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Beneath the city lies aging stormwater discharge systems that must be replaced but the costs will result in rate-payers of the Williamsport Sanitary Authority to likely see an extra fee in their bills in a few years.
These pipes and other parts are millions of dollars worth of assets owned by the city, but soon to be transferred over to authority.
On Wednesday, another stage toward creation of a stormwater authority was completed when the sanitary authority board voted to approve a memorandum of understanding previously approved by City Council.
"It's a good start," said Michael Miller, authority executive director. It sets up terms for the parties to work together to reach an intergovernmental cooperative agreement in three to six months, he said.
Up until now, the stormwater management transfer and replacement of the aged pipes was a ping pong ball situation, back and forth between the authority and council.
The discussion began in earnest in the summer of 2015, when there was talk of establishing a stormwater authority, one to pay for replacement costs by assessing users a stormwater fee in their monthly or quarterly bills.
At that time, it was a "mutually beneficial strategy" meant to get toward the creation of a stormwater authority.
But since then the parties have wrangled over specifics and lawyers bounced paperwork back and forth, according to both sides.
Nevertheless, as Miller pointed out, the goal is the same to meet the state and federal environmental agency permits and mandates to clean up discharge of silt and protect the Chesapeake Bay from pollutants and provide customers with the best service possible as the lowest rates.
To do this, the authority changed its charter to accept stormwater on July 22, 2015, Miller said.
"We're ready to go," he said, adding it was far from a time for ratepayers of the authority to be concerned about a stormwater fee.
The intergovernmental cooperative agreement is the next step to be reached in three to six months, with assistance from a legal firm that is helping the parties find mutually acceptable terms, he said.
Once the agreement is reached, work will continue to establish another stage of the strategy going forward, he said.
That work would include setting timelines for getting projects done, determining which of the city assets are to be transferred and which party is responsible for meeting permit requirements, Miller said.