The Bruce City Council voted Sept. 23 to approve Resolution No. 854-25, amending the 2025–26 operating budget to fund the Historic Broussard Drainage Improvement Project A1, a local infrastructure project estimated at $360,000. The council approved the measure after a presentation by Como Engineers and a period of council discussion. The motion was made, seconded and the council recorded approval.

Engineer Walter Como of Como Engineers told the council the A1 project covers about 6.5 acres and roughly 1,000 linear feet of roadway and ditches from East Monroe and South Lee to the Ridgeview outfall. "The project itself mainly consists of changing driveway culverts and regrading and reshaping the roadway ditches," Como said. He said many existing driveway culverts along the run are 15 inches and that a 5-year design storm analysis indicates most pipes should be 24 inches, with a 30-inch pipe at the outfall.

Como said crews will replace driveway culverts on a roughly one-for-one basis and regrade ditches to provide correct flow lines; the goal is to reduce the extent and duration of flooding by moving water more efficiently to the Ridgeview outfall. He gave the council an overall construction estimate of $360,000 and said the work aims to relieve localized problems created by reversed or improperly graded culverts and limited historic rights-of-way.

Council members and staff discussed practical limits in the narrow historic right-of-way, safety considerations for ditch depth and the decision to design A1 to a five‑year storm, which city staff described as a cost‑effective standard for residential areas. Staff and the consultant said A1 is one of several small, sequenced projects planned for the historic Broussard area; some downstream work already completed at the Ridgeview outfall made the proposed project feasible.

The presentation also identified related steps: obtaining servitudes for what staff called the Duong Ditch (a local name used during design), continued outfall cleaning, and future projects upstream or downstream where separate work will be necessary. City staff said maintenance after construction will be important to preserve flow capacity once grades and pipe elevations are corrected.

The resolution passed with affirmative votes from councilmembers present; the meeting record shows the motion was approved. No public comments were offered on the item during the meeting.

Council members who spoke during the discussion encouraged residents to report flooding that occurs during rain events so staff and the consultant can observe conditions in real time and refine project priorities.