Stormwater

Stormwater Program

The Stormwater Department is responsible for administering the City’s Stormwater MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System) permit ensuring compliance with Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation.

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Permit

This permit details the steps the City will take to help prevent and mitigate the impact of non-point source pollutants on our receiving waters.

Permit Compliance Requirements

The MS4 permit requires the city meet the following six minimum measures:

  • Public Education and Outreach
  • Public Involvement and Participation
  • Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
  • Construction Site Runoff Control
  • Post Construction Management in New Development and Redevelopment
  • Pollution Prevention and Good Housekeeping for Community Operations

Stormwater Maintenance

The Stormwater Department also manages stormwater maintenance including:

  • Blocked culverts and ditches
  • Flooding streets, yards, and homes during regular rain events
  • Installing and repairing public storm sewer systems
  • Filled-in ditches that need to be redefined
  • Severe erosion threatening utilities, roadways, etc.
  • Collapsed culverts
  • Ditches and culverts too small for regular rain events
  • Fallen trees blocking ditches and culverts
  • Street Sweeping

The following issues are outside the limits of the Stormwater Maintenance Department:

  • Removing vegetation along streams
  • Mowing grass along ditches
  • Fallen trees not impacting the flow of water
  • Mosquitoes
  • Runoff from one private property to another private property
  • Home flooding due to underground springs, ground water or sinkholes
  • Flooding caused by proximity to a floodplain
  • Sinkholes on private property
  • Underground springs coming up in yard

 Funding

After a study of the overall stormwater needs in our city and factoring costs to implement the new federal standards required by the MS4 permit, the City of La Vergne agreed that some type of funding mechanism needed to be established.

A Stormwater Utility Fee was adopted by the Board of Mayor and Alderman on June 7, 2005 and appears on the monthly water bill residents and businesses receive from the City. Only residents and businesses in the City of La Vergne will be required to pay the fee as the money is to be used on projects within city limits.The revenue will be used exclusively to meet the required six minimum measures as well as for drainage maintenance projects around the city.