The attached updated Economic Impact Study comparison was made available today to the Stormwater Committee.  The updates reflect the consulting team’s second comment responses.

Economic Impact Study Comparison

The comments received on the second public review draft of the DuPage County Stormwater and Floodplain Ordinance have been collected in the document entitled “DuPageCommentResponse010912.”  The consulting team and the State’s Attorney are working on providing responses which will be posted soon. Below are links to the document.

See the attached letter announcing the final public comment period for the adoption of the Revised DuPage County Countywide Stormwater and Flood Plain Ordinance.

1738_001

We are making available today the comment response document for the Ordinance draft released on January 3rd.  A formal presentation on the document will be made to the Stormwater Committee on July 19^th.  The document is located to the left under the Stormwater Ordinance Drafts page, or through the link below.

http://ec.dupageco.org/StormWaterUpdate/index.php/project/documents/stormwater-ordinance-drafts/

Attached is a brief bullet point summary of the DuPage County Municipal Engineers meeting held on February 17, 2011. The topic of discussion was Articles XIII-XIX and concludes the Municipal Engineers review of the Public Comment Draft Ordinance.

Municipal Engineers 02172011

Below is a link to a revised/completed comparison table.  This table shows where existing articles and/or sections are in the proposed ordinance.  This table will be distributed at the March 1^st Stormwater Committee.

Comparison Table

Attached is a brief bullet-point summary of the Municipal Engineers meeting held on Thursday, January 20^th.  The topic of discussion was Articles V-X of the Public Comment Draft Ordinance.  The next Municipal Engineers meeting will be held on Thursday, February 3^rdto discuss Articles XI – XIX.

Municipal Engineers 01202011

All blog users with a username and password can now submit new posts on the topic of their choice. Previously, all blog posts were created by the consultant. Please use the CREATE A NEW POST link on the upper left side of the home page and fill in the form to suggest a new post. As posts can only be created by blog users, if you do not have a username and password, please use the PROVIDE US YOUR COMMENTS link on the upper left side of the home page.

This is a good point to recap where we are in the process, and respond to some comments we have received along the way.  There are several responses posted as follow-up comments over the last few days, so be sure and take a look.

We started this Update process by listening to what “users” of the Ordinance have to say about how it works now.  We reached out to a sample of 360 applicants and landowners that we had contact information for inviting participation.  The survey was also available to anyone who wished to take it here on this website.   We have summarized the responses and the comments received in a summary document, also posted in the documents section of the website.

We have held three “listening sessions” to date as well:  one with the Business community, one with DuPage Mayors and Managers Planning committee, and the third with the Forest Preserve District Board.  The comments received and summaries of each listening session are also posted here on the website.

As an earlier post indicates, we have looked at practices and trends in Stormwater Management nationally,  looking at what we can learn and anticipate from other programs and regulatory trends.  The results of that review are available here on the website.

The Steering Committee has also been active.  The minutes of the Steering committee meetings are here on the website as well.

We have started a general discussion on the current Ordinance identifying its structure, and deciding how best to structure and organize the updated ordinance to make it easier to use and clearer.   Our intent is that someone who contemplates “development” in the county will understand what they can do by right, what they can do only by permission, and what they cannot do, and that this determination can be made early in the process with a reasonable level of confidence.

We are now ready to move forward with drafting revised ordinance language.  Stay tuned to this site—we will start posting drafts as soon as the Steering Committee reaches consensus.

We received some helpful feedback and comment from a diverse cross-section of engineers and scientists, developers, government officials, businesses and citizens yesterday in a forum whose purpose was to receive just such input.  The following is a summary of a few of the comments/suggestions received.  The full list is posted soon to this website in our “meeting minutes” section.  You can view the “powerpoint” presentation for this meeting as well.  Some of the comments:

• Consider using the wetland hydrology criteria similar to the 80/150 rule that lake county uses to gauge indirect impacts to wetlands.
• Consider providing some form of tax relief for properties that contain wetlands.
• Encourage “positive” practices and Incorporate credit for the positive aspects of “green technologies” like permeable pavers into the ordinance.
• In developing the ordinance, consider the economic well being of citizens, property rights, and the cost of permit reviews.
• Ask for all permit submittals in a digital format.

These are only a few of the comments pulled at random.  If there is something you want us to know about the ordinance, if you have a suggestion, please go to the “Provide Us Your Comments” option to the left of this box.