Mayor Abramson Unveils $67 Million Community Plan for Drainage Challenges

On January 27, 2003 Mayor Jerry Abramson outlined a $67 million, two-and-half year plan to tackle Louisville's most pressing drainage problems.

The plan - dubbed Project D.R.I. (Drainage Response Initiative) - was unveiled at a news conference at the Southwest Government Center on Dixie Highway by Abramson, Metropolitan Sewer District Executive Director Bud Schardein and Metro Council members.

By mid-2005, 380 of the worst drainage problems in the Louisville Metro will have been addressed by Project D.R.I., Abramson said. The bulk of the funding will come from nearly $47 million collected by MSD in drainage fees from residents and businesses.

An additional $20 million over the next two years - about $10 million each year - will come from MSD' Drainage Maintenance Program. These funds will be used to address specific maintenance concerns in each of the 26 Metro Council districts ranging from silted drainage ditches to broken storm sewers that need repair.

"As I've met and talked with people over the past year, I've heard deep frustration about drainage problems, particularly in the southern half of the new Louisville," Abramson said. "This ambitious plan is a direct response to those concerns from citizens who are tired of bailing out their basements and watching another layer of their back yards wash away each time it rains."

After hearing the repeated concerns, Abramson met with MSD officials and asked them to map out a master plan for tackling the community's most vexing drainage problems.

Abramson said he chose to unveil Project D.R.I. in Louisville's South End because the area has a disproportionate share of serious drainage problems.

In fact, more than 60 percent of Project D.R.I.'s identified projects in the next 2 � years are concentrated in the seven Metro Council districts that constitute the southwest quadrant of the new Louisville Metro - including areas such as Pleasure Ridge Park, Valley Station, Okolona, Fairdale and Highview.

Over the past 15 years, MSD has invested over $150 million in drainage and flood protection projects. Most of this work focused on major channel improvements and flood storage basins. In addition, a significant amount of neighborhood drainage work has been completed.

However, neighborhood scale drainage projects continue to make up the bulk of drainage problems in the community and the vast majority of these problems are concentrated in the southern and southwestern neighborhoods.

Those districts, Abramson said, pointing to an MSD map that illustrated customer calls and drainage problem areas, have clearly demonstrated a need.

"These are the neighborhoods with the most severe problems," Abramson said. "These are the places in our community where improvements will help the greatest number of people."

Here's how Project D.R.I. will work:

• Two thirds of the money will come from annual drainage fees to MSD. Homeowners pay $3.89 per month; businesses pay that amount for each 2,500 square feet of hard surface.
• Over the next 2 1/2 years, that money - $47.3 million - will be spent on 381 projects in council districts and neighborhoods that demonstrated the most significant drainage problems. The priority list was determined based on the number of customer calls to solve problems that affect the greatest number of people.
• Another $20 million will come from savings from MSD's regular Drainage Maintenance Program. The spending priorities for this money will be determined largely by citizen input at neighborhood meetings in each council district held by MSD, city officials and Metro Council members. The standard will be the same - projects that solve drainage problems for the greatest number of people.

Abramson pledged to assess the progress of Project D.R.I. one year from now and determine whether to recommend using General Fund revenues to supplement the program and achieve the goal of solving virtually all of the major neighborhood drainage problems by the end of his term.

"With good stewardship and strong leadership, Louisville will be a much better�and a much drier�community for all residents," Abramson said.