Residents concerned over flooding at The Cut

Mountain Brook residents expressed frustration over flooding in the vicinity of The Cut during the April 10 Mountain Brook City Council meeting.

“I have to worry about every time it rains,” Montevallo Road resident Brad Cleage told the council. “Is it going to flood my backyard, and even my house? It's gotten four inches up the back of my house the last two years. I've been very lucky that it didn't get in my house but it very easily could. That's my concern.”

Cleage was one of several residents who expressed their concerns about flooding related to The Cut, a small section of street that was never opened between Mountain Avenue and Richmar Drive.  

“A lot of people use that as a cut-through,” City Manager Sam Gaston said. “There's an open drainage ditch that runs through there and there's a walking path, kind of a big path that people can cut through those two streets.” 

Cleage said The Cut is what many people consider his side yard, saying that he cuts the grass there. He and others in attendance at the pre-council meeting heard Mark Simpson of Schoel Engineering talk about the company’s analysis of the situation. 

Simpson talked about a 48-inch pipe that runs underground that can be overwhelmed by the volume and speed of a heavy rain. He cited talk of replacing that pipe with a larger pipe, a costly maneuver that could push the problem downstream, or have little impact.  

Either way, the job would be expensive. 

“We can't allow that 48-inch pipe to stay and continue to just hold that water because it eventually overflows Richmar,” Cleage said. “And it's gonna continue. With the development that has gone on, it's gonna continue.” 

Three or four residents spoke during the session but others wanted to ask questions and state their case. Council members agreed to call a special meeting expressly to hear concerns about flooding in that area. 

“I thought we had a date set for the 21st and now there's going to be a conflict,” Gaston said. “We're looking at probably the first week in May.” 

The council also talked about a review of the city’s codes and ordinances regarding storm water management. Gaston said complaints after some major flooding episode prompted the city to hire Schoel Engineering to study the matter. 

“They kind of came up with their own plan for identifying certain drainage basins,” the city manager said. “We're sending that out to about 12 to 15 builders, architects and engineers for comments.” 

The council later approved having Schoel amend the FEMA flood map for Mountain Brook Village. Changes from the Lane Parke development prompted interest in revising the map. 

“FEMA only updates these maps every eight or 10 years,” Gaston said. “We wanted to go ahead and file something now that might give some relief to some of these property owners that are having to buy flood insurance at the present time.” 

Also during the meeting: 

• Mayor Stewart Welch III read proclamations concerning Fair Housing Month and Autism Awareness Month. 
• Jeffrey Brewer was appointed to a full term on the Board of Education after serving an unexpired term. 
• The council authorized the sale or disposal of certain surplus property. 
• A resolution was approved authorizing an inter-jurisdictional automatic bid agreement with the City of Vestavia Hills. 
• The council approved the city’s participation in the 2023 “Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday.” The event runs from 12:01 a.m. on Friday, July 21, to midnight on Sunday, July 23. 
• A stop sign was approved to be installed on Lewis Circle at Weatherton Drive. 
• Residents were told the city is considering discontinuing its use of Zoom for city council and other board meetings at the end of April. Council President Virginia Smith said virtual attendance of meetings has declined the past several months. Residents were invited to relay comments on the matter to the city manager. 

The next city council meeting was moved from Monday, April 24, to Tuesday April 25, due to the Mountain Brook School Showcase.