Waggoner Engineering told Columbus City Council Tuesday night that it is exploring two areas, one sprawling across Northside and one adjacent to Mississippi University for Women, as the first phase of its plan to alleviate the city’s drainage problems.
Those projects bear an estimated total price tag of $9 million, Waggoner Senior Project Manager Stephen Thompson said. The first of those looks at a large swath of North Columbus that is in Wards 4 and 5.
The affected area is bounded on the west by a ridge parallel to Military Road; on the south by College Street; by Highway 82 to the north; and on the east by a line running north from College near 19th Street North, then along 20th Street to 14th Avenue, where it jogs west to Railroad Street and then eventually runs north to Bluecutt Road.
“We identified areas where there is inadequate drainage, there’s no drainage at all or no additional storage to accommodate the water influx that’s coming,” said Waggoner Project Engineer Joseph Paige.
Paige said the project will realign drainage ditches, add retention facilities and add curbs and gutters in areas where it is lacking.
“When some of those developments were built, there was no adequate drainage installed in those areas,” he said.
The second area is in Ward 1, beginning in the area of College Street and 15th Street South and extending south down 15th Street. This area roughly begins at Tampico Bay restaurant and runs south down the east side of MUW.
“That is kind of the same deal,” Paige explained. “When you have a heavy influx of water, you have flooding in that area. You have inadequate drainage and sometimes no drainage.”
In both areas the runoff during rains is greater than the drainage capacity can handle, he said.
Thompson said the plan moving forward is to pursue $2 million in United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service money to cover prep work for both projects.
“The NRCS money is going to pay for the planning and design for those projects,” Thompson said. “We’re going to use the city’s and county’s (federal American Rescue Plan Act) money to pay for construction.”
The city has designated about $3 million of its ARPA allotment for drainage improvements and has asked Lowndes County to chip in $450,000 of its ARPA funding to help out.
County Administrator Jay Fisher said the board of supervisors had received the request from the city but not yet acted on it.
“They told us they were not going to apply (for state matching funds) in the first round of applications, so the board did not vote,” Fisher said. “But they have asked us, and I think the board wants to support them at some level.”
Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston said the board wants to see work going on before supporting a city request.
“We want shovels in the ground, not a plan,” Hairston said. “I think that’s more palatable to the board. A plan can be put on the shelf.”
Thompson said he thinks the city will get the $2 million in NRCS funding, but the money likely won’t be awarded until late this year.
“We’re going to wait until we get the actual funding before we move forward with any projects,” he said.
Right now both projects are in the conceptual stage, Paige said. Once plans are complete, the city will pursue matching dollars from the state to fund construction. It will also pursue other funding opportunities in the form of grants and federal and state appropriations.
“Our goal is to apply in the second round of state funding,” Paige said. “We have to get a design before we can apply. We’re more likely to get funding if it’s shovel ready.”
The state is accepting applications for matching funds in two rounds. The first application period closes at the end of this month. Thompson said he anticipates the next round will open in March or April 2023.
ARPA funds are required to be committed by the end of 2024.
“This is a clear example of the issues that we are dealing with in Columbus from an infrastructure standpoint,” Mayor Keith Gaskin said during his Wednesday morning press conference. “It’s difficult for cities our size to handle these infrastructure issues because they are so expensive.”
Gaskin said it was critical for the city to find ways to alleviate issues that have, in some cases, been known about since a 1971 drainage study was performed.
“I know people are frustrated because when we have heavy rains it affects people’s daily lives,” he said.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 30 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion