Storm Water Management Authority

The Storm Water Management Authority (SWMA ) is a public corporation which coordinates efforts by many Jefferson County municipalities to comply with the monitoring requirements of the federal Water Quality Act of 1987. Its creation and ability to levy fees was enabled by state legislation passed in 1995. The organization was incorporated on March 13, 1997 and collects an assessment of $5 per residence and $15 per business from each member city to fund its operations. When it was first launched it was hailed by area mayors for its efficiency in reducing costs to local governments. Then-Mayor Richard Arrington announced that the SWMA would save Birmingham over $1 million per year.

Beginning in 2006 the SWMA was criticized by a coalition of businesses and developers calling itself the Business Alliance for Responsible Development (BARD). They claimed that the authority needlessly hindered their development activities and actively lobbied area governments to withdraw from the agreement. BARD-members such as engineering firm Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. made large campaign contributions in municipal elections.

During 2007, following a rescinded proposal to increase its assessments, the cities of Bessemer, Hoover, Graysville, Fultondale, and Leeds withdrew from the authority and instituted independent monitoring. Jefferson County and the cities of Homewood, Irondale and Mountain Brook considered leaving, but determined that it was less expensive to remain with the authority.

In January 2008 Malcolm Pirnie successfully lobbied the Birmingham City Council to remove itself from the SWMA. In May the same company was chosen from among two bidders to provide training services for the city to perform its own monitoring. A one-year contract for $544,000 was signed on September 9. The SWMA's budget was severely cut due to the loss of $750,000 annually from Birmingham (40% of the its total assessments).

In January 2009 the Jefferson County Commission notified the authority of its intention to withdraw from the program, despite the fact that the employees of the SWMA would return to the county's payroll, costing the county more than it recoups from storm water fees. The authority asked the commission to reconsider its resolution, and commission president Bettye Fine Collins had indicated that a reversal was likely, but in the face of the county's debt crisis no pledge could be made.

Instead the remaining members of the authority met and approved a plan to downsize its operation by contracting with the Jefferson County Health Department for education, water quality testing and inspections and to limit its own work to preparing of annual reports for member cities and serving as a liaison with federal regulatory agencies. Leeds mayor Eric Patterson attended the meeting to inform the authority of his city's plan to rejoin the group.

The SWMA is headquartered at 218 Summit Parkway in Homewood. Trussville mayor Gene Melton is the organization's chairman. Zhaleh McCullers is executive director.

External links

• Storm Water Management Authority website
• Water Smart website

References

• Spencer, Thomas (January 10, 2008) "Firm that gave $8,000 to Larry Langford wants role in managing storm water runoff." Birmingham News
• Bryant, Joseph D. (May 29, 2008) "Birmingham City Council committee recommends replacing Storm Water Management Authority with environmental engineering firm Malcolm Pirnie Inc." Birmingham News
• Bryant, Joseph D. (September 10, 2008) "Private firm OK'd to monitor storm water system." Birmingham News
• Whitmire, Kyle (September 10, 2008) "Leapin' Larry throws a bone." Birmingham Weekly Mixed Media blog
• Spencer, Thomas (February 12, 2009) "Jefferson County, Alabama Storm Water Management Authority asks County Commission to reverse decision to pull out." Birmingham News
• Spencer, Thomas (August 23, 2009) "Jefferson County, Alabama mayors endorse plan to overhaul storm water monitoring agency." Birmingham News
• Spencer, Thomas (December 3, 2010) "EPA agrees with Birmingham-area cities'plan to curb pollution runoff." Birmingham News