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Map courtesy of Schoel Engineering
Schoel Engineering on Nov. 18, 2021, presented its findings regarding flooding in parts of the Green Valley and Bluff Park communities.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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William Thomas, a senior project manager for Schoel Engineering, discusses flooding in the Green Valley and Bluff Park communities during a meeting at Hoover City Hall in Hoover, Alabama, on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering recommended the city build an additional 42" culvert on the south side of Napier Drive to help relieve the existing culvert on the north side of the road and that a new headwall be added to the existing culvert to better direct water.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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About 75 people showed up for a meeting about flooding in the Green Valley and Bluff Park communities at Hoover City Hall in Hoover, Alabama, on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering recommended the city remove rock and sediment in a stormwater channel that leads to Paulette Drive in the Green Valley community.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A stormwater channel that leads to Paulette Drive was clogged with rock and other sediment, reducing the ability of the channel to carry water.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice talks about stormwater flooding in the Green Valley and Bluff Park communities during a meeting at Hoover City Hall in Hoover, Alabama, on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering noted homes that homes along Mockingbird Lane in the Green Valley were built at the lowest point in the valley there, that flume and driveway culverts along Mockingbird Lane are undersized, and that culverts going underneath Burning Tree Drive had inadequate capacity.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering recommended a new box culvert be built to carry water behind homes on Mockingbird Lane, that the ditch behind the homes be made larger, and that an additional 54-inch pipe be placed under Burning Tree Drive.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
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Hoover City Attorney Phillip Corley discusses what a city can legally do to correct stormwater flooding issues during a meeting at Hoover City Hall in Hoover, Alabama, on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering noted that Star Lake overtops its bank during heavy rains and that a drainage pipe feeding into the lake was half-filled with large debris and sediment. That pipe since has been cleaned out.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering found that a stormwater pipe feeding into Star Lake in the Green Valley community was half-filled with sediment and other large debris, The pipe since has been cleaned out.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering recommended the city remove sediment and debris from a pipe feeding stormwater into Star Lake in the Green Valley community, and add an additional "barrel" to release water from Star Lake at a lower level than the existing barrels, thereby lowering the lake by about a foot and allowing greater capacity during heavy rains.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering found that stormwater culverts underneath Old Columbiana Road narrowed from one end to the other, contributing to flooding on Old Columbiana.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering recommended the city replace existing pipes going underneath Old Columbiana Road with two box culverts.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering recommended the city add an additional 36-inch culvert under Linda Avenue in Bluff Park to increase waterflow and prevent flooding of the road. The study also recommended taking measures to stabilize a bank on the east side of Linda Avenue.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering noted that stormwater overtops Maiden Lane in Bluff Park, goes in a direction it should not go and overtops a bank by Rockview Lane. The study also noted a sharp bend in the channel and rocks and debris that contributed to flooding.
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Image courtesy of Schoel Enginee
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A flood study by Schoel Engineering recommended the city replace stormwater drainage culverts going underneath Maiden Lane in Bluff Park, add walls or berms along Rockview Lane to better protect homes and make improvements to a drainage channel just south of Rockview.
A private engineering company hired by the city of Hoover to study stormwater flooding problems in the Green Valley and Bluff Park communities shared their findings with the public Thursday night.
About 75 people attended a public meeting at Hoover City Hall to review the results of the study, which began about a year ago — before the flooding events of this year.
William Thomas, a senior project manager for Schoel Engineering, addressed flooding concerns in four parts of Green Valley (Napier Drive, Mockingbird Lane, Star Lake and Whispering Pines Circle) and two streets in Bluff Park (Linda Avenue and Rockview Lane).
Thomas outlined the problems in each area, which included undersized and damaged drainage pipes and culverts, low banks on drainage ditches, pipes and culverts being blocked with debris, and excess water runoff diverting to places where water was not designed to go.
One drainage culvert that led to Paulette Drive was so filled with rock and other debris that in some places it could hold only about 6 inches of water instead of the 2 to 2½ feet for which it was designed, Thomas said.
Schoel Engineering made a variety of recommendations to help remedy problems, including adding some relief culverts, adding a new headwall to an existing culvert, removing debris from culverts and pipes, enlarging at least one drainage ditch, adding concrete pipes to increase water flow at bottlenecks, replacing existing culverts with larger ones, and adding walls or berms at certain locations to protect houses.
At Star Lake, Schoel recommends adding another “barrel” to release water from the lake at a lower level, which would lower the lake level a little bit and provide more storage capacity for rain events.
Schoel Engineering still is putting together its final report to the city and expects to have that by the end of this year, Thomas said.
Hoover City Administator Allan Rice said the city’s engineering staff will prioritize the recommendations and get cost estimates. The City Council will determine what projects actually to pursue and when, Rice said.“Clearly, it can’t all be done at one time,” Rice said.
However, Rice noted that the City Council already has allocated more than $2 million for emergency repairs, and some of those projects already have been completed.
City Attorney Phillip Corley expressed sympathy to everyone who has suffered loss due to flooding and noted that many of the homes in the affected areas were built in the early 1960s before the city of Hoover even formed. While property was annexed into the city, the city did not accept responsibility for many of the storm easements, Corley said.
The city does not own the vast majority of the drainage pipes in the city and has no duty to maintain drainage areas on private property, he said. Just because the city approves drainage plans for a subdivision does not mean the city is obligated to maintain the drainage system, he said.
Also, the Alabama Supreme Court has determined that governments are prohibited from doing work on private property unless there is some “public purpose” for doing so. There is no fixed definition for “public purpose,” except that it promotes the public health, safety, morals, security, prosperity, contentment and general welfare of the community, Corley said.
The “public purpose” also should benefit a “significant part of the public,” not just one individuals or a few individuals, Corley said.
However, the Alabama Supreme Court also has noted that “the trend among modern courts is to give the term ‘public purpose’ a broad expansive definition.”
The city and its legal team are reviewing each stormwater complaint on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the issue with each complaint is on public or private property and whether there would be a “public purpose” for taking action, Corley said. The final determination is made by the City Council, he said.
One man at Thursday’s meeting said he would be willing to sell the city the part of his property that contains a creek if that meant the city could provide some relief from flooding.
Another man said the city has not been doing a good job of maintaining drainage systems that are on city property and asked if the city was going to do better.
Rice said city staff have found some drainage systems on public rights of way that were not being maintained properly and is reorganizing staff and redeploying resources to make sure the city is addressing those needs.
Corley, in an article written for The Alabama Municipal Journal in the fall of 2020, wrote that municipalities may be held liable for damages caused by their negligence in the operation and maintenance of stormwater drains within their control if the municipality does not properly maintain such stormwater drains.
Green Valley resident Matthew Smith asked what the city does with stormwater fees residents must pay with their property taxes. Rice said the city collects about $700,000 a year in stormwater fees and must use that money only for stormwater improvements.
Some residents said part of the problem appears to be with Patton Creek, which can’t handle the volume of rain the city is experiencing when combined with the development of new parking lots and buildings.
Rice said the city of Hoover doesn’t have the money to fix issues with Patton Creek, but city officials are exploring a Federal Emergency Management Agency program that might be able to provide some remediation for Patton Creek.
Some residents noted that Patton Creek flows into Paradise Lake off John Hawkins Parkway and asked if Paradise Lake could be dredged to increase its capacity to handle heavy rains. Rice said Paradise Lake is privately owned.
Rice also noted that city officials are concerned about the impact of the Jefferson County construction project on Patton Chapel Road on stormwater flow. City officials already have been in contact with county officials about that issue and have a meeting scheduled with the county manager and county engineer for Friday, Nov. 19, to discuss those concerns, he said.
Melissa Watts, a resident on Patton Chapel Road, said Schoel Engineering has done a phenomenal job studying the issues in Green Valley, “but I think it’s a drop in the bucket.
“Now, the ball is in the council’s and city’s court,” Watts said. “We’re going to see if they’re just going to put lipstick on a pig and hope that we don’t notice.”
Whether they take further action to actually correct problems is the question, she said.
