ABC stormwater utility fee could cost $25-$35 per year

Staff report

CANFIELD

A proposed stormwater utility fee could cost owners of average-sized homes in Austintown, Boardman and Canfield between $25 and $35 dollars per year, said Keith Rogers, ABC Water and Stormwater District vice president.

In Canfield Township, where Rogers is township administrator, the fee could generate about $235,000 annually to fix stormwater catch basins or match grant dollars for other infrastructure repair projects, he said during a Tuesday meeting.

The fee, set during a district meeting earlier this year, is based on a property’s total “impervious” square footage – as in, any surface that will not absorb water, he said. The fees are shared within units sized at about 4,500 square feet. Canfield Township has about 7,400 billable units, he said.

Rogers said the next step is presenting the district’s intentions and need for the fee at public meetings in each of the communities. No dates have been set, but officials expect to conduct them sometime next month, before the fee is implemented Jan. 1.

In other business, the township is preparing for the annual lighting of the Canfield Green at 6:30 p.m. Friday, and a budgetary meeting is set for Dec. 12.