DATE: Wednesday, May 14, 1997               TAG: 9705140514

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, CORRESPONDENT  

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   67 lines

ELIZABETH CITY IS CONSIDERING MONTHLY FEES FOR STORM WATER

City Council plans no tax increases in the 1997-98 budget of $37.7 million, but it may begin charging storm water fees that would add $4.50 to the monthly utility bill.

The issue was discussed when the proposed budget was presented Monday night, but no action was taken on the issue.

``I've had more phone calls on that in the last six months than I've had about anything else since I've been on the council,'' Councilman Donald Y. Cherry said Tuesday about draining rain water from the city. ``I don't know anybody that wants to pay more money, but if we're ever going to make any progress on the storm water problem, we've got to have adequate funding.''

Elizabeth City sits next to the Pasquotank River and is only a few feet above sea level. Heavy rainstorms flood many of its streets. The storm water flows through large culverts directly into the river without treatment. Many of the culverts are crumbling, and several drainage ditches are clogged.

The fee would create a new position for maintenance of the storm water system and pay for capital improvements, repairing culverts and cleaning ditches, said City Manager Steve Harrell.

``If I could pay it, I would,'' said Clara S. Jones, a widow who lives on Brooks Avenue. ``Right now I don't make enough to make it from one month to another. I have to borrow money.''

The council met in its second budget work session Monday evening and the hottest topic was storm water drainage. Only Councilman Zack Robertson agreed with Cherry about the need for a storm water fee.

``I think we need to find ways to keep our river clean,'' Robertson said.

Mayor Rick Gardner also favored the new utility, but the rest of council hesitated to support it.

``Every time we impose a fee, it's a tax,'' Councilman Lloyd Griffin III said during Monday's meeting. ``We're not trying to run businesses out of town.''

The storm water fee would appear on the utility bill with electricity and water charges and range from $4.50 for residents to $9 for businesses to $6 per acre for open land. The fees would raise from $300,000 to $500,000 a year.

Water and Sewer Director Bart Van Nieuwenheuse said his department will adjust the fees later depending on the size of property and landscaping. A large open lot without much landscaping, such as the one at Southgate Mall, would pay more than lots with landscaping that absorbs water.

Griffin complained that there had already been a half-cent tax set aside in 1994 to complete a huge drainage project in the Roanoke Avenue area. The project is only about half-finished, and the tax has long been absorbed by the general fund.

Council members said the first priority for drainage projects is to complete the system around Roanoke Avenue.

``There was a lot of rain this year,'' Harrell said Tuesday. ``The public has expressed concern about a storm water system.''

Among other major expenses for next year include the police department's purchase of two new patrol cars at $20,000 each and video cameras installed in all 14 cars in the police fleet.

Council seemed to favor purchasing and training two new police dogs for patrol and drug searches at a cost of $17,000.

A new automated garbage truck for the Sanitation Department will cost $40,537.

The fire station on Halstead Boulevard will get a new roof costing $20,475.

The first-year match of a grant to replace Charles Creek Bridge will be $40,000.

The council will hold budget work sessions May 20, June 3 and June 9. Council will hold a public hearing on the budget at its regular council meeting June 16 at 7 p.m.

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