Flash flooding on the Northside and across the city seems to be job number one for Ward Seven Councilwoman Virgi Lindsay.
Lindsay’s second council meeting was on July 18, and one of the first two items she sponsored on the agenda was an item to discussing “flooding issues in our communities.”
The move comes only weeks after the freshman councilwoman was sworn in and one week after she toured severe flash flooding in Belhaven.
“This has been plaguing the city for many years. I felt it was important to at least talk about the issue and bring attention to it,” she said.
On the afternoon of Monday, July 9, Belhaven received 2.5 inches of rain in about half an hour. The deluge caused Belhaven Creek to jump its banks.
The flash flooding inundated several streets, including Riverside Drive, St. Ann Street, St. Mary Street, and others.
Vehicles were unable to cross Riverside at its Peachtree Street intersection and were blocked from crossing several neighborhood roadways near Laurel Street.
One St. Mary man was dipping buckets out of his car when the Sun arrived on the scene. “If your car is down here on the flat part, it floods. It floods constantly,” Aaron Dockery said. “It’d be nice if it would get fixed.”
Dockery has been living in the 1600 block of St. Mary for about a year, and was referring to the lower section of St. Mary, near Laurel.
New Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said he was notified of the problem by Lindsay. “She was very proactive in reaching out to me. I immediately got with our staff to see what the issue was and how we could address (it).”
Lumumba plans to reach out to the city’s one-percent oversight commission and look at other options to fund creek improvements.
Ward One Councilman Ashby Foote, who placed an item on the agenda to discuss flooding at Rainbow Co-Op, also said he was reaching out to the federal and state governments for help.
Drainage has been a problem across the Northside for years.
In 2014, Jackson spent $70,000 on a project to address flooding at Rainbow Co-Op in Fondren. The project included installing new underground piping to redirect water from the area. Rainbow and other businesses are located at the bottom of a drainage basin that runs from Fondren Corner to Duling Avenue. However, during last week’s deluge, the Old Canton Road store was flooded again.
Foote pointed to problems at White Oak Creek as well White Oak affects residents in the Rollingwood and Carolwood areas. He said many neighbors living along the street have lost portions of their yards because of erosion from the creek.
Belhaven Creek was one of several drainage ditches identified for repair by the city’s one-percent oversight commission.
The commission oversees how Jackson spends a special infrastructure sales tax.
In its first-year master plan, the commission set aside nearly a quarter of a million dollars to draw up improvement plans for the creek from Woodrow Wilson Avenue south.
Southern Consultants was hired for the design work and construction engineering last August, and was awarded a contract for approximately $225,000.
The contract includes evaluating a portion of the creek running from East Woodrow Wilson to Laurel Street, and a secondary tributary running from just north of Riverside Drive to where it empties into the creek between St. Mary and Piedmont Streets.
From UMMC, the creek flows under Woodrow Wilson west of Peachtree to Riverside, where it turns east, and continues along the northeastern side of the Belhaven University campus. It then runs under Linden Place, Lyncrest Avenue, St. Ann, St. Mary and Piedmont, before turning south again at Laurel Street, maps show. It eventually empties into the Pearl River.
Lumumba took office on July 3 and had just learned of the problem last week. He did not know when Southern would complete the designs.
“I want an answer to that question no later than the end of (this) week,” he said. “We certainly want to maintain a high-priority status on it.”
It was unclear how much repairs would cost or how and when they would be funded.
As part of its first-year plan, the one-percent commission set aside monies to pay for engineering, but no funds for actual construction. The plan included some 37 projects.
Lumumba said he planned to speak with commissioners about ways to fund the project, including using one-percent funds to leverage debt.
Former Mayor Tony Yarber had proposed issuing a $90 million line of credit to help pay for one-percent projects. However, the plans were rejected by the city council and the commission.
Further, the amount the city can borrow has been reduced to around $50 million, according to financial advisors.
Lumumba said he is open to using one-percent funds to leverage debt, but is not sold on the “line of credit” idea proposed by the previous administration.
“I am sure I want to leverage the funding, but the mechanism we use is up for debate,” he said. “I’m listening to (a couple) of different experts on the issue.”
The council’s work session and meeting were July 17 and 18 respectively. The one-cent commission also was expected to meet earlier this week. It was not known at press time if the flooding issue would be discussed.
To see a video of the flooding, log on to northsidesun.com.
