Northport Looks To Develop 5-Year Plan For Stormwater Infrastructure Improvements

NORTHPORT, AL — Northport city leaders are set to consider another assessment that could result in the development of a five-year plan for improvements and rehabilitation of the city's storm sewer infrastructure.

Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.

The Northport City Council on Monday will vote on hiring The Cassady Company to provide the storm sewer condition assessment, with the total amount for the contract coming out to just shy of $90,000.

"The City of Northport is seeking to conduct a condition assessment of all of our corrugated metal pipe," City Engineer Tera Tubbs explained on Thursday. "We recognize many of these pipes are nearing their useful life and are taking a proactive approach in addressing the issues before they become a threat to public safety. The assessment results will allow us to repair the pipes in a more cost effective manner."

The Cassady Company informed city officials in its proposal that the work would include examining roughly 1,000 pipes that are corrugated metal. What's more, the Northport-based firm expects the entire study to be completed and submitted in approximately six months after receiving initial approval from the City Council.

As part of the assessment, The Cassady Company will provide Northport with a five-year rehabilitation and assessment plan after conducting a field review of storm sewer piping and junction boxes. According to the master agreement, the inspections would first focus on higher risk pipe that have higher likelihood and consequence of failures.

On a related note, the City Council on Monday will also consider contracting with Duncan Coker Associates, P.C. for a drainage study of existing storm drainage infrastructure at the intersection of Rice Mine Road and Bridge Avenue.

This study — coming in at just north of $21,000 — comes with options, as the company notes, providing one example of modifications that could potentially include a new storm drainage outfall line from the aforementioned intersection to an area near the existing levee flood gate just east of the former Levee Bar & Grill Restaurant.

Both contracts for condition and drainage studies will be up for a vote at the next City Council meeting.

Stormwater infrastructure and flooding concerns have been on the minds of Northport residents with increasing frequency over the last several years, as Patch previously reported, especially in the wake of the historic flooding event in June 2021 that impacted nearly 100 homes and caused an estimated $2.94 million in damage across the city.

While many have argued that the devastation last summer was due in part to residential properties being located within the Two-Mile Creek floodplain, others have insisted that widespread flooding issues in Northport are the result of failing stormwater infrastructure — with little in the way of tangible evidence to validate most claims.

Indeed, the proposed condition studies would represent another big step forward in addressing the city's aging infrastructure. But as Patch previously reported, Northport City Hall also funded a drainage study in March for the area of Two-Mile Creek — the tributary that breached its banks last June and mangled numerous trailers in nearby Willowbrook Trailer Park.

The Two-Mile Creek drainage study, which remains ongoing, carries a contract in the neighborhood of $116,000 and is not expected to last longer than a year.

The next meeting of the Northport City Council is set for Monday, Aug. 15 at 5:30 p.m.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com.