10/24/12 Plymouth City Engineer Rick Gaul presented the MS4 2-year(2010 & 2011) annual report to members of the Board of Public Works and Safety Monday evening.
There are six basic areas the report looks at including: Public Education and Outreach, Public Participation and Involvement, Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination, Construction Site Storm Water Run-Off Control, Post-Construction Storm Water Run-Off Control and Municipal Operations Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping.
The report details how the city has worked to educate the public with flyers and pamphlets, educational displays, and an informational booth at the Yellow River Festival.
The public participation portion details household hazardous materials collected at the Recycle Depot with an increase in all categories between 2010 and 2011. The city also tracks yard waste which is picked up twice weekly from March through November including the fall leaf sweeping program and estimates 95% of residents participate in this program.
Identifying the best management practices for illicit discharge detection and elimination includes field assessment of discharges into the river. During the two years there was only a couple of incidents and only one violation notice issued. The city has substantially completed the mapping portion of the MS4 program and has mapped 39 monitoring wells this reporting period. It was noted that the Wellhead Protection Plan phase II was completed during this reporting period.
The pre and post construction site storm water run-off control sections of the report do indicate that the sluggish economy slowed down construction during the reporting period. It was noted that plans are being made to review the Stormwater Control Ordinance and reconcile the ordinance with the Drainage and Sediment Control Ordinance.
Under municipal operations and good housekeeping the report indicates that the city Street Department cleans the downtown sidewalks and streets while the wastewater and sewer department perform cleaning operations on a regular basis. The city also tracks the use of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers on city property. There were also a number of installation projects to improve drainage with in the city.
