Billerica Board of Health Advances Plan to Move Stormwater Oversight to DPW

BILLERICA -- November 6, 2023, Billerica Board of Health hears proposal to shift stormwater oversight to DPW, sets January public hearing. DPW Stormwater Engineer Christina Papadopoulos presented proposed revisions to Board of Health Chapters 5 and 6 regulations that would formalize a transfer of stormwater permitting authority to the Department of Public Works and introduce a new administrative approval category for projects disturbing 500 square feet or more of impervious area, targeting the two-car garages and smaller additions that have not previously required formal stormwater review. Proposed fees would rise from effectively zero for sub-acre projects to $100, and from $100 to $750 for projects exceeding 10 acres. Health Director Stephen Dresser said DPW has been informally reviewing building permits for stormwater impacts since July 1. The board agreed to send the draft regulations to town counsel KP Law, revisit feedback at its December 4 meeting, and hold a public hearing in January 2024, with a bylaw article carrying the full transfer of authority targeted for Spring 2024 Town Meeting. The board also voted unanimously to grant a two-year stormwater permit extension to CJI Development at 305 Concord Road and approved a floodplain construction variance for 11 Market Street with conditions including stone drainage trenches at both driveways, based on Dresser's finding that a 1982 drainage project had produced a 1,700 percent increase in culvert capacity since the area's 1971 flood study.