Sanitation District No. 1 recently celebrated the 200th project in its community partnership storm water assistance public cost-share program.
The program, which was created in 2003, has provided $14 million to assist local cities and counties in addressing storm water issues that affect public and private property in Northern Kentucky. The Public Cost-Share Program provides financial assistance to city and county partners for the installation of new infrastructure to address storm water issues associated with a right-of-way.
SD1 reimburses partners for 50 percent of the costs associated with these important projects. In the program’s 17 years in existence, SD1 has partnered with 28 local cities and counties to develop cost-effective and environmentally friendly solutions.
The cities of Edgewood and Fort Mitchell most recently partnered with SD1 to complete storm water cost-share projects, bringing the total number of such projects to 200.
“I truly believe one of the city’s best partnerships is with SD1 and their [Public Cost-Share Program],” said Edgewood City Administrator Brian Dehner. “This program has allowed us to address runoff affecting public safety and our resident’s property, reduce costs and accomplish more work. I also feel like the technical expertise at SD1 is like having additional staff to guide the city in making recommendations for storm water projects.”
Because Northern Kentucky’s storm sewer system is a mix of publicly and privately owned infrastructure, SD1 implemented a similar private cost-share program in 2018 to help local cities and counties assist private property owners with storm water issues.
“As a public official I frequently have homeowners bring drainage problems to my attention that are on private property but tend to involve multiple properties,” said Matt Stegman, City of Fort Mitchell Public Works Director. “SD1’s Private Storm Water Cost-Share Program allows us to offer the residents a ray of hope in paying for the solutions to problems that affect them personally.”
Sean Blake, a senior manager at SD1, said the public and private cost-share programs help the District and its partners address regional storm water challenges. “Through these programs, we help relieve communities from storm water issues such as poor drainage, flooding and dangerous driving conditions while enhancing our customer service initiatives and partner relations,” Blake said.
Each year, SD1 allocates funds to these assistance programs depending on the overall priorities of the storm water utility, the total number of anticipated applications for each program and the benefits these projects provide. Only local cities and counties that are Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Program co-permittees with SD1 are eligible to apply.
To learn more about SD1’s cost-share programs, visit https://www.sd1.org/215/Storm-Water-Assistance-Programs.
From Sanitation District No. 1
