The city of Soddy Daisy is doing what it can to reduce the problems caused by flooding in areas surrounding all the creeks that flow through the city. For the past several years residents who own houses in flood plains have experienced damage during storms and exceptionally heavy rain events. Since the storms that went through the city on Easter night, those people have been asking the city for help.
At a previous meeting City Attorney Sam Elliott told those residents that the city is not responsible for rising water, God is.
But in an effort to help them, City Manager Janice Cagle has obtained a grant for $429,000 to stabilize the banks at certain areas along Little Soddy Creek that can be used only for the purpose of safeguarding structures and public infrastructure. After the storms on April 12 that threatened another house located on that creek, it was added to the list of problem properties. There remains about $100,000 unused from that grant money, said Finance Director Burt Johnson, which can go toward the amount of $29,370 for the additional house. The city of Soddy Daisy will end up paying 25 percent of the cost after being reimbursed for the work.
The city manager has also applied for two separate grants from FEMA that would buy out property owners of several houses that are repeatedly damaged from rising water from North Chickamauga Creek. One grant, if received, would be for a house on Pine Street whose wooden deck separated from the house during the most recent flood. The second FEMA grant application would be for several houses in old Soddy Daisy.
Ms. Cagle has also made a formal request for the Corps of Engineers to do a study of the flood zones along all creeks in Soddy Daisy. The process is that they would first do a preliminary assessment and come back with a recommendation for how in-depth the study should be. The city has been put on a list and that it will be a year before the assessment is started. The actual study recommended for the city will take another nine months to a year to complete. The city will be responsible for paying for the full study.
The commissioners approved the purchase of a rescue boat for the police department that would be used for swift water rescues in the amount of $14,293. Purchasing new uniforms for the police officers was also authorized.
Rezoning property located at 11141 Dayton Pike from R-2A, Rural Residential District to C-3 General Business was approved on the second and final reading. Another rezoning request was approved on a first reading. The owner of a house at 300 Walmart Drive, close to a trailer park and behind Food City, requested the zoning change from A-1 Agricultural District to C-3 General Business District. The trailer park has been sold and the house is already surrounded by commercial property and with no objections the zoning change was given initial approval.
Commissioner Max Lowe said he was pleased to see that the monthly building permit report is just shy of $2 million.
Ms. Cagle said that the Kelcurt Foundation will be holding “A Magical Night of Literacy” at Veterans Park on July 31. There will be free activities, games, costumes, a scavenger hunt and the movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
The Stoney Point Church will have free coronavirus testing this Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10 a.m.