Frequently Asked Questions

Please call the city's contact, Dorian Patton, at 305-809-3868 for information on when and where the plogging group will meet.  

The city will provide gloves, pickers, buckets, and visibility safety equipment.  Participants are suggested to bring water and wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen, and hats.

We appreciate your participation in and support of cleanup events and your time and efforts to Keep Key West Beautiful.

Contact the City's Utilities Department at 305-809-3966. 

If this is a Sanitary sewer concern (the sewer servicing your house), contact Jacobs at 305-292-5100.

The City of Key West is responsible for drainage from public streets.  There are two ways to report a drainage problem to the Utilities Department; click here to access the City's reporting program SeeClickFix and select "Utility Issues." Another way is to call 305-809-3966. 

Local streets are designed to be temporarily covered by water during rainstorms.

The assessment fee goes to the maintenance and operation of the City's storm drainage system to prevent storm sewer overflow into Florida waters.

Pollution is carried in rainwater.  When it rains, all the rainwater that is not absorbed into the ground (or evaporated) carries any contaminants that may be distributed on lawns, streets, roofs, and parking lots and straight to the waters surrounding the island either directly over the beaches or street ends or through pipes or wells.  Pollution reduction and treatment are needed to reduce the amount of contamination flowing into the nearshore waters in which we swim and fish.

The goal of Stormwater Piping

Reducing the amount of water in the streets was the original use of stormwater piping.  Because of rigorous design standards, the Clean Water Act, and state and local codes, we are required to reduce the pollutant load to our waters, which are the best in the state and categorized as "Outstanding Florida Waters."  Therefore our stormwater program is two-fold, to reduce flooding and standing water and reduce the number of pollutants getting to the system and then treat the contaminates that enter the system.  The City's Generic Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater from Phase II Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4 GP) contains a five-year plan indicating how the city will comply with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).  As of January 15, 2005, the City was required to operate under this permit.

Requirements

The requirements for NPDES are stringent; therefore, there is a strong emphasis on education and public participation throughout the initial five years.  The program's goal, which stems from the Clean Water Act of 1972, is to eliminate pollutant discharges into American waters.

The City immediately took action to implement the elements outlined in the plan.  Although the city has taken great strides in recent years to reduce illicit discharges, we welcome this opportunity to develop further systems and educational elements that will improve our Outstanding Florida Waters.  Highlights of the program are:

• Construction site best management practice ordinance and inspection
• Detection and elimination of illicit discharges through inspection and codes
• Each element of the permit has measurable goals and schedules for implementation
• Municipal operation pollution prevention and good housekeeping
• Private property infrastructure inspection and maintenance requirements
• Public education and outreach
• Public participation in ordinance revisions and clean-ups

A Stormwater Utility is a service unit within the City government which generates revenues through fees.  The stormwater utility is responsible for funding the planning, operation, construction, and maintenance of stormwater systems.  The utility generates its revenue through user fees.  The fee is based on the amount of stormwater a particular parcel passes to the stormwater system (which starts at the sidewalk or property line.) The more runoff a parcel contributes (for non-residential units), the greater the fee.

Equivalent Stormwater Unit (ESU)

Equivalent stormwater unit (ESU) means the average impervious area of residentially developed property per dwelling unit located within the city and established by city commission resolution.  An impervious surface is a surface that will not allow water to pass through to the soil.  Rooftops, driveways, parking lots, and pools are typical impervious surfaces.  ESUs were developed by field verification of open space and impervious surfaces on an average home lot.  The service fee, which is not a tax, is billed monthly with the other city utilities. 

A single-family parcel fee is based on the number of ESUs that exist.  The utility costs were distributed equally to the parcels.  Commercial units are based on how many ESUs are on the property.