Staff Report

The city of Middlesboro has repealed an ordinance involving stormwater quality management and replaced it with a new one. The action came during the city council meeting on Tuesday.

Council held the second reading of a replacement ordinance after completing the process to repeal the previous ordinance which had become outdated.

It was explained the original ordinance was repealed because the Environmental Protection Agency program the city currently is under has new and increased standards.

Council said much of the ordinance is the same. One of the biggest additions to the ordinance is a post construction requirement. With this new requirement, individuals must develop, implement and enforce a program to address stormwater runoff from new development and redevelopment projects that disturb greater than or equal to one acre of land, according to the EPA website.

This includes projects of less than one acre which are part of a larger common plan of development or sale. The developed and implemented strategies must include a combination of structural and/or non-structural best management practices appropriate for the community.

The original stormwater program started in 2002 for Middlesboro, according to Mayor Bill Kelley and Sandy Camargo with CDP Engineers. The first five years of the program was used to educate contractors and developers about it.

According to Kelley, the program then took a three-year hiatus to gather information. The new requirements were developed. Now the minimal standards have become more detailed.