Two days after 6.4 inches of rain fell on East Ridge in two hours, the residents, City Council and city manager are starting to plan what to do to prevent the widespread damage in the future.
One resident, Joe Wilson, who has lived on South Moore Road since 1998, spoke to the council asking what to do. He said he had attempted to contact all the agencies he knew, only to be passed around. He told the council that on Aug. 12, three inches of water came through his house. He said he had had flood conditions only once before, 15 years ago. In the last five weeks, he said it had happened twice. What is it that has changed he asked, and what that is needs to be identified, and something needs to be done about it.
“That’s a good question,” said City Manager Scott Miller who said he had been thinking about it after the record-breaking rain and resulting flood damage in the city. He said he believes that a hydrology study needs to be done for the entire city. Other council members suggested more immediate remedies. Several of them had witnessed neighbors putting brush, tree branches and grass clippings in the drainage ditches that run behind many of the houses in East Ridge. When the rain is heavy, those things wash downstream and create dams, then water that overflows the banks of the ditches backs up in every yard behind the blockage.
Councilman Jacky Cagle and Vice Mayor David Tyler both said that as a way to detect what has caused the increasing drainage problems that inspections should be made to all of the drainage ditches to find the problem areas. Although the ditches are on private property, they said that permission to go onto private yards could be gotten with a knock on a door and asking.
Other residents have altered the infrastructure in their yards that the city put in many years ago by reducing the size of the ditches in order to increase the size of their back yards. Some of those trenches are as big as eight feet deep and 12 feet wide. And in places it is believed that the drainage pipes are not large enough. Another speculation is that fences in the yards may have blocked water flow when debris accumulated.
Mr. Wilson, the citizen who spoke, suggested there could be a connection with all the walls along I-24 that TDOT has been constructing. City Manager Miller said in the years he has lived in East Ridge since 2016 he has seen excessive development that state and federal laws have allowed homes to be built with increased density, and development has been allowed in wetlands and there has been an increase in impervious surfaces. But the water still has to find a place to drain to so where will it go? But it was not just stormwater flowing across the roads and through yards, it was also sewage overflowing from the system. City Manager Miller said he saw water shooting up out of some manholes.
WWTA in in the process of upgrading the city’s sewer system with a $6 million project to slip line the sewer pipes and rehabilitate the manholes. Also, a short distance south along I-75, two large storage tanks are being built where sewage can be diverted and stored until the lines can accept more, then it will be released from the tanks gradually.
Mayor Brian Williams is asking for anybody in the city who was affected by the floodwaters to contact Amanda Bowers at city hall. She is compiling a list of damages to property that will be given to FEEMA. And a list of organizations and churches that will help people who need it will be available to residents. County Mayor Weston Wamp has started the process to get help for those people by declaring the flash flooding in East Ridge as an emergency.
The mayor also thanked the police and fire departments for all the assistance they provided. Fire Chief Mike Williams said the department had saved 60 individuals, carried out 19 water rescues, and rescued 10 animals the day of the flooding.
The fire department also worked two and a half hours to extricated two adults and one child from a vehicle on Moore Road that was crushed by a fallen tree - none of the three people survived. Police Chief Clint Uselton said police answered 160 calls on Tuesday related to the flash flooding and some of the responses required multiple officers to help with the rescue. He said the department still dealt with the usual calls such as overdoses, disputes and fights at the same time, but he said, “We handled it well.”
Some areas in the city remain closed until pollution from a large oil overflow from Valvoline on Ringgold Road is cleaned up. That was caused by water filling the pits. Pioneer Park and the Splash Pad were affected and will be closed until the oil is all removed from the area.
In regular business, two rezoning requests were heard and one was approved. 842 Germantown Road was rezoned from R-1 Residential to C-2 General Commercial to continue having a medical clinic there. This zone was chosen because the owner said in the future other commercial uses would be possible. The owner of property at 1171 South Seminole Drive had requested a change from R-1 to R-Z1, zero lot line residential for building two single-family dwellings by utilizing the RZ-1 requirements of reduced lot size and road footage. That request was denied. Mike Howell, building and codes official for the city, said the proposed zoning would change the character, density and scale of the existing neighborhood and would set a precedent.
Approval was given authorizing a professional services agreement with Dr. Jessica Pruitt for veterinary services for the East Ridge Animal Shelter. She will be at the shelter twice a week and will do health checkups which are currently outsourced. This will also give the public a couple of vaccination events a year. Surgery if needed will still be done at other clinics. The shelter has an exam room but not a surgical room, said the city manager. It is expected that having a veterinarian will reduce costs and better care for the animals.
A new development agreement was approved with ER Investment, LLC for a project to build a small shopping center at 6001 Ringgold Road, near Belvoir Avenue, in the Border Region retail development district, giving the owner a financial incentive. It will have a convenience store, a restaurant and a laundromat. The owner will receive 70 percent of the sales taxes from the retail portion and the city will get 30 percent.
A change order was approved for the North Mack Smith widening project to lower six drainage structures. ASA Engineering took responsibility for the oversight when reviewing the plans for the road and will reimburse the city for the cost to make corrections, which could be from $13,000 to $23,000.
Budgeted purchases for vehicles and equipment were approved for the police department. Six Ford Interceptor SUVs will be bought for $344,640 and it will cost $77,364 to outfit them with police equipment. That equipment will be paid from the drug fund. The purchase of 13 patrol rifle packages for $23,114 was approved as well as a firearms training simulator that will cost $19,030.
And authorization was given to buy Edraulic (electro-hydraulic) rescue tools from municipal emergency services for $65,202 that will be used by the fire department for emergency response. And 10 sets of turnout gear were also approved for the fire fighters at the cost of $39,960.
East Ridge hopes to be able to participate in a grant that is being offed to all the small cities in Hamilton County for creating parks. The application has to be specific to the location and the use. If received, East Ridge plans to use it for the first phase of redevelopment at Springvale Park. The plan is to build a new dog park there where there is room to rotate the grassy areas keeping half of it closed while the other field recovers from use. The city could get up to $250,000 if the application is approved and East Ridge Council members voted in favor of matching that amount.