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — At a Fayetteville City Council meeting on Wednesday night, members unanimously passed a resolution that would intend to enact a new stormwater utility ordinance for the city.
According to the city's Public Works Director Chris Brown, the Stormwater Management and Water Quality Funding Study will now develop a customer billing database and finalize aspects of the program before presenting the stormwater utility ordinance to the city council for formal consideration.
Brown said he expects to submit the final ordinance to the city by the end of 2024.
According to Brown, the proposed monthly fee is needed to help the city combat water issues caused by storms.
"It is a new fee, it is something that we will be asking our citizens and businesses to pay," Brown said. "But it will be providing an additional service that we're not providing right now, and we really feel like it’s something that is needed for the long-term water quality improvements that we need to make."
The proposed fees will be used to help with stormwater maintenance and improvements to existing infrastructure that handles flooding and water drainage.
Brown added that everyone, regardless of where they live in the city, has an impact on water flow.
"Even though you don't think that you have a problem, you are creating a need, and you are creating stormwater that the city has to manage," Brown said. "Everybody has an impact, and everybody lives downstream of somebody else."
Proposed fees for residents and businesses will correspond with property size, ranging from $1.69 per month for a 2,000-square-foot house to just under $10 dollars a month for a 6,500- to 8,000-square-foot house.
Beaver Lake Water District Environmental Quality Manager James McCarty said he supports the city’s efforts in trying to reduce sediment and pollutants filtering into the lake from watersheds.
According to Brown, money from the fees will be used to help curb this issue.
"We have a lot of upstream bank erosion that needs to be corrected,” Brown said. "This will reduce the amount of sediment and just the amount of contaminants and pollution that go into the system and all the way into Beaver Lake."
Brown adds that the city is trying to alleviate a multitude of water issues that impact residents.
"We're saying it's now time for the city to step up and take over management of more of the system that now we're asking our citizens to do," Brown said. "And in order to do that, we have to have the funding to move that forward."
Before asking for approval, Brown said his team is working to get a credit system in place for residents who put in a rain garden or some other feature that will help with rain runoff on their property.
According to Brown, the city’s budget to handle water issues is expected to increase just over $3 million annually from the proposed fees.
If the ordinance gets approved by the city council, Brown said utility billing and operations could begin as early as August 2025.
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