Princeton is starting over on a citywide drainage master plan, nearly a year after the City Council first moved to hire a firm for the work, and staff want the new study to weigh whether new development should pay a stormwater impact fee.
Public Works Director Rifat Alam laid out the reset at a Sept. 28 council work session, and The Princeton Herald reported on it Thursday. "The prior scope and fees did not fully reflect the city's growth and need," Alam told the council, according to the Herald.
What happened to the first try
According to Alam's memo, engineering firm IEA Inc. briefed the council in November 2025 on updating Princeton's 2018 Master Drainage Study, and the council adopted a resolution for the study in December 2025. No final contract was ever drafted or signed, the resolution did not include a total fee, and no notice to proceed was issued.
Former city staff then went back and forth with IEA over several scope and fee options from February to July without agreeing on one. In May, the city's then-interim public works director told IEA the city intended to repeal the earlier scope of work, at the direction of the mayor and city manager's office, the presentation says.
The new approach
After a review in August, public works staff concluded the plan should cover the whole city plus the drainage areas outside it that feed into Princeton, look at both current conditions and future buildout, and end with a ranked list of drainage capital projects with cost estimates and timelines.
Staff are writing a new request for proposals. Picking a consultant is expected to take about three months, after which the choice comes back to the council for approval. The study itself would take 18 to 24 months from the notice to proceed.
