The purpose of this letter is to bring forth information related to various issues that were mentioned in

the Savannah Morning News Opinion piece dated July 19, 2017 entitled Improve the drainage.
Garden City is a west Chatham community and we felt it appropriate to explain that recent land
development activity in our City has not resulted in improperly managed stormwater runoff control
and/or the increase in widespread flooding.

While Garden City has seen its share of commercial and industrial development over the last five years,
it has been our experience that the impacts of these new development projects have not significantly
increased flooding issues within our City. Instead, we have mandated compliance with the Georgia
Stormwater Management Manual and the Coastal Stormwater Supplement through applicable
requirements set forth in our stormwater management ordinance and local design manual. These
requirements and standards were adopted in 2012 in an effort to mitigate stormwater runoff impacts
that could otherwise result from new development. Despite these efforts, some older areas of the City
that were developed prior to adoption of our current stormwater management ordinance and design
standards do occasionally experience minor to moderate flooding issues as a result of large rainfall
events combined with incoming tides. This was observed during Hurricane Matthew when a reported
13.86 inches of rainfall was recorded near Garden City over the period of October 7-9, 2016. However,
the flooding impacts were not as widespread as what was reported in other areas of coastal Georgia and
South Carolina.

In 2009, the City implemented a Stormwater Utility user fee and began charging this fee to developed
parcels within the City that generate stormwater runoff and benefit from City stormwater services. The
City believes that implementation of the Stormwater Utility and user fee system is the single-most
important factor contributing to our ability to effectively manage stormwater runoff and reduce flooding
within our community. Over the last eight years, the City has collected approximately $7 million in user
fee revenue and expended those funds on stormwater program activities. A majority of the stormwater
user fee revenue collected each year is spent on drainage maintenance, capital projects, and regulatory
compliance programs, which benefit our citizens through reduced flooding and improved water quality.
The City is confident that the flooding associated with Hurricane Matthew was reduced as a result of an
ongoing and regular drainage system maintenance program that is funded through these stormwater
user fees revenues each year. It is reasonable to assume that more widespread flooding would have
occurred in Garden City during the hurricane and from other large rainfall events had the City not
invested millions of dollars in the drainage system since 2009.

The Opinion piece goes on to say that until the Chatham County Commission funds a comprehensive
drainage plan for west Chatham, local governments may have to put the brakes on certain projects. It
should be noted that Garden City developed a citywide stormwater master plan in 2015 to utilize as a
tool to promote more effective stormwater management in our community. The master plan has also
served as a resource to the Citys ongoing efforts to identify and hopefully secure additional grant funds
to construct the various projects that have been identified in the Citys drainage capital improvement
plan (CIP) that is a part of the master plan. As such, we plan to proceed ahead with our ongoing and
future projects in cooperation with Chatham County and not put any projects on hold.
It has been our experience that the County has undertaken multiple projects associated with
Pipemakers Canal in recent years and the completion of those projects has benefitted our citizens and
protected their property from flooding for the most part. The most significant County funded projects
of late have been the recent replacement of the tide gates on the Georgia Ports Authority property and
the widening of the major sections of the canal which has helped tremendously with flood control in the
Pipemakers Canal system where it flows through Garden City. In addition, the City staff coordinates on
drainage related issues with the County staff on a regular basis for projects that affect both jurisdictions,
especially the numerous large canal systems that traverse Garden City.

Garden City has accomplished a lot with regard to effectively managing stormwater runoff issues in our
community over the last several years. Unfortunately, these efforts often go unnoticed, and to a degree
underappreciated, when put up against more headline grabbing news and especially on blue sky days.
Nevertheless, the City of Garden City remains committed to effectively dealing with stormwater
management issues within our jurisdiction to protect our citizens and their property from the
inconveniences (at best) and/or damages (at worst) of improperly managed stormwater runoff. We also
intend to cooperate with our neighboring jurisdictions because stormwater runoff issues are watershed
boundary based and do not follow political lines. In closing, we ask for patience and support from our
citizens, businesses and property owners as we strive to address these issues, but they should know that
Garden City has -- and will continue to make -- stormwater management issues a priority in our
community.

Ron Feldner is the City Manager of Garden City and a registered professional engineer in Georgia.