A policy and planning work session will be held for the Pella City Council to discuss how to address stormwater issues at their meeting Tuesday.

The agenda item is up for conversation after two flash flooding events this summer exposed issues related to accumulating rain water, especially on the south side of the community. A memo issued to council by city administration indicated that several homes have illegal connections to the sanitary sewer, and that multiple developments over time were built without addressing stormwater retention areas over the past several decades. Over the past 17 years, the public works department has addressed multiple isolated areas of concern, but that has not been enough to solve longterm issues.

Previous projects discussed by the Pella City Council included a University Street Stormwater Infrastructure upgrade, which has been previously estimated to cost $3 million — not including the $3,000 to $15,000 per household it would take to replumb homes and connect to said sewer. A similar large-scale project has been previously discussed but not acted upon along Main Street, which could total up to $4.5 million depending on the scale.

Another solution would be to form a stormwater utility, but that would also incur additional debt and be a potential increase on property taxes — which may be an issue since larger entities such as schools, hospitals, and churches would not be included in many instances. A utility would require an ordinance.

Read more here. The Pella City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Pella Public Safety Complex.