Cities and towns working to finalize next year’s budgets are finding that state requirements under the 2015 Clean Water Act are rising to the surface.
Select boards in Chittenden and Killington, for instance, entertained presentations last week on the new mandatory Municipal Roads General Permit program, which comes with a cost.
The sweeping program obligates all towns to take measures to prevent stormwater-related erosion as part of the phosphorus reduction program in Lake Champlain, and to protect the Connecticut River drainage area. The program requires municipalities to inventory all culverts and roads — paved or unpaved — and take action to mitigate or prevent pollution by 2037, with continuing maintenance thereafter.
The Municipal Roads General Permit represents a new line item in Chittenden’s budget. At a regular Select Board meeting on Jan. 22, consultant Susan Schreibman detailed a five-year capital improvement plan for the town, starting this year. Schreibman said that a 2017 survey identified and prioritized nine bridges, 284 culverts and 863 road segments in Chittenden for erosion hazards. Sixteen segments of road and four culverts were identified as needing immediate attention.
Schreibman emphasized her plan is “just a guide,” subject to Department of Environmental Conservation requirements. Projects will include culvert replacement, drainage improvement and erosion control on ditches and embankments.
In Chittenden, Schreibman estimated the cost of replacing top priority culverts at $230,277 for 2018. The work may be funded by a combination of VTrans matching grants, town taxes and reserve funds, she said. Chittenden regularly includes $85,000 each year in its highway budget.
Schreibman’s work was funded by a VTrans Better Roads grant, with a 20 percent in-kind match from the town.
The deadline to sign on is July 31, and requires an initial outlay of $2,640. That price includes a one-time application fee of $400, the first annual fee of $2,000 and a $240 administrative processing fee for the first five-year permitting cycle, all according to Jim Ryan, municipal roads program coordinator at the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Ryan said that unlike five years ago, this year “millions” of state and federal dollars are available to help towns complete inventories, get training and access technical assistance from regional planning commissions.
The general permit is required for all municipalities and the permit will need to be renewed every five years with appropriate amendments. Towns have some measure of latitude in their approach as long as the result meets standards identified by the inventories, and an annual report is due each April 1 detailing what work was done and where, Ryan said.
The initial outlay is not the main concern for Chet Hagenbarth, Killington’s director of highways and facilities. Hagenbarth said he already budgets for compliance projects and ditches on 5 percent slopes that are being stone-lined as required. But because most of Killington’s roads are on at least 5 percent slopes, he said, the program will cost Killington more than $1 million in material alone over the next 20 years.
“We’re lucky, we have enough staff so we can do it in-house. We don’t have to hire outside contractors,” he said.
Hagenbarth said Municipal Roads Permit grants take from existing highway grant programs, which have been “drastically” reduced.
“This is not new money,” he said.
At the Killington Select Board meeting last week, Karen Horn, director of public policy for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, offered the league’s assistance. Horn cited information from the working group on water quality funding that showed impervious surfaces such as roofs, roads and parking lots account for about 18 percent of phosphorus-laden runoff in the Lake Champlain Basin.
She said the league is lobbying for state money to help cities and towns with the costs.
