Do you think the Storm Water ordinance is the Holy Grail of this battle?

WTF? You might be surprised to find out what I know & think about the stormwater ordinance. And BTW, some of your buddies on Commission have been and will be right in there supporting what developers want in this ordinance.

Oh do tell. After all there has been so little news coverage. We could use your leadership Rachel.

What would Scott Davis do? (WWSDD)

What would Victor Jernigan do? (WWVJD)

Would it surprise you to know that fixing the stormwater mess will cost more than the Sheriff's pension? More than the Wheel Tax? Where is the reformer McElroy when you really need him?

Did you know that the Ragsdale administration has been playing a game of chicken with both TDEC and the Feds? Of course they are playing chicken with your car and your pocketbook.

But where can we find some information? Where indeed?

Rural Knox County residents, with the exception of Farragut, have a potential $63 million problem on their hands due to a lack of planning from the county engineering department’s storm water division.

This was the message Knox County Stormwater Advisory Board member Jamie Rowe brought to members of the Council of West Knox County Homeowners meeting Tuesday, March 6.

Rowe said Knox County, several years ago, was mandated by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to develop a stringent stormwater ordinance by 2005 and force developers to come into compliance with such an ordinance. The deadline has come and gone for this ordinance, and the county has yet to adopt one.

“Knox County is doing the bare minimum to meet the lowest standards,” she said. “I think we all want better for us and our children.”

Rowe said Knox County has a permit from the state and TDEC for a municipal separate storm sewer system, known also as MS4. The MS4 permit expires in 2008 and would need renewal. If the county has not adopted an ordinance and taken steps to enforce the ordinance, MS4 renewal seems doubtful. Financial penalties for a lack of an ordinance could begin to be imposed.

John Schoonmaker, another member of the Board, said an independent firm had done a study of the county’s stormwater division, which has 35 employees and an annual budget of $5 million. To properly enforce a stormwater ordinance by 2008, Knox County would need 65 stormwater division employees and an annual budget of $10.5 million.

Schoonmaker said allowing for growth, the county would need an estimated $88 million to operate and maintain a stormwater ordinance enforcement section between the years 2008 and 2012. If you subtract the current budget of $25 million (five years at $5 million), Schoonmaker said rural county residents are going to have to produce $63 million to make up for that deficit.

“You could possibly see an extra twenty to thirty dollars a month tacked on to your water bill,” he said. “This is going to make the Wheel Tax look like nothing.”