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Grass clippings and storm sewers don't mix. Nutrient-laden yard waste causes waterway problems.
Lots of things can block our storm sewers, so please help us to keep our storm sewers clean by not dumping things like grass clippings and other trash into them.
The Village's storm sewers drain directly in the Denmark Creek, which eventually drains into the Neshota River, then into the Twins River and then out into Lake Michigan with no treatment. Leave your grass clippings on your lawn. Don't dump paint, fertilizer or other waste products into street drains. Report developers or contractors who don't put up silt fencing around construction projects that result in soil run-offs. These poor practices eventually lead to higher storm water fees.
Storm Water Utility Policy
All properties within the Village contribute to the utility in an amount proportional to the runoff contributed by each particular parcel. The utility fee is a user fee charged to all developed properties within the Village. In this way, everyone pays for their fair share of the cost for storm water management. Customers are charged a fee that approximates the relative contribution of strom water runoff from their property.
What is a Storm Water Utility?
Simply put, a storm water utility is a program that manages rain water, snow melt, and run off. The purpose of the storm water utility is to reduce:
- The amount of sediments and pollutants that run into the Neshota River
- The chance of storm water getting into the sanitary sewer system
- The erosion of land
- The possibility of water damage to our homes and businesses
Why do we need a Storm Water Utility?
The federal government through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DN) REQUIRE all local Governments to comply with their regulations. One of the visible outcomes of the EPA & DNR requirements is the construction of detention ponds throughout Denmark. Daybreak Estates, Diamond Ridge Estates, Dane Haven, and Danish Meadows all were required to build ponds.
To comply with these requirements and to raise the money needed to comply with these required regulations the Village created a Storm Water Utility and began collecting fees to plan, construct and maintain existing and future storm water facilities which include:
- Retention/detention ponds
- Ditches
- Storm sewers
- Roads
- Waterways