Downtown Nashville Flood Wall Back On Mayor's Wish List

NASHVILLE, TN -- Mayor David Briley became the third Metro mayor to include a flood wall and mitigation system to his wish list despite the $125 million project being rejected three times by the council.

The capital improvements budget released this week includes the project, first proposed by Mayor Karl Dean in the wake of the devastating 2010 flood that inundated riverside neighborhoods throughout the county, sending water up Broadway through at least Fifth Avenue.

Metro Water Services Director Scott Potter, prior to the disaster a virtual unknown but to the most diligent courthouse watchers, has repeatedly insisted that the wall and broader mitigation program is necessary as flood events increase.

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At-Large Councilman Bob Mendes tweeted Monday he will, as he has before, propose an amendment dropping the plan, which includes a permanent 9,000-foot wall, a 2,100 removable wall and a $65 million pumping station. Mendes and other councilmembers have argued in the past that flood mitigation should focus on neighborhoods outside of downtown still in danger from flooding.

But Potter told The Tennessean that it's time to consider downtown a neighborhood, as well.

"We see downtown as a neighborhood, just like neighborhoods throughout the county," Potter told the paper. "We haven't spent any money downtown on flood mitigation or (flood) control. The only stormwater money we've spent downtown has been replacing bicycle grates."

Potter said that none of the $143.2 million in federal, state and Metro funds spent on flood mitigation since 2002 has gone to downtown, though The Tennessean notes that $3.5 million did go to construct a wall at the dog park next to Ascend Amphitheater. That wall doubles as a flood wall.

Carol Swain, one of Briley's opponents in May 24's special election, tweeted "We can't pay teachers, firefighters or the police force, but go ahead and bond out $125 million for a flood wall."

The flood wall, if it were built, would be paid through the water department's capital projects bond fund, which water department customers pay through their bills. Metro said the project wouldn't raise rates. It is a separate fund from Metro's general bonding or the increasingly tight general fund, from which teacher, police and firefighter salaries are paid.

The mayor's office said, in essence, it is time for the council to put up or shut up.

"Metro Water Services has studied the city's need for flood protection and sees this plan as integral. It's now up to council members to weigh that against the other needs of the city and decide. The hazard of flooding is not new for Nashville. What is new is the frequency and severity of storms," the statement said.

Image via Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County