Mark Simpson of School Engineering discusses draining projects in the city of Mountain Brook at the Feb. 27 council meeting. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Kelli Kelly smiled broadly and clapped lightly in the back of the pre-council chamber of Mountain Brook City Hall as the city council said it would award a negotiated bid to address drainage issues on Cherry Street, Lorena Lane and Euclid Avenue.
“I was clapping because they're gonna award the project to fix our flooding issues that we've been dealing with for a few years,” Kelly, a Cherry Street resident, said just prior to the council meeting. “I'm just glad that this process is coming to a close. The City Council has been amazing and acted pretty quickly to get it all done.”
During the work session, Mark Simpson of Schoel Engineering told the council that engineers went to the table with the low bidder, Gillespie Construction, with the intent of negotiating a lower price.
“We agreed to a $25,000 deduct and that brought his contract, his bid down to $917,368.92,” Simpson said. The council enthusiastically agreed to accept that bid.
Simpson also talked about drainage project options in the Crestline “flats” area. He said that an open channel crosses four streets – Spring Street, Peachtree Street, Honeysuckle Lane and West Montcrest Drive.
“What we found is that three of the culverts that go underneath those roads are too small,” he said. “The only real fix would be replacing the culvert at West Montcrest, which is a fairly large culvert that needs to be replaced.
“Originally, we had looked at replacing one of the other culverts upstream for a smaller price tag but based on the flooding that's occurring, it looks like downstream around West Moncrest would make the most sense for replacement culvert. That's about a $700,000 or $800,000 fix.”
Homeowner David Nelson said his home on Honeysuckle is “in the middle of a pond when it rains really hard.” Jeremy Dennis, who lives on West Moncrest, said water backs up four or five times a year.
“It doesn't have to be an extreme flood,” he said. “It has to be fast rain but we'll end up with about six inches of water and mud in that back (detached) house in which the drywall and everything else has to be replaced in that lower level where we have to clean it out.”
Councilman Billy Pritchard suggested the council take the matter under advisement.
“I understand there are a couple of property owners that are troubled by some flooding in their yards,” he said. “But this is a huge number to fix a couple of yards that get water when it rains several times a year. At this moment, I'm really trying to figure out if it's something the city ought to do for that kind of money.”
In other business:
The council approved making improvements to the nature trail at Jemison Park. The Friends of Jemison Park anticipate more use of the nature trail as construction is done on other parts of the park.
Public Works Director Ronnie Vaughn praised his crews in their efforts in leaf collection. Council members echoed that praise.
A conditional use request was granted to Paul Powell and Alicia Hicks for Stretch Zone at 229 Country Club Park in Crestline Village.
The council announced a public comment period for the city’s annual storm water management program plan prior to that plan being submitted to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). The plan will be finalized prior to March 31. Questions, comments and concerns should be directed to Building Official Glen Merchant at (205) 802-3812 ormerchant@mtnbrook.org, or City Manager Sam Gaston.
The next regular meeting of the city council is 7 p.m. on March 13.
