Street flooding occurred in Canton on Waterfall Drive after heavy rainfall due to a lack of adequate stormwater management. (Photo Courtesy Town of Canton)
CANTON — Town Administrator Charles Doody and the Select Board report that the Town of Canton is establishing a Stormwater Utility Fee, ensuring the viability and long-term sustainability of the town’s stormwater management services, a crucial infrastructure component that will protect the community from dangerous flooding and pollution.
The Select Board voted on April 15 to approve a Stormwater Utility Fee, joining approximately 2,100 stormwater utilities across the U.S., including more than 25 cities and towns throughout Massachusetts. The issue was also discussed in public meetings of the Select Board held on Aug. 20, 2024 and Nov. 12, 2024.
The annual Stormwater Utility Fee rate for property owners is $100 per Equivalent Residential Unit (ERU), the median measured impervious surface area for single-family homes in the Town of Canton, which is 3,465 square feet.
The yearly fee for a single-family home residential parcel, town house condominium
residential unit or duplex condominium residential unit will be one (1) ERU, or $100,
divided up into four (4) quarterly $25 utility bills. The yearly fee for a two (2) or three
(3) family home residential parcel will be two (2) ERUs, or $200, divided up into four
(4) quarterly $50 utility bills.
The yearly fee for all other properties will be calculated based on the total impervious area on a developed parcel of land, divided by the area of one (1) ERU. However, decimal values for ERUs will be rounded down for values of less than 0.5 ERUs and rounded up for decimal values of 0.5 or greater. Stormwater Utility Fee bills will also be issued quarterly.
For example, a property with 10,000 square feet of impervious surface area contains 2.89 ERUs. But that number would be rounded up to 3 ERUs, for a total yearly bill of $300 for a year. The $300 Stormwater Utility Fee for the whole year would be broken up into four quarterly $75 bills.
The first time property owners will see the stormwater fee on their water and sewer utility bill will be after July 1.
The definition of impervious area is any material or structure on or above the ground that prevents water from infiltrating into the underlying soil. That includes, although is not limited to, driveways, parking lots, roads, sidewalks, rooftops and patios.
To collect the revenue needed to meet the town’s estimated future annual costs for stormwater management services, the Stormwater Utility Fee rate may be modified as necessary through a written resolution approved by a vote of the Select Board.
The services that will be provided by the Town of Canton using the revenue generated by the Stormwater Utility Fee include the replacement and maintenance of storm drainage infrastructure, which ensures that roadways are drivable, promotes public safety and protects properties. That infrastructure includes clean catch basins and storm drains, along with structurally safe and effectively operated dams.
Currently, Canton maintains and operates 250 lane miles of roadway, 56 miles of drainpipe, 2,300 catch basins, 270 stormwater outfalls, 2,250 drain manholes, 38 culverts, 15 proprietary separators, 48 oil and grit chambers, 18 drywells, 13 subsurface infiltration systems, 21 detention and retention basins, 14 rain gardens and six dams.
But much of the town’s existing stormwater infrastructure is operating beyond its useful design life. The town must also keep up with new infrastructure needs, as roads and properties are constructed.
“Our stormwater infrastructure is an asset to the town and we need to proactively take care of it,” said Town of Canton Stormwater Manager Kristine Meaney. “We need to upgrade systems that are now undersized due to new development and heavier rainstorms. Our first line of defense from flooding is Canton’s storm drainage system, making it imperative to aggressively inspect, repair, redesign and expand
our drainage network.”
The revenues from the Stormwater Utility Fee will also help the Town of Canton to effectively meet the mandatory yearly requirements enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency to maintain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit. The permit requires the town to conduct public outreach, public participation, illicit discharge detection and elimination, management of construction site runoff, management of post-construction site runoff and good housekeeping for municipal operations.
Meeting the requirements of the permit allows the Town of Canton to safely discharge stormwater from town-owned or town-operated drainage systems into the community’s brooks, ponds, rivers and wetlands.
Failing to do so would result in untreated water from rainfall or melting snow carrying pollution into the town’s storm drainage system or cause polluted stormwater to be conveyed directly into local waterways, such as brooks, ponds, rivers or wetlands.
Pollutants found on roads and other surfaces including litter, vehicle fluids, pet waste and seepage from failing septic systems is swept up by stormwater runoff.
Bacteria and chemicals can then make waters unsafe for recreation, harm aquatic life, and cause other disturbances in the ecosystem. Excess phosphorous and nitrogen from fertilizer, grass clippings and fallen leaves that enter the storm drain system then flow into brooks, ponds and rivers, creating a cascade of negative effects, including harmful algae blooms and the subsequent depletion of oxygen, ultimately killing fish, destroying habitats and potentially impacting human health.
“We need to maintain and improve our stormwater system now instead of
compromising our ability to care for it in the future,” said Stormwater Manager Meaney. “Clean stormwater and a maintained infrastructure system keeps our waterways free from pollution, ensures our roads are drivable, promotes public safety, preserves property values and prevents localized and large-scale flooding. It also protects our local wildlife habitat from pollutants such as harmful bacteria, phosphorous and other impairments. Let’s work together to keep our waterways clean and properties safe.”
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