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Current Operating Environment <br />External Trends <br />Evolving Regulatory and Policy Framework <br />A more complex and formal process is emerging as several regulating agencies at the federal and state <br />level expand expectations that the city must satisfy. Additionally, some policies related to stormwater <br />management are driven, not by regulations, but by elected official's or local citizen's environmental <br />values. At times, different sets of community groups express opposing values about natural resource <br />protection and stormwater quality. <br />The city's "multiple objectives" stormwater program has run into difficulty because of the relationship <br />between the city's efforts to protect natural resources and state land use laws. This has created a <br />shifting target, and is one reason it has been difficult to complete and implement stormwater basin <br />planning. As a result, an adversarial relationship has emerged between the city and developers, who <br />struggle to understand the city's objectives for stormwater. <br />Strateav <br />1) Implement established stormwater policies, ensuring the city's compliance with federal and state <br />regulations. <br />Measure Increase the mean score given by citizens responding to the Community survey, when <br />asked to rate the quality of how the city maintains and improves water quality in local waterways, from <br />in 2001 to in 2005. <br />Measure Increase the number of staff hours devoted to coordinating and communicating the city's <br />objectives, policies, and responses related to stormwater. <br />Measure Increase the number of positive articles in the local press about the city's progress with its <br />stormwater program. <br />Work Activities: <br />a) Develop stormwater quality regulations deliberatively and thoroughly. <br />b) Proactively participate in development of new regulations at the state level. <br />c) Study and improve communication and coordination of city response to new regulations. <br />d) Develop a plan to clearly communicate stormwater objectives to developers and citizens. <br />Increased Public Awareness and Involvement <br />Staff have noticed an increase in the number of people calling the city to find out how their stormwater <br />fees are being used, and how they can get involved. It is apparent that drainage issues remain <br />important to the public, especially for citizens experiencing flooding on unimproved streets. (The <br />percent of respondents to the Stormwater Survey who say the City should do more drainage services <br />increased from 28% in 1999 to 32% in 2001.) <br />Strateav <br />1) Deliver effective drainage services. <br />Measure Decrease the percentage of people responding to the biennial stormwater survey <br />indicating that the city should do more drainage services from 32% in 2001 to _ in 2005. <br />Measure Increase the percentage of people responding to the biennial stormwater survey who can <br />name ways the City manages flooding or drainage services from 41% in 2001 to —% in 2005. <br />