UPDATE: Crowd Gathers For Stormwater Meeting

    Upset business owners spilled out of City Council chambers, chapped over the staggering increase in stormwater quality fees. The council passed the new formula which uses "Equivalent Residential Unit" back in September.

    That method is calculated by using aerial photographs and applying a rate of $115.20 per ERU. The area measured is deemed impervious, or repels rainwater. The average home has 3200 square feet in this calculation, which also includes driveways and what is underneath a rooftop.

   This calculation sheds light on why business owners, particulary commercial property owners were more upset. They are paying much more. Porter Yarbrough owns a lot of commercial rental property and saw his stormwater quality fee increase 455 %. Yarbrough was the ninth person to speak but generated a lot of support and applause when he told the council, "I'm going to ask you to fight this and not roll over and take it," Yarbrough said.

   He indicated the fight should go upstream, if you will, against state and federal government. He doesn't stand against clean water, but unfunded mandates. He says big government is "wearing us out."

  Yarbrough understood the requirements but questioned the necessity. "This is ridiculous. It's going to run businesses out of Chattanooga."

   Other owners called the fee outrageous, unfair and moved too much money toward maintenance and not development. The City says the first year is budgeted at more than $22,000,000. This comes after the City was found in violation by the state back in 2003. That violation centered on lack of monitoring and documenting what goes into the state's waterways. But this problem didn't happen overnight. The Federal Clean Water Act came on the books in 1972. Chattanooga has a dirty history with what it has allowed into the waterways.

    David Reece, a City hired consultant with Jordan, Jones and Golden, says in the '70's many companies used rivers and streams as industrial sewers. Paying for past mistakes is proving painful for many business owners today. A handful of them walked behind the podium and told the City Council they had taken many environmentally responsible steps in controlling what gets to the waterways but are still being penalized.

   The City Coucil initiated this airing of opinion meeting. At the conclusion of the meeting, business owners say the credits available need to be "tweaked." They include requirements of building "rain gardens" or detention ponds. But business owners found the upfront costs heavier than the 75% credit off the stormwater quality fee for the first year only.

    Homeowners and business owners can appeal their fees, but must do so before December 31st of this year. Appeals and credits have been directed to Public Works.

(Below is filed from the field just moments before this meeting started)

Chattanooga's council chambers held a near capacity crowd Thursday afternoon as people, upset over the City's new stormwater fee, gathered in protest.

One business owner said upon taking his seat, "They're trying to put us out of business."

The fee has gone up significantly after the City failed to meet state stormwater quality standards.

Business owners aren't the only angry customers. Schools are being assessed the increased fee.

    Meanwhile the new Volkswagen plant, with a tremendous amount of impervious surface area has been exempted from the increased fee. During the meeting, Mayor Littlefield offered the explanation that VW was building a LEED certified plant and the exemptions were "worked within their taxes."

The meeting is underway. More details as this story continues to develop.