(Aug. 31, 2017) Flooding, an issue in Ocean Pines since its establishment five decades ago, has once again become a hot topic because of recent heavy rains.
Several homeowners broached the subject during the public comments section of the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors meeting last Friday.
The directors, understanding that public discussion was possible, had invited Berlin Town Administrator Laura Allen to give a presentation on stormwater. Ocean Pines’ neighbor to the southwest has leveraged almost $2 million in state and federal grants during the last several years to improve flooding in the town.
“Sensitive to the events, with regard to the amount of rain we had and the inquiries we received from a number of members … we felt it important as a board to reach out to other resources in the area,” Board President Doug Parks said. “We’re not assuming to claim we have an answer, but the intent of this is to have a dialogue and at least keep the information going while it’s fresh in our minds.”
Allen said the complaints she heard during the meeting were similar to those she heard in Berlin.
After decades of complaints there, the town became serious about stormwater in 2005, she said. That led to a three-phase study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over a three-year period.
In 2012, Berlin ordered a feasibility study through the University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center, and a stormwater utility was established as a result in 2013.
Allen said residents pay $50 per year to the utility, while commercial properties are charged based on the amount of impervious surface, or paved areas that eliminate rainwater infiltration.
“What the town did … before this was established was reduce the property tax rate, in part so that when this was implemented the net impact to the individual property owners was pretty much neutral,” Allen said.
She said the stormwater utility collects about $170,000 each year. Some of that goes to maintenance, but importantly, according to Allen, that money was used as matching funds in various grant applications.
During the last five years, the town received $900,000 through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program, $800,000 from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and $120,000 from FEMA.
Along with conducting a letter-writing campaign, Allen said town employees went door-to-door in flood zones to ask residents for photos of the flood damage they incurred and receipts proving how much they spent on repairs.
“We needed to be able to be able to demonstrate to those granting agencies the impact,” she said. “Here’s the property damage we’re experiencing, this is the damage you’re going to eliminate.
“That was part of what helped us get that $2 million. It wasn’t just us and the utility … it was us working with the community and the community being willing to talk about a very painful experience,” Allen continued. “That made that a successful application process.”
Engineering studies determined four major areas of concern, and those funds were used to expand culverts and create stormwater retention ponds, among other improvements.
“For us it’s about creating additional capacity … so it provides a filtration and a place for the water to go, rather than into somebody’s garage or under somebody’s home,” Allen said.
During the Aug. 14 Town Council meeting in Berlin, Councilman Dean Burrell marveled at the result stormwater improvements on Flower Street had, despite recent heavy rains.
He said the water in his neighborhood never stopped moving, which meant it never had a chance to pool up and cause flood damage. Instead, it flowed through the culverts and into a wetland.
“That was a wonderful thing to see – taxpayer dollars have been spent, I think, tremendously well,” he said.
Allen said the town planned to finish phase three of its stormwater improvements using what grant money remained, and then pause for a period of evaluation. The previous studies, she said, are more than a decade old.
“For the most part, people were pretty supportive [of the improvements],” Allen said. “I think it was a combination of … the property tax adjustment, but also a very well-planned community outreach program that we did in partnership with the University of Maryland, Maryland Coastal Bays and Assateague Coastal Trust.
“While we’re dealing with flooding, we’re also trying to address the water-quality issues, and in our community the environmental aspects of the work that we do are extremely important,” she continued. “Part of the reason why people were willing to pay the fee was because they saw it as an investment in their environment and they were willing to spend a little more money to make sure that the water was a little bit better when it hit the bays.”
Darl Kolar from EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc. was also present during the meeting. The firm and Kolar advised the town through much of the stormwater improvements.
Homeowner John Roeder, who gave board members a handout on stormwater earlier during the meeting, praised the presentation. He cautioned, however, the level of funding Ocean Pines used to address flooding was about $30,000 last year.
“This lady has given us a fantastic story today – a success, a proven record and a methodology,” he said. “She has told us exactly what we need to do. What I would ask you to do, is as you develop your budget [understand] we are not going to be able to move forward on $30,000. It needs to be, probably, $1 million.”
Board Vice President Cheryl Jacobs cautioned grant money might not be as readily available to Ocean Pines as it was to Berlin.
“That’s exactly why we asked Mrs. Allen to come here today and share Berlin’s story with us, to give us, possibly, a blueprint for what we might be able to go,” Jacobs said. “You have to understand, however, they are a municipality and we’re a homeowner’s association. So that can factor into what we have available to us.”
Several homeowners broached the subject during the public comments section of the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors meeting last Friday.
The directors, understanding that public discussion was possible, had invited Berlin Town Administrator Laura Allen to give a presentation on stormwater. Ocean Pines’ neighbor to the southwest has leveraged almost $2 million in state and federal grants during the last several years to improve flooding in the town.
“Sensitive to the events, with regard to the amount of rain we had and the inquiries we received from a number of members … we felt it important as a board to reach out to other resources in the area,” Board President Doug Parks said. “We’re not assuming to claim we have an answer, but the intent of this is to have a dialogue and at least keep the information going while it’s fresh in our minds.”
Allen said the complaints she heard during the meeting were similar to those she heard in Berlin.
After decades of complaints there, the town became serious about stormwater in 2005, she said. That led to a three-phase study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over a three-year period.
In 2012, Berlin ordered a feasibility study through the University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center, and a stormwater utility was established as a result in 2013.
Allen said residents pay $50 per year to the utility, while commercial properties are charged based on the amount of impervious surface, or paved areas that eliminate rainwater infiltration.
“What the town did … before this was established was reduce the property tax rate, in part so that when this was implemented the net impact to the individual property owners was pretty much neutral,” Allen said.
She said the stormwater utility collects about $170,000 each year. Some of that goes to maintenance, but importantly, according to Allen, that money was used as matching funds in various grant applications.
During the last five years, the town received $900,000 through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program, $800,000 from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and $120,000 from FEMA.
Along with conducting a letter-writing campaign, Allen said town employees went door-to-door in flood zones to ask residents for photos of the flood damage they incurred and receipts proving how much they spent on repairs.
“We needed to be able to be able to demonstrate to those granting agencies the impact,” she said. “Here’s the property damage we’re experiencing, this is the damage you’re going to eliminate.
“That was part of what helped us get that $2 million. It wasn’t just us and the utility … it was us working with the community and the community being willing to talk about a very painful experience,” Allen continued. “That made that a successful application process.”
Engineering studies determined four major areas of concern, and those funds were used to expand culverts and create stormwater retention ponds, among other improvements.
“For us it’s about creating additional capacity … so it provides a filtration and a place for the water to go, rather than into somebody’s garage or under somebody’s home,” Allen said.
During the Aug. 14 Town Council meeting in Berlin, Councilman Dean Burrell marveled at the result stormwater improvements on Flower Street had, despite recent heavy rains.
He said the water in his neighborhood never stopped moving, which meant it never had a chance to pool up and cause flood damage. Instead, it flowed through the culverts and into a wetland.
“That was a wonderful thing to see – taxpayer dollars have been spent, I think, tremendously well,” he said.
Allen said the town planned to finish phase three of its stormwater improvements using what grant money remained, and then pause for a period of evaluation. The previous studies, she said, are more than a decade old.
“For the most part, people were pretty supportive [of the improvements],” Allen said. “I think it was a combination of … the property tax adjustment, but also a very well-planned community outreach program that we did in partnership with the University of Maryland, Maryland Coastal Bays and Assateague Coastal Trust.
“While we’re dealing with flooding, we’re also trying to address the water-quality issues, and in our community the environmental aspects of the work that we do are extremely important,” she continued. “Part of the reason why people were willing to pay the fee was because they saw it as an investment in their environment and they were willing to spend a little more money to make sure that the water was a little bit better when it hit the bays.”
Darl Kolar from EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc. was also present during the meeting. The firm and Kolar advised the town through much of the stormwater improvements.
Homeowner John Roeder, who gave board members a handout on stormwater earlier during the meeting, praised the presentation. He cautioned, however, the level of funding Ocean Pines used to address flooding was about $30,000 last year.
“This lady has given us a fantastic story today – a success, a proven record and a methodology,” he said. “She has told us exactly what we need to do. What I would ask you to do, is as you develop your budget [understand] we are not going to be able to move forward on $30,000. It needs to be, probably, $1 million.”
Board Vice President Cheryl Jacobs cautioned grant money might not be as readily available to Ocean Pines as it was to Berlin.
“That’s exactly why we asked Mrs. Allen to come here today and share Berlin’s story with us, to give us, possibly, a blueprint for what we might be able to go,” Jacobs said. “You have to understand, however, they are a municipality and we’re a homeowner’s association. So that can factor into what we have available to us.”