Reading about the massive rainfall and flooding that occurred in Hopkinsville last week, I couldn’t help but think about how much worse it could have been if the Hopkinsville Surface and Stormwater Utility hadn’t made all of its stormwater management improvements over the last 19 years.
My first home in Hopkinsville, on Donna Drive, flooded six months after my family moved in. That occurred in March 1975. Hopkinsville suffered from flooding for many years afterward.
Finally, following another bad flooding experience, the Hopkinsville City Council established the stormwater utility through an ordinance passed in November 2005. The ordinance established a five-person board with the mission of addressing flood control in Hopkinsville.
The current board consists of Bill Nichol, chair, Dave Fernandez, vice chair, Kelley Workman, secretary, Diane Croney-Turner, treasurer, and Travis Martin, city council representative. Steve Bourne is the manager, and Stephanie Powell serves as the administrative assistant.
The ordinance that established the utility included a $3 monthly fee for residential property in the city and a corresponding fee for commercial property based on the amount of impervious surface the property had.
These fees raised enough money for the board to issue municipal bonds, which were used to fund major flood control projects throughout the city.
Since 2006, the utility has undertaken numerous large and small projects throughout Hopkinsville to address stormwater and flood control requirements.
It has constructed retention basins, created waterways to divert stormwater, cleared out log jams in rivers, collaborated with the federal government to purchase properties that had repeatedly flooded, and converted city-owned lakes north of Hopkinsville to flood control use after they were no longer required for water supply.
During the rains last week, I drove around Hopkinsville and marveled at the stormwater facilities we had built, each of which was doing its job and mitigating the effects of the storms. I couldn’t help but wonder how much worse things would have been without the Surface and Stormwater Utility’s efforts.
I’d like to thank everyone who has served on the board of directors since 2006, as well as everyone who has worked for the utility. And I want to thank the Hopkinsville City Council and then-Mayor Rich Liebe for having the courage and foresight to pass Ordinance 32-2005 in November 2005. It’s made a big difference.
