ORANGE PARK – Town officials estimate that there are an estimated $15.2 million worth of stormwater pipe that needs to be replaced to help lessen or prevent the kind of flooding experienced from Hurricane Irma last year.

While it’s be impossible to handle all of the needs now, Orange Park is one step closer to implementing a Stormwater Management Utility and associated fee that will tackle the problem by providing a dedicated stormwater maintenance team.

During a special meeting held in June earlier this year, Orange Park Town Council was presented with four differing options to pay for stormwater maintenance. One of these options was the creation of a stormwater utility fee. While the council did not need to make a vote during that meeting, they did come to a consensus that a utility and fee was the route they intended to take. First estimates showed it would cost homeowners less than $10 a month.

“For the average home, which I believe is 3,700 square feet of impervious area, you would be $7 a month [per monthly utility bill],” Town Manager Sarah Campbell said during the meeting.

Because homeowners will be paying more in the end, Mayor Gary Meeks made a promise that if the council could find a way to save homeowners money elsewhere, they would ensure that happens. During the Sept. 18 council meeting, that happened when the town voted 5-0 to reduce the millage rate for fiscal year 2018-19 to the rolled back rate of 5.9212.

“The reason I am glad for it is that we promised the people that when we did the utility tax, that if there was any way that we could possibly in the future make a reduction...we would do it,” Meeks said.

During the Oct. 16 regular meeting, council member Ron Raymond mentioned that despite the lower millage rate, homeowners will still be paying more taxes next year than they did this year. Raymond is correct, but the increase in taxes won’t be a result of the town’s millage – it will be because of rising property values. While rising property values are something town council cannot control, town council could’ve have maintained the same millage rate as the previous year, which would have resulted in even higher taxes for the next year, but chose to lower the rate to offset the stormwater utility fee.

Before voting to approve the first reading of the stormwater utility ordinance, Campbell presented her findings of a recent stormwater review the council funded with $500,000 from its fund balance. This $500,000 also paid for temporary stormwater labor and equipment the town needed.

The review identified 129,000 linear feet of stormwater pipe that will cost $15.2 million to replace and 1,165 stormwater structures that will cost $5.1 million to replace, though not all of this needs to be replaced immediately. It also identified six waterway sites that have what were determined to be high priority maintenance issues, eight sites with medium priority issues and another eight with low priority issues.

“The assessment was conducted and has identified the amount of maintenance we need to be doing on an annual basis, and frankly the amount of capital replacement on your assets that you will need to be doing on an annual basis, is really eye-opening,” Campbell said.

The stormwater utility fee will pay for a stormwater maintenance team that includes three dedicated employees who will work to maintain and improve pipes and waterways in Orange Park, as well as begin the necessary replacements of structures and pipes as needed.

“There is certainly a plan, a very robust plan, a plan we’ve never had before,” Campbell said.

The $7 a month fee will bring in an estimated $408,000 per year.

When it came time for a motion, the council approved the first reading of the ordinance with 4-1 vote, with Raymond dissenting. According to Raymond, the reason he voted no was his desire to not see another town institution, such as a Stormwater Utility, set up.