4 Rock Hill neighborhoods will see needed stormwater improvements

Help is one the way for the worst of the worst areas affected by stormwater flooding in Rock Hill.

When Rock Hill City Council had the chance to draw $4 million out of a state-run water fund to address frequent flooding during rainstorms, council members selected four of the city’s worst areas to receive road and drainage improvements. Between $500,000 and nearly $1 million will be spent improving each street.

The areas include two streets in the Hagins-Fewell neighborhood: Allen Street east of Friendship Drive and Hagins Street near the intersection with Sidney Street. They will receive a combined $560,492 in road improvements, which the city hopes will decrease flooding behind seven homes on Friendship Drive.

Another $651,000 will be spent improving water flow on Charlotte Avenue near Park Drive, preventing flooding at four homes along the way.

An even larger sum, $985,126, will alleviate flooding that affects about six homes on the block of Midbrook Drive north of Pinevalley Road and a nearby section of Woodhaven Road. Finally, $954,279 is set to be spent on Eagle Drive, Hummingbird Lane and Raven Drive in the Rawlinson Acres II development off West Main Street. That work will alleviate home and yard flooding at 11 properties.

The city will draw the funds from the S.C. Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority, to be repaid over 30 years with 2 percent interest.

“This will give the city the most bang for the buck, in areas that have seen the most damage to property,” said Deputy City Manager Jimmy Bagley.

The plan will bring some relief to Joseph Keogh. Outside his home on Charlotte Avenue, Keogh sees floodwaters come right up to his house at least once a year when rainwater rushes out of a culvert that runs under Charlotte Avenue.

“When the ditch overflows, the water comes up and touches the basement wall,” he said.

While Keogh said the water has never gotten into his house, he knows neighbors on Park Drive who have seen their basements flood.

The $651,000 project envisioned by the city will replace the Charlotte culvert with an up-sized roadway drainage system and the addition of a “settling pool” that will allow sediment to fall out and be removed mechanically.

The Hagins-Fewell area has some of the city’s worst flooding. Zelma Reddick can see the effects even at her home a block away on Reynolds Street.

“When it comes around the curb, there’s no proper drainage on the street, so the water comes under my house,” she said. “The only outlet we have is the branch at the bottom of Reynolds Street.”

City Councilwoman Sandra Oborokumo, whose ward includes Hagins-Fewell, is glad to see the projects identified as the worst get funded, and says she is “very hopeful” more projects can be completed in the area in the future.

“Some of the smaller ones are not yet on the project list,” she said. “There are more at Roddey Street, Sunset Park... some you can’t do much but move the house up.”

While these four projects will see the most impact from this funding source, Bagley said plans are already in the works to address flooding in other priority areas identified by the master plan.

Sidney Street resident Vernon Samuelson said he’s had trouble with flooding since curb and gutter work was done on the opposite side of the street. Because his side of Sidney is at a lower elevation, he says the water now runs over to the other side, creating a small pond whenever it rains.

When Samuelson looks for help with the issue, he hears a familiar refrain; he’s been told that because he lives on a state-maintained road, the city isn’t able to handle curbside maintenance issues.

“I don’t care whose street it is, it just needs to be fixed,” he said. “I would hope the city would be our advocate with the state, but so far it hasn’t happened.”

Councilwoman Ann Williamson has dealt with numerous issues of flooding in Ward 5. Even though none of the top four projects are located in her ward, the city’s willingness to address them will be reflected when other projects in the stormwater plan are addressed. She also praised the city’s quick response when storm-related flooding occurs in the area.

“When it comes to their immediate needs, this does not exclude what can be done in an emergency situation,” Williamson said. “Their needs will still be met.”

Williamson will take part in a public meeting to address residents’ stormwater complaints at the city’s Housing and Neighborhood Services office, 150 Johnston St., at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14. That meeting will connect residents who will continue to deal with stormwater issues during the implementation of the stormwater plan with the staffers to call when the water gets too high.

This story was originally published March 28, 2015 at 7:10 PM with the headline "4 Rock Hill neighborhoods will see needed stormwater improvements."