HARTSVILLE, SC (WBTW) – City of Hartsville officials said drainage has been an ongoing problem downtown, when even the most minor storm clouds move in.
“We’re trying to target some of our chronic problem areas in South Hartsville, and then over on Fourth Street,” said Mary Catherine Farrell, Assistant to the City Manager. Farrell said those areas often see flooding anytime it rains.
“In the case of a minor rain event, there’s water retained,” Farrell said. “In the case of our drainage ditches, there’s often standing water in different places.”
Farrell said what many people don’t know is that much of the city’s drainage system uses old farming irrigation systems not built to handle the demands of a city the size of Hartsville.
“They were never designed to support the entire neighborhood that’s developed around them,” she explains.
To get things back up to date, and to avoid more drainage issues in the future, the city plans to seek a $2.25 million grant to study and fix the problems.
“It’s a hazard mitigation grant,” Farrell explained. “We only have access to it because we were struck by disaster.”
That disaster, Hurricane Matthew, was something that didn’t help the already poor drainage in the area. Farrell said the grant will be used first on a drainage study, to see what might be causing the issues below the street.
“We know where we have problems,” Farrell said. “We want to bring in professionals, experts to engineer solutions.”
After the study, what’s left of the grant will go toward upgrades to the drainage system, though that could be a ways off.
“We’re just in the infancy stages,” Farrell reveals.
Hartsville City Council approved a resolution to pursue the grant earlier this week. The city will be required to match 25 percent, or $750,000, to qualify for the grant.
Farrell said the application process could take several months.
