Flood wall designs to move forward

by Joey Garrison, The Tennessean - ... Striking a compromise with the mayor's administration, the Metro Council voted to amend Barry’s 2016-17 capital improvements budget to reduce the amount earmarked for the project from $110 million to $15 million. That’s enough money to finish designs that were already started and solicit community input on a flood wall and protection system that has been billed as an “insurance policy” for a future flood such as the one that devastated Nashville in 2010. ... An original council amendment would have deleted the entire $110 million flood wall project from the capital improvements plan and therefore blocked any planning at all.  ... to build the flood wall and protection system, the council would need to include construction funding — perhaps $95 million or more — in a future capital improvements budget. The water department has bonding capacity to cover funding for the project, ...