Oh, That Referendum!
Isn't it absolutely amazing that The Waffler can get a petition drive started on an important issue like drainage in Park City - and then simply drop the ball?
How on earth is the voting public expected to make head or tails out of an issue that comes on the ballot backwards?
Where are the other members of the City Hall Circus?
Of all the issues the Wrecking Crew has attacked, this one probably will have the longest lasting effect on the everyday lives of the residents. In the last five or six years, the City has spent about $700,000 on bandaid fixes for the drainage problems. If you doubt this, look south from 61st St into that ditch. We fixed the part that was a mess four years ago, but just moved the problem downstream. The same situation exists up north on Kerman and in the horseshoe on East Parkview. And that's what happens when there is no comprehensive plan to fix the drainage over the entire Park City area.
This is a problem that almost killed the City in the 1960's. It's one that has been cussed and discussed for over 50 years without true resolution. We've spent hundreds of thousands of tax dollars that most citizens don't even know about because the expense is burried in the budget.
A stormwater utility board would be able to contract with an engineer for a solution once the problems are identified. When they levied a fee, Park City residents and property owners would know the plan of attack and how much was spent . Make no mistake, drainage problems cost money and they don't get fixed for nothing.
Regardless of statements made by The Perfect One, water running off of our properties onto someone else's does become everyone's problem. His new development may have provided him with a dry basement, but it also eliminated ground that soaked up runoff.
Our house doesn't even have a sump pump, but we recognize that rain that falls on our land winds up in The Guardian's back yard. It's all down hill from here.
And we have businesses that have tax abatements - so they have paid nothing toward fixing the problem. A fee attached to the utility bill would make sure that they pay their fair share. Just think how much water runs off of a large parking lot.
The Stormwater Utility Board is a tool used by cities that have drainage problems. Check out area communities that have implemented this tool.
So think about how you want to pay for the fixes: bandaids forever moving the problems downstream, or a plan to fix the issue starting at the beginning of the trouble. This is a backwards vote: no means yes, yes means no. Voting no means we keep the stormwater utility established by the last Council. Voting yes means that there is no utility board.