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Hoover council OKs $1 million in emergency flood repairs

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Photo by Jon Anderson

The Hoover City Council on Tuesday morning voted to spend more than $1 million on emergency repairs to roads and drainage systems related to last week’s flooding from heavy rainfall.

The council agreed to spend $264,000 to fix problems that strictly were on city property and $776,000 for projects both on city property and private property adjacent to city property but essential to ensure public safety on public property, City Administrator Allan Rice said.

There were a tremendous number of people across the city impacted by the downpours on Oct. 6, Rice said.

In addition to the two Riverchase residents who drowned after their vehicle was swept away by floodwaters in Riverchase, flooding caused damage to public roads and drainage culverts.

A special meeting was needed for the council to declare certain projects emergencies to expedite repairs, Rice said. The city can legally only spend money on drainage projects that are on private property if the City Council deems that there is a legitimate public purpose for doing so.

In several cases, if the city doesn’t address drainage problems on adjacent private property, the repairs on public property won’t be enough to keep the problem from happening again, Rice said.

“Any type of catastrophic flood like occurred last week changes the landscape literally in some locations and certainly changes the flow path of water for future rain events,” Rice said. “So we wouldn’t have to have another Oct. 6 rainfall to continue to damage our infrastructure because of changes that occurred in ditches and underground sytems.”

There are some situations where the city needs to repair the road but also needs to go upstream for some remediation to make sure that same damage doesn’t occur again, he said.

The repairs on private property are one-time repairs, and the city does not assume responsibility for future repairs on those properties, Rice said.

About 60 to 70 people attended Tuesday’s special council meeting. Some thanked city officials for taking action to address flooding issues, but others said the city has let drainage problems build up over time and failed to address systemic problems.

Carol Lewis, a resident on Mayflower Drive in the Green Valley area, attributed problems in her area to Jefferson County’s project to widen Patton Chapel Road.

She didn’t have flooding problems until the widening project started, and her property has flooded five times this year, she said. She has 2,000 pounds of sandbags by her garage door and still had damage this time, she said.

Lewis said she keeps being told by city officials the city can’t address problems on private property, but the problem is coming onto her property from public rights of way, she said.

Matthew Smith, who lives not far away from her on Paulette Drive, said his property has flooded nine times this year, and last week he ended up with 1 to 1.5 feet of water and sewage in his house.

“I love living in Hoover, but this is unacceptable as a city,” Smith said. “We deserve better than this as residents. I’m asking you and pleading with you to fix this issue once and for all.”

Richard Parker, who lives on Creekview Drive on the north side of Hoover Country Club, said he has lived in Hoover 64 years since he was 12 years old. He has paid his taxes and been a law-abiding resident, and it’s really frustrating to see stormwater drainage issues getting worse.

The portion of Patton Creek that flows near his house at one point was only 20 feet wide and now is 100 feet wide, he said. He has lost his yard and now is trying to save his house, which is his biggest investment, he said.

The city of Hoover needs to do some maintenance to the stormwater systems, he said.

“If you keep doing the same thing and expecting the same results, something’s not right,” Parker said.

Rice said the city of Hoover recently commissioned a drainage study for the Green Valley community, trying to pinpoint the source of the problems there and potential solutions and to figure out hether the city or private property owners are responsible for repairs.

That study is now wrapping up, and city officials expect it to be complete any day now, Rice said. There will be a public meeting set up to go over the results, he said.

In the meantime, these emergency repairs are needed now, in Green Valley and other parts of the city, Rice said. He expects city staff may continue to find other emergency repairs that need to be completed, and some of the cost estimates may be on the low side, he said. If more money is needed for repairs, city staff will come back to the council with additional requests, he said.

The Jefferson County and Shelby County emergency management agencies are working with the Alabama Emergency Management Agency to try to get a federal disaster declaration for the Oct. 6 storm, Rice said.

There has to be a certain amount of financial damage to quality for a federal disaster declaration, so the city is working with the emergency management agencies to try to document and quantify the damage done, he said.

There is some federal assistance available even if a federal disaster declaration is not achieved, but there is enhanced federal assistance if a disaster is declared, he said.

City staff will be working with residents to help assess damage done and soon will put out more information regarding the best way to report flooding damage, Rice said. He recommends people maintain photos and videos of any damage to help with that effort, he said.

Here is a list of the areas where the Hoover City Council funded emergency stormwater drainage repairs Tuesday and the estimated costs.

City properties:

City properties & adjacent properties:

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