North Royalton City Council unanimously adopted legislation at its December 7 meeting that will allow for a Cost-Share agreement with the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) for the pre-design of the Bunker Road Stream Project.
The NEORSD and North Royalton are working jointly in the Big Creek watershed near Bunker Road, where a local tributary flows into the Regional Stormwater System. According to the project agreement, “due to the alignment of the Regional Stormwater System and the local tributary, they are hydraulically connected and should be managed as one project to ensure that the design benefits the system as a whole. The project area has many obstacles including two residential properties that experience erosion and sinkholes, a local sanitary sewer located in and along the stream channel, and two culvert crossings under Bunker Road.”
The Community Cost-Share Program was developed to provide funding to member communities for the construction, maintenance and operation of stormwater management projects that are specific to that community. Under this program 25% of the annually collected stormwater revenue from each community member will be held in a special account, where those communities, with review of the district, can access and have reimbursements of those funds for those certain types of stormwater projects. As noted in the legislation, “the Community Cost-Share Program funds are used for construction, operation, and maintenance of the Local Stormwater System or Regional Stormwater System, including administrative costs directly associated with such projects as well as costs related to repair or upgrade.”
According to the Cost-Share application, “This portion of the project is the pre-design and will analyze the area where a regional stream, part of the Big Creek Watershed, merges with a local stream north of Bunker Road, east of Ridgedale Road. The main deliverable will be a Pre-Design Report due in 23 weeks. As this is a pre-design, we will study the permitting requirements for this project.” It summarizes by stating that “the total pre-design cost is $79,668. NEORSD and the City of North Royalton have agreed to split these costs. The City of North Royalton is seeking to use Community Cost-Share Project funds for their half of the cost.”
The Bunker Road Stream Improvement Project pre-design is due in 23 weeks. The City of North Royalton will be responsible for the on-going maintenance of the local stream and assets, and the NEORSD will continue to be responsible for the regional stream.
By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer