By Donald Gilpin

As climate change and its effects become a growing concern in the news and in the lives of Princeton residents, stormwater management is becoming an increasingly important challenge for municipal officials and individual citizens.

The Municipality of Princeton has invited residents, business owners, and all stakeholders to a public meeting in the Witherspoon Hall Meeting Room at 400 Witherspoon Street. and on Zoom, on Wednesday, October 30 at 6 p.m. to explore the feasibility of a stormwater utility in Princeton.

Attendees will also learn about the work the town does to comply with stormwater regulations and the benefits of stormwater management.

The Municipality of Princeton is currently in Phase 2 of a four-phase stormwater feasibility study, exploring the possibility of forming a stormwater utility to provide a dedicated funding source through user fees, similar to the sanitary sewer utility, to operate, maintain, and improve the municipal storm sewer system.

Stormwater management, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), aims to reduce runoff from rain and melting snow into streets, lawns, and other sites and to improve water quality. Stormwater is naturally absorbed into the soil, but in developed areas the pavement and other impervious surfaces prevent the water from soaking into the ground and instead it runs into storm drains and sewer systems. It can cause flooding and erosion. Detaining stormwater and removing pollutants is the primary purpose of stormwater management, according to the Expert Environmental Consulting website.

Key topics on the agenda for the October 30 Princeton meeting include introduction to the stormwater utility concept and how it can help fund necessary improvements, compliance requirements under current state and federal regulations, advantages of improved stormwater management for residents and businesses, and a public Q&A session for community input and feedback.

So far, findings of the feasibility study, led by Princeton Hydro and WSP ecological and engineering consultants in collaboration with the Princeton Municipal Engineering Department, include the following: Underfunding has caused a backlog in stormwater improvement projects; constructing, maintaining, and operating the system involves many different municipal departments; New Jersey Department of Environment (NJDEP) is requiring increased levels of service in the next five years, and Princeton will need revenue increases to meet those needs; and a stormwater utility could “more equitably spread the cost of a stormwater system to the users, as tax exempt entities like schools, universities, and churches are not exempt from paying a user fee.”

Phase 2 of the study is currently delving into the details of cost of services and analyzing funding options, creating a draft plan with multiple options, and conducting ongoing public outreach, education, and involvement sessions. Princeton Council will make a decision at the end of Phase 2, probably in March 2025, whether to move ahead to Phase 3 of the study, to pause, or to discontinue the study.

In addition to the October 30 meeting, consultants and municipal engineers have been meeting with focus groups in recent weeks. Eight targeted stakeholder meetings are scheduled through November and December with schools, Princeton University, the religious community, and others to discuss their concerns with their impervious surfaces and the feasibility of creating a stormwater utility.

There will be another open public meeting in January as Council moves towards its decision on whether or not to proceed into Phase 3 of the study, which would ultimately lead to a municipal ordinance.

Reporting on the progress of the Stormwater Utility Feasibility Study so far at a Council meeting on October 14, Elizabeth Treadway, WSP senior vice president and principal program manager, emphasized that the study would allow ample flexibility for Princeton to fashion its own program and to shape the utility in the form that would best serve the local community. She emphasized the benefits a utility could have in being able to provide stable revenue to fund stormwater management and the advantages of proactive financial planning, the ability to make long-range plans, and the value of establishing “a mechanism to improve water quality, address flooding, and improve public safety.”

In an October 28 phone interview, Princeton Assistant Municipal Engineer Jim Purcell commented on the challenges of stormwater management and the possible advantages of establishing a stormwater utility. “We make sure we’re meeting all the regulations that the NJDEP puts out,” he said. “A stormwater utility would give us the benefit of separating those costs out to an entity that would be responsible only for performing all the stormwater duties.”

He added that a stormwater utility, as a utility, can charge every user, unlike the tax system in which a number of organizations are exempt from taxes. “A utility is not restricted in that way,” he said. “We can spread the costs over everyone in town. Everyone, including the municipal government, would pay a utility fee, and in that way everyone would be contributing because everyone is contributing to stormwater. Every impervious surface in town is contributing to the stormwater.”

Purcell went on to discuss how the Engineering Department is working to reduce pollution and the extremities of flooding through implementing land use regulations, creating more green infrastructure, and working with partners in the community and surrounding region.

“Everybody is keenly aware of the problems with climate change,” he said. “We have a holistic integrated approach here in Princeton. We do what we can to mitigate flooding, and we need to be better prepared for when those floods actually come.”

For more information on the stormwater utility study, visit bit.ly/princetonstormwater. To join the October 30 meeting virtually, see https://buff.ly/4dZKmhb.