COMMITTEE
SUBSTITUTE FOR RESOLUTION NO. 190760
Adopting the Green Stormwater
Infrastructure (GSI) Manual and the City’s Smart Sewer Adaptive Management
Plan; directing the City Manager to implement the GSI Manual on capital
projects with an emphasis on interdepartmental integration and coordination of
design and construction of public improvements; and directing the City Manager
to implement to the extent practicable additional GSI to meet the City’s obligations
mandated by the Overflow Control Program (OCP) Consent Decree, including, but
not limited to, the approximately $400,000,000.00 in projects outlined in the
City’s Smart Sewer Adaptive Management Plan.
WHEREAS, strategies
for stormwater management have expanded in recent years, with an emphasized
focus on capturing rainwater where it falls rather than moving it away as
quickly as possible; and
WHEREAS, when it
rains, streets shed hundreds of millions of gallons of runoff into an
underground pipe system and it can cause downstream problems such as basement
flooding and combined sewer overflows; and
WHEREAS, GSI is a
range of technologies that help our City collect and store rainwater, and can
provide an immediate visual and aesthetic benefit to the community, serve as a
resource for designers, and supplement more traditional infrastructure found
within the right-of-way, and promote a sustainable infrastructure future; and
WHEREAS, Adaptive
Management is the practice of balancing gray and green infrastructure solutions
to achieve the most sustainable and resilient infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, Kansas
City’s Smart Sewer Adaptive Management Plan and GSI Manual are essential for
achieving sustainable compliance with the City’s OCP Consent Decree; and
WHEREAS, the Kansas
City’s Smart Sewer Adaptive Management Plan and the GSI Manual are designed to
provide an integrated framework for design and construction of GSI city-wide;
and
WHEREAS, a successful
implementation of the Smart Sewer Adaptive Management Plan and GSI Manual is
highly dependent on focused coordination and collaboration between City
departments to meet and understand objectives and visions for a project area
and its surrounding community; and
WHEREAS, the program
represents the largest infrastructure investment in Kansas City’s history
reflecting a City-wide plan to significantly reduce sewer overflows and improve
water quality; and
WHEREAS, Kansas
City’s Smart Sewer Adaptive Management Plan is essential for achieving sustainable
infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, Kansas
City has been a pioneer regarding the incorporation of “green” solutions to
meet our wet weather obligations, advance the City’s goal to update our aging
sewer system, support local workforce development, and allow citizens an
opportunity to participate in community revitalization; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:
Section 1. That
the Council hereby adopts the Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) Manual and
the City’s Smart Sewer Adaptive Management Plan.
Section 2. That the
Council directs the City Manager to implement the Smart Sewer Adaptive
Management Plan and the GSI Manual on capital projects with an emphasis on
interdepartmental integration and coordination of design and construction of
public improvements.
Section 3. That both
the public works standards committee and the water services standards committee
are requested to convene and cause changes to be made to any existing standards
to enable the implementation of the Smart Sewer Adaptive Management Plan and
the use of the GSI Manual.
Section 4. That the
City Manager is directed to implement, to the extent practicable, additional
GSI to meet the City’s obligations mandated by the Overflow Control Program
(OCP) Consent Decree, including, but not limited to, the approximately
$400,000,000.00 in projects outlined in the City’s Smart Sewer Adaptive
Management Plan.
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