By KELLY P. KISSEL | Metro editor We're starting to see what a stormwater fee might look like. The Metro Council last night merged the Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge stormwater systems into a new utility system, which will give it the right to establish a fee to cover its costs. It apparently would be tied to how much "impermeable surface" there is on a piece of property. And no, a separate check won't be required. The fee will probably be added to most people's escrow requirements, like property taxes and insurance. Saying we must pull out our checkbooks is just taking poetic license, and how many people still have checkbooks? On another flood-related topic, East Baton Rouge will partner with Livingston Parish and the city of Central to snag debris from the Amite and Comite rivers, in an attempt to have the flow more smoothly (and at a lower level). This work is similar to what was done along Bayou Manchac on East Baton Rouge's southern border. And a Baton Rouge judge says not enough was done to protect minority communities near the site of a proposed plastics plant in St. James Parish. The judge said state regulators had to do more than just give community members a say. She says they're on the hook to make sure they won't be dumped on, quite literally to some extent. | 