Trumann looking to acquire land for retention pond

Residents along Mulberry Street whose homes were flooded during a round of severe weather in April, and have been subjected to repeated flooding for over 30 years, may be in store for some long term relief.

The city is looking to acquire land to build a retention pond to hold storm water which would then be slowly released back into the city's drainage system.

"Our goal is to build a retaining pond and put in two to three tiles in the ditch that's ours by the fire department that we can open and close," Mayor Sheila Walters said.

The current ditch, which runs along Pine Street, can only hold so much water and backs up into Mulberry and the surrounding neighborhoods, she said.

More than 20 homes were flooded during a storm in late April that dumped as much as six inches of water on Trumann over a 24 hour period.

The city considered installing a portable pump to pull the water from Mulberry which would then be pumped to two lagoons at an abandoned sewage plant southwest of town, but Water Department manager Scotty Jones said this new option is the best way to solve the problem.

Just laying the pipes from Mulberry to the sewer lagoons and acquiring the necessary easements would have cost more than $30,000, he said.

"It was a mile to the old lagoons and you couldn't get the right pump to pump against that amount of head pressure," Jones said. "In my mind this is the only solution."

Walters said the city had the engineering plans drawn up for the exact same project they are looking at now back in 1997, but the $1.1 million cost was too high and it was never undertaken.

"They did a plat for this and proposed a grant for this project," Walters said. "I don't know what happened, but it never came to life. It's time for it to happen."

Walters said the new plan will cost about $250,000.

"I don't intend to spend near that much," Walters said.

The city also plans to stockpile the dirt that is excavated. The old plan called for the dirt to be trucked off, she said.

Jones said the city will install a Water Hog pump which is capable of pumping 12,000 gallons a minute and put in three 36-inch floodgate tiles in Ditch No. 12 to stop the backwater.

"When the water gets high the floodgates will shut," Jones said. "Then that Water Hog pump will lift it out and pump it into the pond. There will be a diesel power unit. It's just a turn of a key switch will start the power unit and pump it into the pond."

Jones said he figured that there was 11,000 gallons of water per minute during that six inch rain.

"That pump should keep it dry," Jones said. "There shouldn't be any more water getting into those houses."

It should also relieve the flooding on Sharon Drive and Ambrea Street as well, he said.

Once the water in the ditch goes down, the city will then open the floodgate tiles and drain the water from the pond back into the ditch and let Mother Nature do the rest.

Walters said they are also hoping to acquire a piece of property for another smaller pond near Cash Street Park and improve the existing ditch to help residents on Marcus Drive and Brian Street which is also prone to severe flooding.

"I think I have a little ace in the hole for that one too," Walters said. "I know how to solve a little bit of it. But it has potential."

Both projects present a long- term solution to an old problem and are vital to the city, she said.

"This is exciting," Walters said. "These last few days have been the most productive I've had in office. If we can get a retention pond over there and resolve the Mulberry issue to some extent and pull water off Ambrea and Diane -- it could help our property owners and help us in the future."