According to Department of Public Works Director Edward S. Huntley, 2 ¾ inches of rain fell in the city from midnight until about noon on Wednesday.
NORTHAMPTON – Heavy overnight rains created some flooding problems in Northampton Wednesday. Officials say a new stormwater fee could take care of most of those problems, although taxpayers might not like the bill.
According to Department of Public Works Director Edward S. Huntley, 2 ¾ inches of rain fell in the city from midnight until about noon on Wednesday. Run-off from the storm flooded a number of areas, including Bright Street, Bridge Road, Eastern Avenue and a portion of Route 66 near the Hampshire County House of Correction. Huntley attributed some of the flooding to drains clogged by autumn leaves. DPW crews fixed the problems and the flooding had abated by midday.
Another factor in the flooding, according to Huntley, was the city’s outdated stormwater drainage system.
“The system is only designed to handle so much rain,” he said.
The city hopes to fix that in the coming years, thanks to a new stormwater fee that will bring in a projected $2 million a year. The Board of Public Works spent much of the year devising a system to fairly assess property owners’ responsibility for paying for the improvements after the Army Corp of Engineers and the federal Environmental Protection Agency mandated improvements. An engineering study estimated that it would cost $100 million to completely revamp the system, but the Board of Public Works plans to tackle the problem in increments.
Board Chairman Terry Culhane has asked the City Council to codify certain aspects of the fee system to ensure fairness. Specifically, Culhane wants to exempt protected open space from the fee and cap the annual fee for farmers at $100.