The heavy rain this week has caused a lot of problems for residents of Soddy Daisy, and has kept Public Works Director Steve Grant busy trying to help them. People from two neighborhoods came to the commission meeting Thursday night asking for help. Four residents who live on Pine Street experienced flooding where there had been no problems before a Dollar General store was built at the intersection of Pine Street and Dayton Pike, they said.
The owner of a new home at 112 Pine St.
said that Thursday night was the third time she has come before the commissioners with concerns about runoff from the new Dollar General. The first time she came was before construction started and she said that she had been assured that whatever was built would not adversely affect her property. The planning commission later approved the plan from Dollar General and the city relied on an engineer to design a retention pond to control stormwater runoff on the Dollar General property. The speaker said as soon as construction started so did flooding. This week, she said that her property completely flooded as did the crawlspace under the house.
A homeowner who said he has lived in his home for 65 years on Pine Street also told the commissioners that his property is getting more water than it ever had in the years he has lived there. An overflow pipe from the new retention pond empties directly into his driveway causing flooding where it had never flooded before and the standing water has created a mosquito problem, he said. The owner of a house at 113 Pine brought a video of the water running into his driveway and front yard that flooded his carport after just five minutes of rain. And another resident brought pictures of water crossing the street, coming from the parking lot and Dollar General property, that all ended up pooling on his property.
The overflow pipe releases water onto a street without infrastructure to handle it, said one of the residents.
The construction foreman has responded to the water problems by digging the retention pond deeper for a short-term fix, but the homeowners want to know what will be done to stop the problem in the long term. Mayor Rick Nunley will join a meeting that Mr. Grant has arranged with the construction company and the engineer who designed the site to find a solution that will resolve the flooding problems.
Another neighborhood on the south end of the city is also experiencing problems with runoff after the North Hamilton Church of Christ elevated the level of the church building three feet and paved a parking lot. Both have contributed to directing water onto neighboring properties around the church, they said. The man who came seeking help said the water has turned his yard on Holland Johnson Road into a retention pond. There was not a water problem before, he told the commissioners. The public works director has met with representatives from the church who will be responsible for stopping the flooding.
Before the rain started, the organization Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful held the Soddy Daisy Fall Festival that was a huge success, said Cindi Sanden, who coordinated the event. She told the commissioners that there were estimated to be 1,000 members of the community there along with 50 vendors. Ms. Sanden thanked the volunteers who helped to plan it and worked during the event, along with the sponsors, donors and local businesses that all contributed to the success. Ms. Sanden said that next month Keep Soddy Daisy Beautiful will continue working toward its mission with a community wide litter clean-up.
City Manager Burt Johnson received approval to spend up to $34,000 to replace a truck for the police department. The money will come from the drug fund. A construction change order of $34,500 was approved for the fire station #3 due to the increased costs of materials. He announced that the Soddy Daisy Fire Department will hold two fundraisers to benefit Christmas for Kids, a yard sale on Oct. 16 at fire station #3 and a motorcycle ride that will be held in December.
Mr. Johnson also was authorized to declare equipment and vehicles from the public works department as surplus. Money from the sale of the surplus items will be used to pay for improvements to several city parks. The city manager announced that plans are for a directory of all businesses in Soddy Daisy to be added to the city’s website.