DAPHNE, Ala.—“It’s not up to us to expect or require the state or federal government to take care of us,” Daphne city councilwoman and Baldwin County Watershed Coalition member Cathy Barnette said at Tuesday’s Olde Towne Daphne Association meeting in the Daphne Public Library.

Barnette was talking about the storm-water management topic, and with the coalition’s amendment up for vote Nov. 2, she said it was important to educate residents on the bill and some of the misconceptions surrounding it.

Baldwin County receives 5.5 feet of storm-water annually, which is very close to how much Seattle gets per year, according to Barnette. Storm-water runoff erodes land, deposits downstream and affects water wildlife; the bill would enable a public corporation to manage storm-water in Baldwin County.

The amendment states, “Relating to Baldwin County, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to authorize the Legislature to provide by general or local law for the formation of a public corporation for the purpose of managing storm water in the county; and to authorize the levy and collection of storm-water service charges on certain property containing impervious areas in the county.”

However, a popular vote would not complete the process, Barnette said.

“We don’t go to the polls Nov. 2 and made a decision. If it’s ‘yes,’ it’s not done.”

If the bill is passed, the local legislative delegation is authorized to move forward and set specifics for the bill, but only if they choose to.

“These are guideposts,” Barnette said. “We have to start somewhere. We can’t keep waiting.”

One area that would need structure is how the public corporation would build funds for “on-the-ground projects” the coalition hopes to do. Barnette said around $2.5 million would be needed per year for projects and general reserve funds, and there is talk of a fee structure that would be passed to county residents.

Coalition steering committee chair Marian Macpherson stated that while some people may be worried about the fee associated to the amendment, voting in favor does not implement any charges. It only allows authority to implement the charges if need be, she said, and the possibility of fees will be discussed later if the amendment passes.

The potential fee structure would be based on “impervious coverage,” which is the amount of land covered on someone’s property that causes storm-water runoff. If there is less than 10 percent impervious coverage, then more water absorbs into the ground and there is less impact, and the yearly charge would be lower. If there is more than 10 percent impervious coverage on a property, more water to runs off and affects land, and the charge would be higher.

Barnette said the desire is to collect the fee on the annual tax bill, but nothing is set in stone, and the coalition does not want residents to view the fee as a “rain water tax.”

“It’s like paying for a utility,” she said. “It’s a public use like sewage or water.”

Still, some residents oppose the plan and view the coalition as an unnecessary charge during a contracted economy.

“For voters to hang another rope around their necks at this time and this economy would be foolish,” Hal Pierce, of Daphne, wrote to The Bulletin. “Although there is no doubt that storm water is a serious challenge in Baldwin County, handling the problem off to another new agency, particulalry wtih taxing power, is not the way to go.”

“I am rapidly losing confidence in all levels of government — local, state and national — because of expanding bureauracy and increasing intrusion into our lives through sometimes senseless regulation and stealth ‘taxes’ described as fees, charges, rates, etc.,” A. J. Benintende of Gulf Shores wrote to The Bulletin. 

The coalition will meet from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Daphne City Hall to discuss the proposal for a public corporation to deal with storm water issues, according to its website.