The Champaign City Council passed an 8-0 vote to incorporate the council’s input into the University’s storm water utility service agreement at its Tuesday study session. 

The University plans to send out 21,200 notification letters that will tell residents how much their storm water utility fees will increase, said Dennis Schmidt, Champaign public works director. He said the University indicated that they are willing to pay their fair share of the fee.

The University storm water drainage system is divided into two halves for south and north campus. The drainage system goes to two different drainage districts; the north campus goes to Embarras River Special Drainage District, while south campus drains to Boneyard Creek.

Because the south campus’s drainage system is separate from the north’s, it does not receive any direct benefit from the city, so it is eligible to receive 100 percent Direct Discharge Credits. Receiving these credits would mean that maintenance would not have to be paid for by the University, Schmidt said.

The city argued that the south campus receives indirect benefits if the city were to maintain other storm sources, which people use while they are not at home.

There are other University communities that receive 100 percent Direct Discharge Credits such as Ann Arbor, Mich., and Madison, Wis. Other Illinois communities, such as Bloomington, receive similar benefits.

Schmidt said the University requested that the city council revise the Credit and Incentive Manual and change the Direct Discharge Credits from 50 to 100 percent. This would not only benefit the University but all properties in the drainage system district. There are some large property owners that would benefit from this change as well.

“This was not a topic that we thought about that much,” said Vic McIntosh, District 3. “If we’re going to do it for the University, we should do it for everybody.”

Direct Discharge Credits for the south campus will remain the same for now.

Earn can be reached at [email protected].