Florence-Darlington Stormwater Consortium Minutes

Transcription

1 Florence-Darlington Stormwater Consortium Minutes March 15, :30 p.m. Surface Water Treatment Plant 2598 Florence Harllee Blvd. Florence, SC This meeting was held at the Florence County Surface Water Treatment Plant located at 2598 Florence Harllee Blvd.. Present were members of Florence County (Benjie Smith, Tripp Ward), City of Florence (Michael Hemingway, Forrest Whittington, Alvin Ard), Darlington County (Charles Brooks, Julie Ritz), URS (Geoff Smith) and Carolina Clear/Clemson (Terasa Young). Dana Hamilton, Stormwater Manager for the City of Hartsville, was visiting. Announcements Terasa reported that grant funding had been obtained from one-time funds available from Clemson (partners should have received electronic notification from Katie Giacalone), and the following projects will benefit from that funding: 1) Second television commercial rotation purchase 2) 4-H 2 O statewide 3) Water Words that Work, June (1 Lowcountry, 1 Midlands, 1 Upstate). This program will be a one-day training seminar by Water Words that Work, LLA, a consulting company that helps the client deliver appropriate and captivating message to the public to motivate behavior change. Terasa will apprise the consortium partners of the venue for these seminars. Terasa announced that the Florence Cultural Garden project in partnership with Keep Florence Beautiful in downtown Florence had suffered somewhat of a setback in the final phases of construction. One-time funding was also obtained to complete the needed fascia board repair and gutter installation needed to finish the rainwater harvesting component of the project. Terasa announced that she will be presenting about the Consortium s Pet Waste Outreach Campaign at the National Water Conference in Portland, OR, May 20-24, The South Carolina Water Resources Conference is scheduled for October in Columbia, SC. The deadline for proposals is March 30, If anyone wants to submit an abstract, now would be the time. This conference is a bi-annual conference with over 300 attendees. Clemson will hold its Sustainable Golf Practices Symposium on April 2, 2012 at Clemson University. The fee is $35, which includes a reception after. Clemson will award CEUs. Benjie with the City of Florence introduce Tripp Ward, the new Stormwater Technician, Planner, and Floodplain Manager.

2 Recent Activities & Reporting A representative from Kalmia Gardens spoke about storm drain marking at Kalmia Place neighborhood meeting, near Kalmia Gardens on Feb 5 th (the subdivision stormwater drains to the outfall in Black Creek which is at the Gardens). The neighborhood association gave approval to mark the storm drains in the neighborhood. PSA s will be coming out soon on the Backyard Landscape Series thanks to Miller Communications, which has been very helpful to the Consortium (recorded Feb. 7 th ). The Consortium was represented by Terasa on Kinard and Coffee in February for the Backyard Landscape Series. The 5-Star Grant, due February 15, was submitted. Notification is expected in June. Terasa reported a Maple Park Association speaking engagement about protecting water quality and storm drain marking February 16. The first of the 2012 Pee Dee Backyard Landscape Series was held on February 18. All 25 places were filled; soil sampling, composting, mulching, and fertilizing were the topics. The series has been very successful and will continue on May 19 and June 23. Expectations are for a capacity crowd at each one. Terasa referred everyone to the flyer on the website. March 2 will be Lester Elementary s Read Across America Day, and Terasa read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and talked about protecting natural resources. March 10 will be the Pee Dee Home & Garden Workshop at Clemson s Pee Dee Research and Education Center. The Consortium will have a display about Carolina Yards & Neighborhoods. Geoff asked about phone interviews. Terasa stated she thought they were scheduled for next year but would check with Katie. Terasa will check and verify with Geoff. Forrest reported that the City of Florence has completed a cleanup of PCB contaminated transformer dump area (old landfill). This approximately 2 acre site had capacitors and other materials in it. DHEC approved the plan, and there was approximately 30 tons of hazardous material excavated and transported to a HazMat special dumping site, with confirmation sampling at the end of the cleanup. Because of these levels, this space is now a permanently encumbered low level land use no residential development. It is in the Jeffries Creek floodplain. Michael announced that the City of Florence was working on a sanitary sewer study in Jefferies Creek. Upcoming Activities Great American Cleanup Day was Saturday, March 24. The City of Florence is financing the collection of the paint, and a local business will sponsor and assist with that. Paint collection, shredding (paper), cleanup activities. (Darlington County Landfill accepts paint all the time.) Keep Florence Beautiful gets a credit based on the pounds of paper shredded.

3 Earth Day Coloring contest: the coloring page is available on the website, complete with directions how to fold and addresses. All pages received will be on display at each of the area libraries. There are prizes sponsored from both Darlington and Florence County Conservation Districts. 1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd prizes awarded by the three age groups. Entries are due by April 6 th. Notification and display by April 13 th. Displays of the artwork at the Florence and Darlington (main) libraries will run th. Earth Day City Youth will be April 19 4 pm (Thanks, Alvin). Alvin reported that as of this meeting, there was not a theme nor a count. Alvin will get that information to Terasa asap. Earth Day at Kalmia Gardens will be April 14 th. Terasa will not be there, but Alma will. Alma will have a craft for kids from the Consortium. Rural Heritage Festival is April 21 (Saturday), from 10-4 with rain date for April 22, Sunday from 1-4. Critters in the River Lynches River Ecology Workshop at the Lynches River Discovery Center Saturday, May 5, 10a-2p. Brooks volunteered to attend. Terasa thanked Davis & Brown and the Pee Dee District of the Water Environment Association for money for supplies for water quality testing. She stated there would be some fish printing activities with the kid, as well as providing lunch. The target audience is 5-8 graders, with approximately 30 slots (2 groups of 15). Bob Heister from Hampton Pointe contacted Alvin who put him in touch with Benjie about storm drain marking. Benjie spoke with Mr. Heister who said it would be something for late spring or summer. Terasa has not heard from him yet but will contact him. This would be the third neighborhood to be marked. Deerfield in Florence and Kalmia Place in Hartsville have been marked. Old Business Terasa Young will contact Palmetto Shores representative for storm drain marking. Michael will get Terasa the Boy Scout contact. Septic Workshop: There was discussion again on the audience, whether contractors, landowners, those with older septic systems, etc. Geoff suggested tying into 319 grant funds because of the TMDL. There would need to be a fiscally responsible group to handle the funding and related grant paperwork. Terasa will contact Pee Dee Land Trust and Black Creek Land Trust and ask if they would be interested and if not, who might be. Enticing the target audience is a challenge. Terasa suggested that maybe the septic companies would agree to give away a free inspection. Septic systems should be inspected every year and pumped out every 3-5 years. Forest stated that unless it was the wet season, interest by septic tank users/owners would probably be fairly low. Julie stated that DHEC (not necessarily SCDHEC) has a flier that gives the pump-out schedule for the amount of people per home. She stated the large (5x6) cards currently being for educational purposes are effective and again lobbied for an educational handout. Julie asked if something on the out of sight, out of mind card could be eliminated to provide space for a

4 pump-out schedule. Brooks added that Doug s intent on having a septic workshop was to address an issue that can impact the TMDL that has been placed on Black Creek for fecal. Geoff stated that there are many instances where people have moved into older homes and do not know where the septic system is located. Brooks stated that when a person comes into our office for a 911 address they are often sent to DHEC, and DHEC will perform a sight evaluation only, e.g., there is a septic tank on the property. Geoff suggested that the enticement come through tying in failing septic systems to the water quality of Black Creek. Michael stated that environmental groups would probably be an easy audience, but that the average landowner would not be concerned about it. There was some discussion of a funding component for the workshop. Brooks stated that there may be possible funding sources for people without the means to repair a failing septic system. Terasa was not aware of anything. Geoff stated that there were EPA funds available, as well other federal funds. Dana suggested a mailing to people with failing septic systems. Unfortunately, Darlington County would not have a means of reaching them, except maybe through a mailing within the tax notice. Geoff asked if a bill stuffer with the power bills would be a possibility. Another suggestion was to go through the water company, but there is only a small area where county water is available, the rest of Darlington County is on individual wells. A partnership between FDSC and a nonprofit environmental group such as Pee Dee Land Trust (PDLT) was discussed. Terasa was unsure if the partnership with PDLT would work would work because of the nature of their mission. Julie stated that it might not be the PDLT but maybe a group that is affiliated with PDLT. Geoff suggested that the 319 grant opportunity was still available next year. He stated the big component of that 319 would be septic rehab, and finding someone in the consortium or a nonprofit to take the responsibility as the lead agency for that grant application. He stated that the changes to the 319 grant would need real-world impact on measuring the beneficial nature of the project. He stated that if there were 150 failing septic systems and some agricultural issues negatively impacting Black Creek that could be identified, bringing it to the forefront would be important. The enticement would be the partnership, using the 319 grant funding opportunities to serve the public and positively impact water quality at the same time. Using the addresses from attendees at an informational meeting would allow the consortium and partners time to investigate the proximity to Black Creek and the trouble spots identified in the TMDL. If the site was discovered to be in an area that is an identified trouble spot, then grant monies could be applied to help fix the system, thereby making appositive efforts toward reducing the TMDL. Local engineering firms that design septic tanks and nonprofits could provide in-kind match for the grant. And then the lion s share of the grant money would be able to be used for the actual materials and construction. By getting the buy-in of the septic system installers (and a little competition going), fixing the failing septic systems becomes a way to increase the image of Darlington County. Geoff stated that sources at DHEC confirm that other counties have submitted 319 grants for identification and repair of septic systems, so there is precedent for addressing a health issue through grant funds. Geoff requested that the Consortium discuss this idea further in the next couple of meetings if there is a desire to pursue the 319 grant to fix failing septic systems and if a lead organization can be identified.

5 Forrest asked if there was a database in either Florence or Darlington County regarding failing septic system. Darlington does not, simply because such a large percentage of the unincorporated areas of Darlington County is on individual septic systems. Forrest asked if DHEC has a database. He asked if anyone even knows where the problems are. Brooks responded no, and therein lays the problem. Since DHEC is the agency tasked with approving septic systems, that information would need to come from them and they should be responsible for maintaining that information. However, there does not seem to be a good answer, and it would take a monumental effort to put a database of information like that together at this point. Forrest stated that with the TMDL the counties could eventually have to compile a database. Geoff concurred, and stated that was several years off. He stated that the agricultural sources would have to be identified, and that community would have to be regulated before they can be brought in the fold. Geoff stated that DHEC s responsibility was to see that individual septic systems are permitted and installed property, and that is where the responsibility ends. Unless it fails drastically, becoming a public nuisance to health, they are not responsible to step in before. He stated that because of this statutory responsibility, that a usable database would not be available. As for the target audience, DHEC does not maintain a list of failing septic systems, and only steps in when there is a public health safety issue. So, there is not a good way to reach the public except through mass mailings. Darlington County has a large percentage of the populace on septic tanks where as Florence County does not. The other audience is the septic installers in the area. Terasa will talk to Jennie Peze with the Pee Dee Land Trust to see if there is any interest in partnering or if PDLT has information on an environmental group that would be interested. New Business Partnership with Career Center: Robbie Myers, Florence School District 1 is the contact: Robbie is building a tumbling composter at Moore Middle School. The Consortium is partnering with the Career Center, with particulars for money collection still being worked out in a mutually beneficial arrangement for both the School District and FDSC, to have the student build rain barrels and tumbling composters and then place them for sale. It is time for another Rain Barrel workshop. It was suggested to hold it in Darlington. Pepsi is no longer donating barrels they are $8.00 each. Those barrels can be used but the black pickle barrel with the screw-on lids are a better choice because of the lid style. The black barrels are no longer available locally but can be found. It would be best to purchase in quantity but storage is an issue. The Consortium decided on Saturday, April 28 th from 10 am - 12 noon for the workshop. Several venues were discussed, and Forrest suggested a Darlington venue, preferably something with a shelter. Julie and Brooks will see if there is a venue for Darlington County, preferably at the Recreation Center, Race Track or the Fire Stations, and forward the info to Terasa. Benjie stated he could probably post the flyer in the lobby of the planning building. Next meeting will be May 17 at 1:30 at the Surface Water Treatment Plant. Meeting adjourned at 2:55 p.m.