Troublesome Mims Creek led the Brundidge City Council’s agenda Tuesday night. For the second time in October, residents of Johnson Street, which borders the creek, attended the council meeting to express their concerns about the overflow from the silt-filled creek that is turning their backyards into muddy bogs and killing tress along the property lines,

Earl Snodgrass and Maxine Dubose, longtime residents along the creek, attended Tuesday night’s meeting and left “once again, hopeful.”

Dubose and Snodgrass are among the 10 residents whose property borders the creek.

Snodgrass said runoff from city streets and Pike County High School has funneled silt and debris into the creek. Limbs from the dead trees are also clogging the water flow.

“The creek water can’t get away fast enough and it spills over onto our properties and turns them into muddy messes,” he said. “This is nothing new. We’ve been dealing with it for years.”

Dubose said the standing water is a prim breeding place for mosquitoes and an attraction for snakes and other undesirable critters.
“We were here tonight hoping to hear that something was going to be done,” she said following the meeting. “Tonight was a start. We’ve got to do something.”

Brundidge City Manager Britt Thomas has been in contact with the Army Corps of Engineers to determine what can be done to solve the problem of Mims Creek. However, the creek is on private property and the city must have easements from all 10 property owners to do work on their property. And, because the area is considered wetlands, there are regulations governing what can and cannot be done to open the creek so the water can flow to the culvert and not back up into the homeowners’ back yards.

“It’s rather complicated,” Thomas said. “We have to follow the guidelines set by the Army Corps of Engineers and the recommendations of Max Mobley of Polyengineering of Dothan.”

After some discussion, Council Member Arthur Lee Griffin, District 2, made a motion for the city to move ahead with the efforts to solve the longtime problem of Mims Creek.

The council voted in favor of the motion and to hire Bragg Construction Company of Coffee County to clear the creek and dig out the bed so the water will move freely. The work is to be done in accordance with the regulations set by the Army Corps of Engineers. Bragg’s fee is $48,000. The council also voted in favor of seeking temporary easements from the property owners so that, once the work is done, the city would not be responsible for any further maintenance.

At the October 3 council meeting, Council Member Margaret Ross, District 3, said city power lines run through the wooded area adjacent to Mims Creek. High winds and heavy rain often cause that section of the city to lose power.

Thomas said, along with the creek project, the city would re-route the power lines away from the area. He cautioned that the Mims Creeks project is a work in progress and will be dependent on several factors. “And, it will not be done overnight.”

In other business, the council voted in favor of a 5 percent pay raise for city employees. The total cost of the raise will be $103,000 annually.

The council also considered the FY2019 annual budget and reviewed the FY201 August Financials.

The Brundidge City Council meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at Brundidge City Hall. The meetings are open to the public.