Nashville Acting Mayor David Briley has resurrected failed plans for a flood wall in downtown, wanting to spend $125 million the city does not have.
The latest big ticket item on Briley’s wish list comes days before the special mayoral election on Thursday.
Former mayors Megan Barry and Karl Dean failed to get the project approved, The Tennessean said. That is because some City Council members wanted to focus on mitigation efforts in residential areas following the 2010 flood.
Metro Water Services Director Scott Potter is trying to sell the flood wall by calling downtown another residential area, the newspaper said.
The original flood wall price tag in 2015 was $110 million. Briley has added the wall to the city’s proposed capital improvements budget, which the council will look at next month.
The City Council is not exactly rolling in cash — it is considering a proposal to raise property taxes by 50 cents as The Tennessee Star reported earlier this week.
News4 I-Team recently ran a story saying former Mayor Dean used $7.4 million in HUD disaster relief money to pay for design and engineering work for riverfront development, including Ascend Ampitheater. You can read more about that report on The Star here.
Meanwhile, Metro Police officers and Nashville firefighters want the raises they were promised to help with the cost of living, WSMV reported. They were promised three years’ worth of raises and received a round last year, but the City Council may not be able to afford raises this year. Mark Young, president of the firefighters union, told the TV station that its members cannot afford to live in Nashville.
