Decatur, GA — The first four priority storm drain projects in the Decatur 2020 Stormwater Master Plan now have budgets and task orders for on-call engineering services.

The Decatur City Commission at its Oct. 18 meeting approved the design budgets of $300,000 for each project and the task orders for the engineering services.

“These recommendations are a follow-up to the implementation strategy that we outlined to the City Commission back on Aug. 16 of this year,” Assistant City Manager David Junger said.

The project areas are Derrydown Way, Park Drive and South Candler Street, North Decatur Road and Ferndale Drive, and Brower Street and McClean Street.

Public engagement is planned as part of the design process for each project to gather feedback specific to each neighborhood. There will be multiple opportunities for public comment while developing the final plans.

“These projects will include green infrastructure practices to improve water quality and infiltration where possible, as well as traditional infrastructure to mitigate the stormwater,” Junger said.

The proposals for the projects were submitted by Atkins and AECOM, who are currently on-call contractors for the city and have been used for a variety of projects in Decatur. Both contractors have previously worked on the design and construction of drainage projects in the city.

Funds are expected to be available in the storm water utility fund for the design work. Ultimately, the construction of the first five-year program will be about $9 million, assuming full approval of fees that were recommended in the stormwater master plan.

The City Commission also approved a project budget of $22,000 and awarded a contract in the amount of $21,005 to Mallory and Evans Service Company for the replacement of two stormwater ejection pumps in the conference center parking deck. The city owns the conference center parking deck and the current pumps have failed.

The repair includes the removal and replacement of two 5-horsepower submersible pumps, four new float switches, all electrical connections and start up for proper operations, Junger wrote in a memo.

“The pumps, which are installed in the lowest flow of the parking garage, are required due to the constant flow of stormwater and groundwater from the trench drain system that’s around it,” Junger said. “It’s three stories into the ground, so without those pumps, the lower level of the parking garage would flood.”

Mallory and Evans Service Company has performed similar work for the city before, as well as more recently for Georgia Tech and DeKalb County. The stormwater ejection pumps in the conference center parking deck were first installed in 2007 by Mallory and Evans Service Company.

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