Athens City presents $4.5M plan for Strain Road drainage; residents press city on sewer fees and construction impacts

Athens City held a public hearing on the Environmental Information Document for the Strain Road improvement project, where city officials and contractor Krebs Engineering described a two‑phase plan and said $4,500,000 in federal funding has been allocated to the work.

Matthew Reynolds, senior associate for Krebs Engineering, told residents the EID "evaluates the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project" and is a required step in the State Revolving Fund application process. He outlined a two‑phase approach: phase 1 focuses on stormwater and drainage — including box culvert replacements at Luke Street, under Strain Road and beneath the landfill roadway to convey water toward Swan Creek — and phase 2 would evaluate sanitary sewer needs for a largely septic community.

The city and consultants said federal sources already assigned to the project include $123,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), $3.8 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and $500,000 from the Clean…