Photo by Erin Nelson
Workers with Dunn Construction, contracted by the City of Hoover, repave a portion of Paulette Drive in the Green Valley community of Hoover, Alabama, on Monday, Nov. 1, 2021. The Hoover City Council has approved more than $2 million in emergency repairs to roads and drainage systems after heavy rainfall caused significant flooding in the city on Oct. 6-7.
The city of Hoover is having a public meeting to discuss the results of stormwater drainage studies conducted for the Green Valley and Bluff Park communities.
The meeting is scheduled to be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, in the William J. Billingsley Council Chambers at Hoover City Hall.
The city hired Schoel Engineering to analyze stormwater drainage problems in the Green Valley community about a year ago and also asked the engineers to review problems in the Bluff Park community.
Certain parts of the Bluff Park study are still underway, but results should be shared from the Green Valley study and part of the Bluff Park study, City Engineer Chris Reeves said.
This study should also address the question of what needed repairs would be the responsibility of the city and which ones are the responsibility of private property owners, City Administrator Allan Rice has said. However, Rice also noted that the Green Valley study was completed prior to the heavy rainfall and flooding that occurred on Oct. 6-7 of this year.
Kathi Thomas, a resident of the Scout Trace subdivision in Trace Crossings, told the City Council on Monday that the city code says residents are responsible for cleaning up debris from their property that goes into drainage ways, but the code doesn’t address who is responsible for cleaning up debris that washes from upstream.
Also, the code says the city is responsible to monitor drainage ways to make sure the stormwater plans approved by the city are working, Thomas said. That clearly has not been managed properly over time because people have been reporting problems for years, and the city has not taken proper action to address those problems, she said.
Rice has said the city by law cannot spend money to correct drainage issues on private property unless action is needed for a legitimate public purpose.
The City Council in the past two months has authorized more than $2 million worth of emergency flood repair projects and another $310,000 to hire outside engineers to help evaluate complaints. The city has received 27 complaints about problems on public property and 385 complaints from private property owners about damage suffered.