Eastern Bypass Public Hearing

Public Notice
Walk-in Design Public Hearing
Tuscaloosa East Bypass from I-20/I-59 to Jack Warner Parkway


Date: October 26, 2010
Time: 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Place: Paul W. Bryant High School Gym
6315 Mary Harmon Bryant Drive
Cottondale, AL 35453

Here's your chance to "talk to the hand" folks. How many public hearings on this project does this make, and what changes has ALDOT made in response? Didn't they shift the M-bend bridges a couple of hundred yards one way or another in response to the public backlash? I honestly can't remember because it's been so long the details have sort of slipped out of the public consciousness. Of course that's part of the strategy. Do a quick little bit of behind the scenes backroom dealing, buy up some property, do some utility line work, hold a "public hearing", ignore the resultant uproar, let things settle down for a while. Repeat as necessary until project gets done...

Regardless, I will be there the full time allotted to the hearing, with lots of questions and opinions on the project. It will be interesting to see if they've assigned half-way accurate costs to this boondoggle, or if they're still trying to snow everyone. Come on out and let ALDOT know how you feel about this project consuming a minimum of 1/4 to 1/3 of ALDOT monies to be spent in Tuscaloosa County in the 2010 - 2014 time frame. Residents of Cottondale may want to know if their houses will be in the perpetual shadow of the dual bridges over Keens Mill Rd, Cottondale Creek or Hwy 11. Here's your chance to find out!

BREAKING NEWS T'Town contractor fined $19,000 for BMPs

BREAKING NEWS

Some of you will remember last year this contractor attacked me. He threw a couple of punches at the side of my head then proceeded to kick and beat the heck out of my truck for turning him in on BMP / permit violations... I turned him in to TPD who refused to take action.

See below, this is the same contractor.
It only took ADEM almost 2 years to issue an order!

To my knowledge, this is the first time  single home builder has ever been fined in this respect! The price of doing BAD business here just went up again! If the city will not enforce, we will!

Hat's off to David Ludder for helping me make it uncomfortable to violate in HC Watershed.
For us, this is HUGE!


LEGAL NOTICE
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
PO Box 30l463
Montgomery, Alabama 36l30-l463
(334) 27l-7700
PROPOSED ORDER
Account Code: 202
Pursuant to the provisions of the Alabama Environmental Management Act, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) is proposing to issue an Order to McKinney Pruden Construction LLC - 6609 Julia Pearl Lane, Julia Pearl Lane, in Cottondale, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. ADEM has been unable to serve the owner/operator with notice of this proposed order by mail. By this public notice ADEM notifies the owner/operator of the intent to issue an Order for the below stated violations.
The violations consisted of: effective BMPs not implemented and/or maintained; commencement/continuation of regulated activity prior to obtaining valid ADEM NPDES registration coverage; noncompliance with the requirements of ADEM NPDES construction stormwater rules; and failure to respond to a Notice of Violation.
The order, if issued, would require the owner/operator to: apply for and obtain NPDES registration coverage; submit a plan to correct all violations; implement and maintain effective BMPs; comply with applicable ADEM rules and registration requirements; perform corrective actions; and pay a civil penalty in the amount of $19,000.00.
If (owner/operator) wants an informal conference prior to any decision to issue this order, the owner/operator should contact the below listed designee of the director to request a an informal conference with ADEM. Other interested persons may submit written comments, including request for a hearing, within 30 days of the publication date of this notice, to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, attention James E. McIndoe, Chief of Water Division, PO Box 301463, Montgomery, Alabama 36l30-l463. The comment period shall end at the close of business 30 days from the publication date of this notice. A copy of the proposed order is available on the ADEM webpage at www.adem.state.al.us or may be obtained by written request to the above address. A nominal fee for copying may be charged.
This notice is hereby given this 8th day of September, 2010, by authorization of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
Lance R. LeFleur
Director
THE TUSCALOOSA NEWS
September 8, 15, 22, 29, 2010
(ADEM charged the entire development only $20,000 for the entire site out of compliance. David appealed it for us and the fine climbed to over $120,000. now the individual home builders are feeling the pinch.)

A walk through Your Park

After the recent Tuscaloosa News articles concerning the M Bend of Hurricane Creek, I decided to take a walk out through Our Park.

I was very disappointed to find trash all along the trials and broken beer bottles on the beach. The sign clearly states none of this is allowed.

The road leading into the "Park" is in deplorable condition and eroding badly with every rain event. This is not the fault of PARA. ALDOT and the 5th division left this slope in this condition intentionally as a vendetta against local residents and the Friends of Hurricane Creek for daring to care enough to force ALDOT into compliance.
The road needs repaired or closed off ASAP.

The above issues are reason enough for concern but what I found on the trail was alarming to say the least.

Many may remember last year when Alabama Power Company took the liberty of destroying the old trail with bulldozers.  When they repaired the road APCO and PARA both assured us that it would NOT be used as an access road to the power lines. There is only one structure on the lower level and many on the ridge above the creek. All could be accessed more easily from a top entrance but APCO refused to honor the landowners request that they keep his road free from damage or repair it if so. That turned out NOT to be the case. Just as in the sale of the land and the underhanded way it was handled, PARA did not keep their word and neither did APCO.

A huge amount of limestone was brought in and used to build a road durable enough for large truck bearing power poles to enter.

The erosion controls placed at the site have not been maintained and have fallen into disrepair. Large amounts of limestone are now in the creek. Limestone is a pH buffering agent. The water in Hurricane Creek basin is slightly acidic and should not have this amount of buffer introduced.
 It is now causing an Iron fall-out resembling Acid Mine Drainage similar to coal mine waste.

In all my years on Hurricane Creek and in this area in particular, I have never seen this until after APCO allowed the limestone to migrate into the creek in mass quantities. 

 





















This needs fixed at once!

EDITORIAL: Hurricane Creek needs protection

Published: Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 11:06 p.m.

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Two years ago, we applauded the “wise and welcome decision” to purchase 249 acres along Hurricane Creek for a public park. This week, we reported the heart of that land — the “M-bend” — has been ripped out.

The Tuscaloosa Park and Recreation Authority has a good track record of building activity centers and ball fields, but not so much for environmental protection. Hurricane Creek Park was a notable improvement in that direction.

Your Park photo by JLW

Now, 74 acres of the park will belong to the Alabama Department of Transportation. At least a portion of that land is intended for the Eastern Bypass, a highway to link wealthy neighborhoods in north Tuscaloosa to Interstate 20/59 and open parts of east Tuscaloosa to development.

If the highway is ever built — and that’s still a big if — it will help commuters and big landowners. What we may lose is a beautiful wilderness just outside the city limits of Tuscaloosa. In 2007, readers who responded to our “Seven Wonders of Alabama” survey ranked Hurricane Creek behind only the Native American Indian mounds at Moundville. 

"M" Bend photo by JLW,

Flight provided by SouthWings

Geologically, Hurricane Creek is interesting because it, like the rest of Tuscaloosa, is on the edge of Alabama’s fall line — the boundary between the older Appalachian ridge and valley area around Birmingham, and the Coastal Plain formed from an ancient seabed. Environmentalists and biologists have been particularly enthralled by plants and animals that live in and along the creek. 

“One of the last major streams above the fall line, Hurricane Creek is a smorgasbord of biodiversity for flora and fauna and a pristine example of what one will find anywhere throughout the southernmost part of the Appalachian Mountains,” wrote Randy Mecredy, director of the Alabama Museum of Natural History, recommending it for our list.

The Tuscaloosa Park and Recreation Authority has a good track record of building activity centers and ball fields, but not so much for environmental protection. Hurricane Creek Park was a notable improvement in that direction.

Now, 74 acres of the park will belong to the Alabama Department of Transportation. At least a portion of that land is intended for the Eastern Bypass, a highway to link wealthy neighborhoods in north Tuscaloosa to

Interstate 20/59 and open parts of east Tuscaloosa to development.

If the highway is ever built — and that’s still a big if — it will help commuters and big landowners. What we may lose is a beautiful wilderness just outside the city limits of Tuscaloosa. In 2007, readers who responded to our “Seven Wonders of Alabama” survey ranked Hurricane Creek behind only the Native American Indian mounds at Moundville.

Geologically, Hurricane Creek is interesting because it, like the rest of Tuscaloosa, is on the edge of Alabama’s fall line — the boundary between the older Appalachian ridge and valley area around Birmingham, and the Coastal Plain formed from an ancient seabed. Environmentalists and biologists have been particularly enthralled by plants and animals that live in and along the creek.

“One of the last major streams above the fall line, Hurricane Creek is a smorgasbord of biodiversity for flora and fauna and a pristine example of what one will find anywhere throughout the southernmost part of the

Do we really want to trade that for another highway?

 

 Photo by JLW
Everyone involved in purchasing the land for a PARA park was aware that the M-bend was in the future path of the Eastern Bypass. But PARA director Don Kelly and Hurricane Creek riverkeeper John Wathen expressed optimism some alternative could be worked out.

We are disappointed not only that this has not happened, but that the sale of the land to ALDOT was done so quietly. Wathen, who was instrumental in brokering the deal for the park and who has been a passionate advocate for preserving Hurricane Creek, only learned about the ALDOT sale when our reporter called him for a comment.

Photo by Beth Maynor Young

Tuscaloosa city officials have pressed hard for the Eastern Bypass and have not done enough to protect Hurricane Creek. PARA gets most of its funding from the city, so it is not in a strong position here.

Wathen has vowed to fight for Hurricane Creek. We wish our elected leaders shared that passion.

Park’s land sold for Eastern Bypass

PARA sells 76 acres near Hurricane Creek to ALDOT

Staff Graphic | Anthony Bratina

Buy photo

By Jason Morton Staff Writer

Published: Saturday, September 4, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, September 3, 2010 at 11:03 p.m.

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TUSCALOOSA | The Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority has agreed to sell 76.1 acres of its Hurricane Creek Park to the state road department for the construction of the long-planned Eastern Bypass.

Don Kelly, executive director of PARA, said this week that the PARA board of directors had approved the sale to the Alabama Department of Transportation for $263,300.

Kelly said part of the deal is that once ALDOT finalizes the exact path of the bypass through the park, it will deed back to PARA any land it does not need.

“The 40 acres that will be deeded back to us is the M-bend portion of the creek,” Kelly said of the region of Hurricane Creek that is federally recognized as a unique ecological region.

Officials at ALDOT could not be reached for comment, but longtime Hurricane Creek advocate John Wathen was incensed by the decision.

Kelly said that PARA “did everything we could” to persuade ALDOT to redirect the Eastern Bypass around the 249 acres PARA bought in 2008 in order to protect it as a natural park.

Wathen was instrumental in facilitating

PARA’s purchase of the land surrounding Hurricane Creek from the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit land conservation group based in Tennessee. PARA bought the property for its appraised value of $864,500.

“I don’t care who owns that land,” Wathen said. “I don’t care what kind of deals that are made. This will absolutely be the most expensive highway that ALDOT has ever built.

“Every mile and every inch of this road will be under scrutiny, and the first sign of a violation I will haul them before the EPA.”

Letter to the Editor, ByPass Unnecessary

Eastern Bypass is unnecessary

Published: Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 10:36 p.m. 

 

Dear Editor: It's not too surprising that PARA sold one third of Hurricane Creek Park — at a loss — to ALDOT for the Eastern Bypass. However, the deal raises the question: 'Who knew what, when?' What's really surprising is that years after the highway planners came up with the Eastern Bypass, they're still trying to shove this unnecessary project down Tuscaloosa residents' throats. ALDOT's insistence on trying to ram this project through the hills and hollows of some of the most beautiful and biologically diverse woodlands in Alabama borders on the pathological.

Does this proposed bypass serve any need not met by existing roads? We already have a Western Bypass that functions well in getting drivers from Interstate 59/20 to U.S. Highway 82. McFarland Boulevard and I-359 will take you to the interstate if you live in the center of town. And if you live on the east side of town, it's a short trip down University Boulevard to access the interstate.
ALDOT wants to spend hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to permanently scar this irreplaceable corner of our natural inheritance so that a small number of Tuscaloosans can shave five minutes off the trip to Birmingham? Hurricane Creekkeeper John Wathen says this will be the most expensive highway ALDOT ever builds. The real beneficiaries of this transfer of funds will be the road contractors, while the losers in this dubious transportation project will be our environment and the public ALDOT ostensibly serves.
Miles Eddins
Tuscaloosa

Mayor says city may be liable for flood damage claims

  By Robert DeWitt Senior Writer

Published: Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 10:21 p.m. 

 

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TUSCALOOSA | The city's failure to properly maintain part of its drainage system likely led to flooding in the Southern Gardens neighborhood during this summer's heavy rains, Mayor Walt Maddox told the Tuscaloosa City Council on Tuesday.


photos by John L. Wathen

'We believe there is the possibility of claims and that the city may have been liable,' Maddox told council members at a pre-meeting briefing. 'In this particular case, it appears to have built up over time and wasn't a result of flash flooding.'

Maddox said residents pointed out debris in the drainage structure that serves the neighborhood. Buildup of silt may also have played a part, he said.

The City Council approved an emergency public works contract with Ryan Shirley Inc. for $270 an hour for work on the city's drainage system at Southern Gardens.

Robin Edgeworth, an administrator in the Office of the City Attorney, said the city would try to handle claims quickly so that residents can get repairs under way. Edgeworth, Maddox and Chad Christian, the city's storm drainage engineer met with Southern Gardens residents to discuss the problem.

Maddox told council members that he may soon present a request for $80,000 to $100,000 for maintenance work to the area's drainage system. But beyond addressing the immediate problems, Maddox said he wants to see how the city could do a better job with storm drainage maintenance in the long run.

'We're going to have to get more aggressive with drainage in the next four or five years.'

In addition to improving maintenance, the city may need to look into buying some houses in flood-prone areas.

'We may be recommending that you buy out certain homes,' Maddox said. 'There are some homes in the floodway that no amount of engineering can solve.'

City Attorney Bob Ennis said the city can buy out houses only if it serves a public purpose. For example, the city could buy a house that was interfering with normal drainage.

The city used grant money from the Federal Emergency Management agency to buy up houses between 29th and 27th avenues in what it called the 'Armory Drainage Project.' The houses were flood-prone, and the city had no way to fix the problem. FEMA, which provides flood insurance, authorized it because the buyout saves public money in the long run.

Maddox encouraged city employees who see drainage issues in the community to report the problems. He urged citizens who see drainage problems to call the city's 311 number.

Maddox said he also wants to educate the public about the city's drainage system.

'We need to inform our citizens that drainage inlets are not garbage cans,' Maddox said.

Debris and trash thrown into drains can block ditches and pipes and cause flooding.