AGENDA DATE: 2/15/2023
TITLE:
Title
Resolution Authorizing Staff to Accept Deeds of Easement for Drainage Infrastructure
BODY
SUBJECT/PROPOSAL/REQUEST: Request that the Board authorize the County Executive to accept deeds of easement for drainage infrastructure on behalf of the County
ITEM TYPE: Consent Action Item
STAFF CONTACT(S): Richardson, Walker, Rosenberg, Herrick, Stewart, Harper
PRESENTER (S): Greg Harper
LEGAL REVIEW: Yes
REVIEWED BY: Jeffrey B. Richardson
BACKGROUND: The Board received a comprehensive update of the drainage infrastructure program on January 18, 2023. At the Board’s direction, staff has begun to develop and implement a program to maintain drainage infrastructure meeting specific criteria within the Development Areas.
Urban runoff is collected and conveyed via an interconnected network of inlets, pipes, manholes, culverts, and channels. Within the Development Areas, this system lies over a thousand private commercial and residential properties and crosses VDOT rights-of-way at hundreds of locations. This infrastructure is often neglected and sometimes in poor and deteriorating condition due to property owners’ lack of awareness about the infrastructure and confusion about ownership and responsibility. Under a drainage infrastructure management program, the County would manage community-serving infrastructures - in a structured and proactive manner - that is not currently located within easements explicitly dedicated to the County.
Because drainage infrastructure has been constructed by the private sector over many decades, most infrastructure does not currently lie within easements dedicated to public use. The County cannot access or improve infrastructure outside public easements. Public easements provide the County with the right to enter onto private property if the County chooses but do not convey a legal responsibility to manage infrastructure within the easements.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Infrastructure Investment - Prioritize, plan, and invest in critical infrastructure that responds to past and future changes and improves the capacity to serve community needs.
DISCUSSION: Implementing a drainage infrastructure management program requires the County to obtain the right from landowners to enter private properties to perform assessments and to maintain, repair, or improve the infrastructure. In most cases, the County would acquire and retain this right through a permanent easement dedicated to public use. Easements are typically conveyed through a deed of easement, with the deed language specifying the rights and often the responsibilities of both the grantor and grantee.
Acquiring public easements can be done more efficiently if the County Executive has the authority to accept deeds of easement on behalf of the County. In 2006, the Board adopted a resolution (Attachment A) similar to what is now requested. Staff has used this authority to request and accept deeds of easement for new drainage infrastructure and stormwater management facilities during the development review process. The resolution now requested (Attachment B) clarifies that this authority is applicable to existing infrastructure presently in need of maintenance, repair, or improvement.
BUDGET IMPACT: Though the overall cost of a comprehensive drainage management program has been detailed elsewhere, authorizing the County Executive to accept deeds of easement for drainage infrastructure by itself will not have a direct budget impact. This authorization may reduce the amount of time and human resources necessary to acquire easements.
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Board adopt the attached resolution (Attachment B) authorizing the County Executive to accept deeds of easement for the assessment, maintenance, repair, replacement, and improvement of drainage infrastructure, provided that such deeds are approved as to form and content by the County Attorney.
ATTACHMENTS:
A - 2006 Resolution Authorizing County Executive to Accept Deeds of Easement
B - New Resolution Authorizing County Executive to Accept Deeds of Easement