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Fire Chief David Berman outlines drainage fixes at Station 2; council approves $50,800 from bond fund
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Summary
The Fayetteville Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved $50,800 from the city's bond fund to address drainage failures at Fire Station 2 after Fire Chief David Berman detailed undersized piping, a failing culvert and an abandoned pump-testing pit. The work is intended to prevent apparatus flooding and improve driveway safety.
Fire Chief David Berman told the Fayetteville Board of Mayor and Aldermen on March 23 that persistent drainage failures at Fire Station 2 have begun to threaten apparatus access and the station’s exterior pavement. The board voted to pay $50,800 from the city’s bond fund to begin repairs.
“We had a heavy rainfall and flooded our bays,” Berman said as he presented photos and a three-part repair plan. He described the main problems as an undersized, corrugated outlet pipe in the back parking lot, a failing entry culvert that chips the asphalt when water freezes, and a blocked pump-testing pit that was losing water by midday.
The chief said consultants recommended replacing the corrugated pipe with smooth concrete pipe that can be flushed and maintained, replacing and reinforcing the culvert at the station entry, and removing and filling an approximately 8-by-20-foot pump-testing pit with roughly 80 tons of rock before placing a concrete cap (the cap was not included in the pit-removal estimate). Berman gave a pit-removal estimate of about $7,000 and conveyed a wide estimate range for the pipe work depending on footage, saying the back-parking-line option could range roughly from $3,000 to $22,500.
Council members pressed staff on whether stormwater from adjoining properties would be routed onto the station. Berman said much of the surrounding property is city-owned and that the recommended ditch-line and culvert work is intended to let water run to the street rather than pond near the station.
Mayor opened a motion to pay $50,800 from the bond fund; the motion was recorded in the minutes as made by Alderman Oliver and seconded by Alderman Faulkner. The presiding officer called the vote and the motion carried.
City staff said completing the three projects — pipe replacement, culvert/entry reinforcement, and pit removal/fill — should reduce the risk of vehicle damage and allow safer forward ingress and egress from the bays, rather than repeated backing maneuvers that raise safety concerns. The city will proceed with the work and return with any additional contract details as they are finalized.
