The money comes from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs via the Large City Fund. According to City Manager Brian Muenger, Talladega’s was the only drainage grant awarded in the state this year.
In a press release, Muenger explained that the total estimated cost of the project will be $407,490. Of that, the largest portion, $307,140 will go to construction, $35,000 for property acquisition, $29,600 for engineering, $15,750 for construction inspection and $10,000 for grant administration. The application was prepared by city staff, with technical assistance from CDG Engineering.
The project will involve modifying ditches along Baker, Elbert Davis, Moon, Lane, Long and Frazier Streets. It will benefit 79 households and 124 residents.
Muenger said, “The project application was bolstered by numerous letters of support from residents of the neighborhood. The community helped the city convey the urgency of the project to ADECA. This is evident by the fact we were the only project funded for drainage improvements under the large city fund. When you have well attended public hearings and letters from citizens and elected officials stating how the issue is impacting their lives and property, it goes a long way.”
Councilman Horace Patterson, whose district includes the project area, said, “This issue has been prevalent in the area for so long, and has had such a profound negative impact, it had to be addressed. I am immensely pleased that the residents of these areas will at last see some relief on this issue.”
The award was announced with a letter from Gov. Robert Bentley Wednesday.
According to the CDG engineering report, the area contains two drainage basins, each with only one outlet point for storm water. “The area around each outlet is bowl shaped and drains poorly. As with many older developments, the project area had virtually no planning and therefore little money was put into storm drainage facilities. Most of the driveway pipes are installed with little or no slope and are not of adequate size to carry the required storm water runoff. The right of way of most of the roads is only 30 feet wide, which is only wide enough for the roads and not the culvert pipes or roadside ditches,” the report says.
The project will involve widening and regarding a ditch on Frazier Street that handles approximately 80 percent of the storm water draining out of the project area, relocating and using larger culvert pipes that cause flooding in the area. Inadequate driveway culverts will be replaced and a ditch from Davis Street to Rosa Street regarded and widened. The pipe under Baker Street will also be replaced.
Contact Chris Norwood at cnorwood@dailyhome.com
