Can you come up with a better way to start the week than getting up to speed on storm sewer construction?
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Decatur City Commission will vote on a $65,000 agreement with Atkins International to design Phase 2 of “Downtown Decatur Storm Drainage Improvements”.
While Phase I installed new storm sewers along Maple and Church Street – and across N. McDonough – downtown, Phase II will focus on replacing an older section of the city’s drainage system that runs “cross-country” across residential properties, from Barry Street to Decatur Fire Station #1.
A note from Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon to City Manager Peggy Merriss states that the current line “…is old, undersized and inadequate to carry the amount of storm water generated by frequent storm events, causing periodic flooding on several residential and commercial properties in the area.”
The new line will run under streets, from Fire Station #1 on Trinity Place, down East Howard Ave and turn up Barry Street, ending a few lots up. (See map below from the City Commission meeting documents)
Mr. Saxon states that the estimated construction budget will be $1.25 million.
Phase I photo courtesy of The Decatur Minute
As a civil engineer, I truly can’t think of a better way to start the week! Seriously though – as someone that works in this field, I say hats off to Decatur for not ignoring its infrastructure. The City does a great job, stays on top of the newest developments, and does its best to address things like this before they cause even larger problems through complete failure. Most places just wait for things to break before they fix them, often costing more in the end. Not everyone wants to be a part of the City of Decatur because of the schools. It’s a well-run city, where taxes are put to good use, and the City government and departments are responsive and involved. I’d happily pay a little more in taxes for that than to save a couple hundred bucks a year and worry about what isn’t being done.
+1
Recently read about Portland using pipes with power generating turbines- way cool concept. I hope something like this is on CoD’s radar…