Photos by Sarah Finnegan.
The spillway that moves water away from Vestavia Lake has caused erosion, leading to significant concern on the part of adjacent property owners.
The fiscal 2023 budget for the city of Vestavia Hills will include the largest dedicated amount of money for stormwater improvements in city history, said City Manager Jeff Downes.
Downes announced the news at a City Council work session on July 18, at which city leaders talked about stormwater issues facing the city. While the amount of that funding is unknown, Downes said the city will examine which projects are ready to be completed now, which need further study and which would have the most immediate impact on residents.
Flooding is common throughout the city, at times overlapping both public and private property. City Attorney Patrick Boone told a packed City Hall crowd that the city cannot perform drainage work on private property without it first being dedicated to the city and accepted by the city. There is “no duty” to provide surface water drainage, Boone said.
Still, there are times when the city may work with private property owners to improve drainage so as to benefit everyone, Downes said.
“We want to help everybody,” Downes said. “We want to be the solution where we can.”
In the past 18 months, the city has spent about $1.24 million on alleviating infrastructure failures like the pipe under Oakview Lane, Downes said.. The city has also spent about $140,000 to engage with five different consultants to plan and design future projects, he said.
The city recently received 31 comments on a Vestavia Hills Listens online forum topic, alerting city leaders to problem areas and thoughts from residents.
Suzanne Church, who lives in the Rocky Ridge area, said there is a drainage problem behind Creekwood Drive and Birchwood Lane in the Countrywood neighborhood.
“Many of us are experiencing a tremendous amount of stormwater overflow that is not being contained or caught at the street level storm drains,” Church wrote. “Due to the high volume of stormwater that occurred with a storm on June 7, the entire last section of the stormwater pipe at the end of our street blew out and has left a dangerous opening in the ground. There are many children in this neighborhood that walk in this area as they travel a path into the woods.”
Many other comments focused on the Altadena area.
“We’ve lived (in Altadena) for almost five years,” said Jeff Musser. “In that time frame, water has entered our crawl space twice and ruined our HVAC unit. As a result, we must always park our car on higher ground every time we expect rain; our driveway is collapsing on the creek side and our banks are collapsing in our creek. Any help would be appreciated. Our entire creek system in Altadena Forest needs to be improved upon. It’s become expensive to live here now because of the damage that’s done every time there’s a large rain.”
City Engineer Christopher Brady said there are about 320 acres upstream of Altacrest Drive and about 600 acres upstream of Altacrest Drive that are in the drainage basin. Some of that area is in Jefferson County, and while there is not a study at this time, Brady recommended there be a study done to pursue improvement projects. At least five homeowners have reported damage due to flooding, he said.
Brady also recommended a project in the Vestavia Forest and Forest Haven Lane area, where at least two homes were flooded and some others damaged. A 42-inch pipe consistently reaches capacity, leading to issues, he said. There would have to be a commitment on the part of private property owners to make improvements as well, Brady said, since the land affected includes both public and private property.
In the Wisteria Drive and Shallowford Circle area, Brady said about 540 acres are affected, as water collects over the interstate. Part of the area is in Hoover, he said.
In the Vestavia Lake area, the city has contracted with Schoel Engineering to inventory, analyze and plan improvements in the upper U.S. 31, Shades Crest Road and Vestavia Lake area, Brady said.
Kaitlin Braun with Schoel gave a report to the council at the meeting, saying they have created a model of the watershed. There are three main “trunklines,” sub-basins that flow into Vestavia Lake.
The east trunkline, which begins at the top of Shades Crest Road, has undersized pipes and cannot control the FEMA-designated one-year, six-hour storm event. Pipes need to be widened and minor improvements made to open up those channels, Braun said.
The central trunkline flows through a church property down Chestnut Road, Braun said, and also needs bigger pipes, though it handles the one-year rain event.
There is also a recommended pipe improvement project on Fernwood Drive, but much of it is on private property, she said.
The west trunkline crosses U.S. 31, which is the Alabama Department of Transportation’s right of way, Braun said, and while it flows well through Chick-Fil-A’s drainage system, there is a “seriously undersized channel” at Eastwood Place.
Lakewood Drive also has undersized pipes and flooding is worse in that area due to the channel being on higher ground than the homes, Braun said. Water won’t go down the road if it is not in the pipe; instead, it will go into residential properties because of the elevation difference, Braun said. Schoel is still determining options for that road.
Schoel will hold public involvement meetings for the affected properties and will also provide the council with a final report, including cost estimates, prioritization of projects and the development of regulations for review, Braun said. Field maps will also be created.
With recent updates to the city’s zoning code, Brady said the city now encourages “low impact development,” asking for more “developable area” to be used by developers. Recent developments like the one on Greendale Road, called Braxton, are an example of a developer installing a drainage system that was not previously in place, thereby improving stormwater management, Brady said.
Assistant City Engineer Lori Beth Kearley gave an update on multiple projects that are either ready to be planned if so desired by the council or in need of further study.
At Ridgedale Drive, the proposed scope of work is to install about 880 linear feet of new 18-inch pipe, four new curb inlets and about 1,100 linear feet of new 30-inch valley gutter. Sain Associates has provided a preliminary design plan and cost estimate and next steps include presenting those findings to a private property owner who must make changes downstream for the project to be successful.
In Cahaba Heights, where Fairhaven Drive, Midland Drive and Poe Drive meet, a study is ongoing with two recommendations given so far by Engineering Design Group, Kearley said. The first is to replace the concrete headwall and construct a new concrete flume, as well as replacing the existing 60-inch corrugated metal pipe. The work is ready to be scheduled, she said.
At Dolly Ridge Road near Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge, Kearley said Caprine Engineering has recommended phased work, with the first phase including the installation of pipe, inlets and junction boxes to connect the retention system of a new development, which is sending water down the south side of the road, with existing drainage networks. That work is also ready to be scheduled.
At Oakview Lane, Kearley said the city has received new pipe to replace the failed pipe that had caused road closures. There might be a future phase near where Oakview meets Cahaba Heights Road, but it is not being addressed at this time, Kearley said.
At Ridgely Drive behind Crestline Bagel, Kearley said Sain Associates is studying existing problems and determining their recommendations, and it likely includes both public and private projects.
On Kyle Lane, future work includes replacing 45 linear feet of existing 48-inch pipe with a 3 foot by 7 foot box culvert, replacing two existing inlets, replacing 29 linear feet of existing 15-inch pipe with 28 inch by 18 inch arch pipe and installing 54 linear feet of 28 inch by 18 inch arch pipe. That project was previously awarded in November 2021 to Southeastern Sealcoating, but has been delayed due to material delays regarding the culvert. The culvert is expected to be delivered in September, Kearley said.
On Massey Road, stormwater improvement needs to be made before the city’s future project to make other improvements to the road. Two pipes under the road are deteriorating and are in need of replacement, Kearley said. The pipe has been received and work is ready to be scheduled and the hope is to do it on a weekend so as to minimize traffic impact.
In the Blue Lake area, Kearley said there is a deteriorating pipe underneath Blue Lake Drive, and it needs to be replaced, while two headwalls need to be constructed. The pipe for the project is in and work is ready to be scheduled, she said.
At the intersection of Tyler Road and Twin Branch Drive, portions of which are in Jefferson County, there is storm pipe failure that needs to be addressed by both the city and the county, Kearley said. The city has received a consultant’s proposal for design services.
At Buckhead Road, there is no inlet collection system, so the recommendation is to install two inlets as well as 18 inches of pipe under the road. The pipe is available and work is ready to be scheduled.
At 1957 Southwood Road, a replacement pipe is ready to be installed, while at 1930 Southwood Road, the city is working with the property owner on a project to replace the pipe, Kearley said.
On Autumn Lane, where the road meets Pipeline Road, kearley said there are issues on that road and a private parking lot, and the installation of a new, 48-inch pipe is recommended.
Other possible projects are coming to Comer Circle, Blind Brook Lane and other areas, Kearley said.
Brady said his department will continue to prioritize projects with impacts on public roadways, as well as creating a mapping system that helps facilitate further inspections and assessments so the city can stay on top of stormwater issues.
Downes said the city website, vhal.org, will soon have an entire section dedicated to stormwater issues and will include the presentation given at the work session.
