Caney Pond project underway
From the left are Melissa Fox with Fred Fox Enterprises, Nolan Baker with Baker Engineers, Cottondale Commissioner Dennis Sloan, Bobby Lee with Baker Engineers, Cottondale Commissioner Jerrard Deese, Cottondale Public Works Director Floyd Scott, Cottondale City Clerk Sherri McBride, Cottondale Mayor James Elmore and Cottondale Commissioner Ty Daniels
Photo by Mark Skinner, Jackson County Times
The damage from Hurricane Michael is still fresh on the mind of everyone who went through it in October, 2018. That’s no less true that the residents of Cottondale and it’s governing body of council members.
Community leaders and citizens were present Thursday at 1:30 p.m. as the shovels were put in place for the groundbreaking.
The City of Cottondale was awarded $4,347,351.00 from a CDBG-DR (Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery block grant for work on the Caney Pond Drainage Project. There were many residential properties as well as streets that were flooded in the Caney Pond Drainage Basin Service area. Flooding of Caney Pond has resulted in roads being impassable and citizens not being able to return to or leave their homes. This has started to occur even in minor rain events. Without these improvements these events will continue to hinder the lives of citizens within the service area.
The project includes:
Expanding the capacity of the Caney Stormwater Pond by deepening the pond.
The installation of stormwater piping to carry the stormwater collected in the Caney Stormwater Pond Drainage Basin into Caney Pond.
The expansion of a discharge channel to carry the excess stormwater from Caney Pond into the DOT Stormwater Collection System along Highway 231.
The specific location of this project will be: The Caney Pond basin, which is surrounded by Broad Street to the north, Elliot Drive to the east, Gilbert Lane to the south and Caney Landing Road to the west.
City Clerk Sherry McBride told the Times Thursday morning that there were more improvements coming Cottondale’s way. Next in line is a CDBG-DR grant for a Hometown Revitalization Project. This is a $1.7 million CDBG-DR grant from the FloridaCommerce to revitalize the commercial corridor along Highway 231 that runs through the center of the community.
