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, ...  

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What's on the Council Agenda for 6/14/16: Flood wall, and other amendments to the CIB

Tonight's council meeting is a special "adjourned" meeting related to the need to pass the budget by July 1.  So that the capital improvements budget may pass at the June 21st meeting, amendments to the CIB will be considered tonight.

Only bills on Third Reading are on the agenda.  To get your own copy of the agenda, follow this link.  To see the amendments that have been filed to amend the CIB follow this link. There is no separate staff analysis, but the bills on the agenda were on the analysis of the June  7th meeting and you can get it at  this link. The only important item on the agenda is the ClB.

The Capital Improvements budget is not really a budget and it appropriates no money.  It is a planning document that list proposed capital spending projects and list the proposed funding to fund the projects.  Many items make it into the CIB but never get funded or built.  If a project is not in the CIB it does not get built. If you have a special project you are concerned about you may want to read the CIB and make sure it is in the budget, however it is unlikely you could do anything to get it added this year.

The most controversial item of the evening will be an amendment by Councilman Bob Mendes to remove from the CIB, the $110 million proposed flood wall. Last year, the proposal to build the wall was defeated by one vote.  Mayor Barry has included in this year's CIB. As a council member in 2015, Barry voted in favor of the wall when it was before the Council.

The 2010 flood of Nashville produced 2 billion dollars in damages, however it was not all downtown.  The wall would only protect downtown but everyone would pay for it by an additional fee added to their water bill.  The 2010 flood was considered a "1000-year flood" meaning the likelihood of such a flood occurring is only once in a thousand years.

The wall would consist of supports, (fence post) permanently in place and in the event of a flood, large slats would be placed in the grooves in the supports, creating the wall.  In essence the wall would be constructed when a flood was approaching.

Assume 75 years from now we have another 1000-year flood.  Am I the only one that things the wall may not work.  Due to road or subway or other construction, some of the supports would have been removed and not replaced or a slight settling of the earth no longer make the pieces fit or proper training  has not taken place and pubic works no longer knows how to make the pieces fit or the wall or some of the slats where relocated and no one knows where they are.  I don't think this is far-fetched.  Government is not even very good at maintaining things used every day.  I am just not confident that something that may never be used will be properly maintained.

In addition to thinking it is difficult to plan for such a system and doubt that it will work when needed, I would assume that protecting down town will cause worse flooding elsewhere.  If water cannot flow into downtown, will it not force more water into east Nashville?  The water has to go somewhere.

This amendment to remove the flood wall from the CIB will be the first continuous issue Mayor Barry has had before the Council.

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For The Love Of Music: The Story of Nashville - Official Trailer of the documentary funded with flood relief money

I am bullish on Nashville. I love this city. I would not want to live anywhere else. I love that Nashville is "music city." I look forward to seeing the half-hour-long special ABC documentary on Nashville.

However, it concerns me that $300,000 of the money to produce the documentary came from federal flood relief money given to Nashville following the 2010 flood. You may also recall that $7.1 million in federal money intended for flood relief went to the downtown riverfront redevelopment.  

I have no problem with federal money being used to help people recover from a natural disaster. I have no problem with federal money going to a city to help the city rebuild public schools and infrastructure damaged in a natural disaster. However, experiencing a natural disaster should not be like winning the lottery; it should not be a windfall. 

No wonder our Country is broke.

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Nashville, It Won't be Shaken by no Storm

I just found this song and I love it and find it very moving. It expresses the spirit of Nashville. It is fitting.

I live on high ground and was unharmed by the storm. Several large trees were downed in my neighborhood and several houses were badly damaged and some cars were destroyed from the falling trees but our neighborhood was not flooded. The only inconvenience I had from the storm was going without power for about twelve hours. I have sisters and other relatives who live here in Nashville and they all survived the storm without sustaining damage.

Over 13 inches of rain fell in two days. That is a lot of rain. To put it some perspective, the average annual rainfall for Nashville is 48 inches. The devastation has been massive. Thousands of people are left homeless. Hundreds of homes will have to be bulldozed. Regular homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage and most people whose homes were flooded will not have flood insurance. Areas flooded that have never been flooded before and in areas that are no where near a stream. Whole areas of town with hundreds of homes were flooded.

I am sure many small businesses that were barely hanging on simply won't reopen. Opryland Hotel, the big resort hotel and convention center here in town was flooded and will not reopen for at least six months. Opryland does about a quarter of the city's convention business and employs over a thousand people. No one yet knows how many people will be out of work because their place of employment will be closed. Many people not only lost all of their belongings in the flood but lost their job.

Every time you watch the local news or talk to people you hear more heart-breaking stories and stories of how people's lives have been effected by this disaster. You hear of churches that sustained major damage and businesses that were destroyed. I was at a meeting today and I talked to someone in the music business and they were telling me about a warehouse that serves the music industry. It flooded and Vince Gill lost several priceless guitars that were stored there. Tour buses and a lot of sound equipment and instruments were stored in the warehouse and it was all lost. One doesn't think about all the different sectors of business and society affected by this storm.

To see everything a family owns reduced to garbage is heart breaking. Everyone know some one who has been a victim of this storm.

Nashville has responded tremendously. Neighbor's pitched in and helped rescue neighbors during the flood. Boat owners went on rescue mission without any direction. People with chain saws have pitched in and cleared trees. Many churches have organized crews to help people clean up. There was no rioting or violence or looting. You have not heard of price gouging. People have been supportive and shown kindness to strangers. Friday night a TV telethon raised almost $2 Million and a radiothon raised half-a-million dollars. Volunteers have provided water and food and toiletries to people housed in temporary shelters. Various benefit concerts are planned and the Country Music Festival announced that half the proceeds from the CMF will go to flood relief this year. Taylor Swift donated $500,000 herself.

Despite the generosity of the Nashville people, the need is great. This city that I love is hurting. If you would like to donate to the relief effort, on the top of the sidebar I have a link to a site that offers a choice of charities collecting to help in the recovery effort.

Please keep Nashville in your prayers.

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There will never be enough boats

By Jeff Hartline

Jeff Harline is a Republican seaking the 5th Congressional District seat.

During the recent massive flooding in Nashville, Tennessee, the rain was so heavy and the rising waters so fast that many residents and tourists were trapped in their homes and hotels. As First Responders both on and off duty mobilized and scattered to the most dangerous places in the area, thousands of people remained trapped by the rising waters.

At first, lone citizens began to arrive at these locations to ferry trapped tourists and residents to higher ground. As these courageous citizens continued their efforts, the call went out to the community to send boats to certain areas. Individuals showed up and worked tirelessly, using their own time, assets and fuel to play a vital role in thousands of rescues. These were not citizens “mobilized” by some order from the State or City. They were individuals making a difference in the lives of their neighbors.

But their care for their neighbors is not the only story here. Neither is the heroism of First Responders in Middle Tennessee. Their efforts are still drawing praise from all over the region. This tragedy highlights the reality of government’s inability to solve every problem. It was never designed to do so. You see, during the flooding the government did not have enough boats. Truth is, government never has enough of anything to take care of everybody. It cannot and never will.

Whether we talk about water rescues, health care, retirement planning, product regulation, border security, community peace, hunger, child care, etc., government does not have the resources to solve every problem. A citizenry that expects such will be sorely disappointed. A citizenry that believes this myth to be true, or maintains that it is true for others only perpetuates a belief that cannot be substantiated by reality. There is not enough tax revenue, not enough fees, not enough tariffs, not enough anything to provide the be-all end-all for all who expect to line up at the federal trough to be cared for for their entire lives.

The Founders expected individuals to be connected within their individual communities through neighborhoods, churches, or other organizations in order to encourage good citizenship and dependence upon others. Such a paradigm requires a certain expectation of individuals to behave in a way that does not alienate them from their neighbors. The Founders never intended for the Federal Government to provide one single solitary thing for any individual. The Enumerated Powers expressed dealt with regulating a level playing field for individual rights and for the ability of commerce to flourish. They would have bristled at the thought of a powerful federal entity picking winners and losers either through the tax system or through entitlements to certain individuals or groups. These powers were reserved to the States and to the People individually.

Enough boats in a water rescue come from boat owners. Enough health care comes from a bustling health industry, enough retirement comes from responsible, accountable citizens saving their money. Depend on government and you will eventually be stranded. Whatever we allow or expect government to give, government can take away. Build your own boat and look out for your neighbors. If you do not have your own boat, be enough of a neighbor that your neighbor with a boat looks out for you in time of need.

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