What is Storm Water Management?

Due to an unfunded Federal mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the City of Peru has been forced to develop a plan to properly dispose of storm water within the corporate boundaries of the City of Peru. Failure to meet all requirements by the November 1, 2004, completion date could result in fines to the City of $25,000 per day.

A Storm Water Management Board was formed and tasked with researching the mandate and developing a plan to meet all requirements. Bonar and Associates, a professional engineering firm that has assisted many other Indiana communities with storm water plan development, has been retained as a consultant and advisor.

After considerable study, the Storm Water Management Board has ascertained that the most practical method of accomplishing this task is to form a new Storm Water Utility. To perform the duties required by the EPA mandate, this Utility will require a yearly budget of approximately $350,000.

This budget will allow the Utility to monitor storm water emissions, maintain the existing storm water system, and install new storm water systems in areas currently lacking (for example, Parkview Heights and Oakdale). It will also allow the City to provide required matching funds for the sewer separation of the West Main Street renovation project, which will be starting this fall.

The required $350,000 will be collected through user fees charged to all residences and businesses within the corporate limits of Peru. Every residence will be assessed a monthly fee of $4.00 (four dollars). Business and corporate fees are based on the amount of impervious land area owned in relation to the average residence. A cap of $225.00 (two hundred twenty five dollars) per month was placed on business and corporate accounts.

Please understand that this fee is a result of requirements placed on the City of Peru by the federal government. The Storm Water Board, working with the City of Peru, has attempted to keep these fees at the minimum level possible. While it would be possible to temporarily lower the fees by eliminating or postponing the projects currently needing funding, the Storm Water Board does not feel this would be prudent.