Stormwater
Welcome to Our Stormwater Page
Welcome to the City of Cold Spring Stormwater Management Program section of our City website. The City has recently taken over the stormwater management program from SD1 as well as the billing for stormwater services. With this change in stormwater responsibility, the City has accepted many responsibilities including developing a stormwater quality management plan known as a SWQMP that is required by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and administered and enforced by the Commonwealth of Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department for Environmental Protection, Division of Water (KDOW). There are major fines for noncompliance and not meeting and addressing the SWQMP. Consequently, Our Elected Officials have committed to keeping the Cold Spring citizenry apprised of many of the stormwater management activities performed by City that is recommend by KDOW for water quality compliance with this new stormwater section of the website.
Stormwater Hotline
Call the City of Cold Spring Stormwater Hotline at 859-441-9604 to report a stormwater issue.
About Stormwater
What is Stormwater?
Stormwater is water that runs off roofs, driveways, and streets into our storm drains. What most people do not realize is that in the journey from the sky to streets to streams, stormwater picks up chemicals and pollutants that can contaminate our waterways. The water that flows down our storm drains does not get treated and flows directly into our waterways.
Why Should We Care About Stormwater?
- Less than 1% of the water on the earth is fresh water available to humans.
- Stormwater pollution is the #1 cause of water pollution.
- Storm drains do not remove pollution and do not take water to a treatment plant.
- Anything that goes in storm drains goes directly into a lake, river or stream.
- It’s illegal to dump wastewater or soapy water, cleaning products, grease or oil into streets or storm drains.
What Can You Do To Help?
- Get your car checked regularly for oil, gas or antifreeze leaks. Never dispose of these items in the driveway, street or storm drain.
- Dispose of paint according to the label and take it to the nearest landfill.
- Pick up after your pet and dispose of their waste in the trash can or toilet.
- Compost your yard trimmings or take them the nearest landfill.
- Use pesticides and fertilizers according to the label and do not overuse. Alternative methods are easy to use, work well and are inexpensive.
- Take your car to a carwash, wash it on grass or in an area that drains into the grass.
- Pick up your trash. Reduce, reuse, recycle when possible.
Install rain barrels to capture rain water for yard watering uses. - Build rain gardens to filter out pollutants in stormwater.
- You can anonymously report water pollution, flooding or dumping by calling the Stormwater Hotiine at 859-441-9604.
LINKS
Stormwater Fee
The construction, operation and maintenance of a municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) can involve significant expenses, especially when regulatory requirements such as the MS4 KPDES stormwater Phase II regulations are funded.
The most stable source of funding is generally the stormwater utility program and fee. The Cold Spring stormwater fee is a sustainable funding mechanism dedicated to recover the costs of addressing and meeting the stormwater KPDES MS4 regulatory compliance activities. City Council is currently considering what other stormwater activities the stormwater fee will address and fund. As City Council decisions are made regarding the stormwater program and funding, they will be posted on the website.
The current stormwater rate is $4.50 per equivalent residential unit (ERU) per month.
Stormwater Credits
Welcome to the City of Cold Spring Stormwater Credits section of our City website. The City has taken over the stormwater management program from SD1 as well as the billing for stormwater services. With this change in stormwater responsibility, the City has accepted many responsibilities including developing a stormwater quality management plan known as a SWQMP that is required by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency and administered and enforced by the Commonwealth of Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department for Environmental Protection, Division of Water (KDOW). There are major fines for noncompliance and not meeting and addressing the SWQMP. Consequently, Our Elected Officials have committed to keeping the Cold Spring citizenry apprised of many of the stormwater management activities performed by City that is recommend by KDOW for water quality compliance with this new stormwater section of the website
Click here to download the Credit Application and Forms.
Click here to download the Stormwater Credit Policy Paper.
KPDES
Since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972 and modified in 1987, the quality of our Nation’s waters has improved dramatically. Despite this progress, degraded waterbodies still exists. According to the 2000 National Water Quality Inventory (Inventory), a biennial summary of State surveys of water quality, approximately 40 percent of surveyed U.S. waterbodies are still impaired by pollution and do not meet water quality standards. A leading source of this impairment is polluted runoff. In fact, according to the Inventory, 13 percent of impaired rivers, 18 percent of impaired lake acres and 32 percent of impaired estuaries are affected by urban/suburban stormwater runoff.
Phase I of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) stormwater program was promulgated in 1990 under the CWA. Phase I relies on National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit coverage to address stormwater runoff. In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, these regulations are known as the KPDES (Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) and range from: (1) “medium” and “large” municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) generally serving populations of 100,000 or greater, (2) construction activity disturbing 5 acres of land or greater, and (3) ten categories of industrial activity.
The Stormwater Phase II Final Rule is the next step in EPA’s effort to preserve, protect, and improve the Nation’s water resources from polluted stormwater runoff. The Phase II program expands the Phase I program by requiring additional operators of MS4s in urbanized areas and operators of small construction sites, through the use of NPDES permits, to implement programs and practices to control polluted stormwater runoff. See Fact Sheets 2.0 and 3.0 for overviews of the Phase II programs for MS4s and construction activity.
Phase II (the City of Cold Spring is a Phase II community) is intended to further reduce adverse impacts to water quality and aquatic habitat by instituting the use of controls on the unregulated sources of stormwater discharges that have the greatest likelihood of causing continued environmental degradation. The environmental problems associated with discharges from MS4s in urbanized areas and discharges resulting from construction activity are outlined below.
Stormwater discharges from MS4s in urbanized areas are a concern because of the high concentration of pollutants found in these discharges. Concentrated development in urbanized areas substantially increases impervious surfaces, such as city streets, driveways, parking lots, and sidewalks, on which pollutants from concentrated human activities settle and remain until a storm event washes them into nearby storm drains. Common pollutants include pesticides, fertilizers, oils, salt, litter and other debris, and sediment. Another concern is the possible illicit connections of sanitary sewers, which can result in fecal coliform bacteria entering the storm sewer system. Stormwater runoff picks up and transports these and other harmful pollutants then discharges them – untreated – to waterways via storm sewer systems. When left uncontrolled, these discharges can result in fish kills, the destruction of spawning and wildlife habitats, a loss in aesthetic value, and contamination of drinking water supplies and recreational waterways that can threaten public health.
Uncontrolled runoff from construction sites is a water quality concern because of the devastating effects that sedimentation can have on local waterbodies, particularly small streams. Numerous studies have shown that the amount of sediment transported by stormwater runoff from construction sites with no controls is significantly greater than from sites with controls. In addition to sediment, construction activities yield pollutants such as pesticides, petroleum products, construction chemicals, solvents, asphalts, and acids that can contaminate stormwater runoff. During storms, construction sites may be the source of sediment-laden runoff, which can overwhelm a small stream channel’s capacity, resulting in streambed scour, streambank erosion, and destruction of near-stream vegetative cover. Where left uncontrolled, sediment-laden runoff has been shown to result in the loss of in-stream habitats for fish and other aquatic species, an increased difficulty in filtering drinking water, the loss of drinking water reservoir storage capacity, and negative impacts on the navigational capacity of waterways.
Stormwater Fact Sheet
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 1 – Illicit Discharges
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 2 – BMP Maintenance
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 3 – Frequently Asked Questions
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 4 – Public Education and Outreach
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 5 – Protecting Water Quallity From Urban Runoff
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 6 – Public Involvement and Participation
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 7 – Stormwater Regulations
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 8 – Small MS4 Program Requirements
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 9 – Potential Pollutants From Municipal Facilities
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 10 – EPA MS4 Permitting Approaches
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 11 – Small MS4 Program Overview Fact
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 12 – Small Construction Program Overview
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 13 – Designation and Waivers Of Small Regulated MS4s
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 14 – Urbanized Area Definition and Description
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 15 – Public Education and Outreach MCM
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 16 – Public Participation and Involvement MCM
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 17 – EPA IDDE Minimum Control Measure
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 18 – Contruction Site Runoff Control MCM
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 19 – Post Contruction Runoff Control MCM
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 20 – Pollution Prevention Good Housekeeping MCM
Stormwater Quality Fact Sheet 21 – MS4 Permitting and Reporting
Stormwater Fact Sheet 22 – Federal and State Operated MS4s Program Implementation
Illicit Discharges
The City of Cold Spring’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) is a system that discharges stormwater runoff to surface water, or waters of the state. Phase II regulates discharges from small MS4s located in “urbanized areas” (as delineated by the Census Bureau in the most recent census) and from additional small MS4s designated by the Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department for Environment Protection, Kentucky Division of Water (KDOW).
The Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) program includes a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Manual and IDDE plan that will serve as the draft manual of rules and regulations and guide for the City of Cold Spring to fulfill the IDDE requirements of the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit water quality program. Implementation of an Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination (IDDE) program is one of the third of six minimum control measures (MCM) of the permit’s Storm Water Quality Program. This SOP is primarily directed at isolating, responding and documenting and reporting any illicit discharges in the compliance annual report to KDOW.
The City of Cold Spring’s Storm Water Quality Program (SWQMP) has multiple BMP components of the IDDE Program including educating the public; the Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination plan; The IDDE Ordinance (regulatory) the Stormwater System GIS Mapping, Public and Employee Illicit Discharge Information Program, the Identification of Known Storm Water Discharges and Flows and training for the City of Cold Spring Staff for the IDDE stormwater program.
The EPA’s Phase II rule specifies that permitting authorities (i.e., the KDOW) must issue general permits for small Kentucky MS4 communities. The rule required that the Kentucky MS4 communities apply for KPDES permit coverage within 90 days of permit issuance, and no later than March 10, 2003. USEPA’s Stormwater Phase II Final Rule states that this stormwater management program must include the following six minimum control measures: MCM#1 – Public education and outreach on stormwater impacts, MCM#2 – Public involvement and participation, MCM#3 – Illicit discharge detection and elimination (IDDE), MCM#4 – Construction site stormwater runoff control, MCM#5 – Post-construction practices ( new and redevelopment, and MCM#6 – Pollution prevention and good housekeeping for municipal operations.
As part of our application for permit coverage, the City of Cold Spring must identify the best management practices we will use to comply with each of these six minimum control measures and the measurable goals we have set for each minimum control measure.
Developer Information and Requirements
Planning and Zoning Regulations
- Cold Spring Zoning Regulations
- Cold Spring Subdivision Regulations
- 2005 Cold Spring Comprehensive Plan
- 2010 Cold Spring Comprehensive Plan – Appendix A
- 2010 Cold Spring Comprehensive Plan – Appendix B
County Requirements
Zoning – License – Fee Information
Any construction which is not replacement, requires a building permit before the work is begun. Applications are available thru the Campbell County Planning and Zoning office, (859) 292-3880. Please allow ten to twelve working days for issuance of permit.
Three sets of plans or blueprints are needed with the building permit application.
The contractor must have his insurance company provide the city with proof of Workman’s Compensation Insurance. If the work is being done by an individual they must complete an affidavit of exemption from the Kentucky Worker’s Compensation Act form which is also available at Campbell County Planning and Zoning.
The cost of the building permit, which is due at the time of submitted, is determined by a schedule of fees.
Any contractors doing work in the city are required to purchase an occupational license for the City of Cold Spring through the Campbell County Occupational License Department, (859) 292-3884.
City of Cold Spring Stormwater Requirements
Please note: The City of Cold Spring stormwater requirements are in addition to the Campbell County requirements above.
The City of Cold Spring is responsible for stormwater management within city limits. The city’s stormwater management program has the following five components:
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- Enforcement of Cold Spring Subdivision Regulations;
- Enforcement of the Illicit Discharge and Detection Elimination Ordinance;
- Enforcement of the Construction Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance;
- Enforcement of the Post Construction Runoff Control Ordinance; and
- Management of the Stormwater Credit Program.
For each new development or redevelopment, a plan for Construction Erosion and Sediment Contol, Post Construction Runoff Control and Stormwater Management must be developed. This requires property owners, developers, contractors and their engineers to develop concept plans, Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPP) and detailed stormwater drainage management plans that will protect waters of the state and prevent water pollution and flooding.
The following information is being provided to owners, developers, contractors and their engineers for guidance on review and inspection fees as well as the process for Stormwater Management in the City of Cold Spring. Each new development or redevelopment (for Stage I and Stage II) must have a Certification / Application, a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and payment of the review and inspection fee. Fees can be paid by mail or in person at the Administration Building. Click on each of the document names below to download a copy in pdf or Word™ format.
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- Stormwater Application / Certification;
- Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP);
- Fee Schedule for Construction Erosion/Sediment Control and Post Construction Stormwater Management Review.
Stormwater Advisory Committee
The purpose of the City of Cold Spring Storm Water Advisory Committee (SWAC) is a committee comprised of a cross section of the citizenry with the responsibility to review, discuss and provide input regarding the City of Cold Spring MS4 Storm Water Quality Program. The SWAC members will be responsible for informing, educating and soliciting input from the constituency they represent regarding the storm water program policies and procedures especially the most appropriate method for educating the citizenry regarding the MS4 water quality program.
The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) comprised of the Mayor, city council representatives, the law director, and the consultant team is a committee that develops draft documents, draft policies, draft procedures, draft regulations and draft program recommendations for SWAC committee to review and input prior to becoming law if applicable.
The SWAC shall meet 2 times per year to be educated on the MS4 storm water quality program. A SWAC committee is a Minimum Control; Measure (MCM) 2 Public Education and Outreach requirement that was identifies as part of the City SWQMP (plan). The purpose of the SWAC is to understand and discuss the TAC developed documents, draft policies, procedures, regulations and recommendations and provide input a representative from the city of cold spring citizenry. A Notice shall be emailed to all members by the City Staff or consulting team at least one (1) week in advance of all meetings. Notice shall include the meeting agenda and any meeting materials that may be considered or acted upon, whether or not set forth in the agenda. Notice of all meetings shall be posted on the City web site at least 24 hours prior to the meeting date and time as notice to the public and media.
Meetings & Events
November 21
- Special Planning & Zoning Meeting @ 5:30pm
November 25
- Council Meeting @ 7:30pm
November 28
- City Building Closed
November 29
- City Building Closed
Employment
Mail Applications To:
Mayor D. Angelo Penque
City of Cold Spring
5694 East Alexandria Pike
Cold Spring, KY 41076
Contact
City Building 859.441.9604
Police Department 859.441.6289