During its Oct. 10 meeting, Washington’s City Council discussed information concerning drainage issues in the city.

“At the last council meeting, council had asked for me to provide some numbers on what it would take to prepare and produce a lot of improvements throughout the city’s drainage system. I want back to some studies that we had had done in 2007 and 2009 and put those numbers together for your information and review,” said Frankie Buck, the city’s public-works director.

Councilman Doug Mercer said there are numerous areas in the city not included in the two drainage studies that need addressing, citing the Fifth and Bridge streets intersection and Minuteman Lane south of Washington-Warren Airport as two of those areas. “I think if we’re going to look at a program, it’s got to address more than these two and it needs to encompass the entire city. Obviously, we recognize these two from an old study. We ought to look at — based on the experiences of the last six to eight weeks — where we know there are areas flooding we may not be addressing here,” he said.

A 2009 study estimates the cost for drainage improvements in a section of the Jack’s Creek Basin at $4.9 million, according to a memorandum from Frankie Buck, the city’s public-works director, to the mayor and City Council.

An area of major concern includes the Brown Street-East 12^th Street area near Tayloe’s Hospital Pharmacy. The study, performed by Rivers & Associates, calls for a series of box culverts along Willow and Simmons streets. That culvert system would enter Jack’s Creek upstream of Park Drive, according to the memorandum. The benefit of the culvert system would be avoiding disturbance of neighboring backyards west of Simmons Street.

Utility conflicts could increase that project’s cost.

Another area of concern is upstream from Eighth Street.

Upstream improvements from Eighth Street to Oak Drive, including installment of a box culvert at John Small Avenue (U.S. Highway 264), would cost an estimated $5.2 million, according to a study performed in 2007. Because U.S. 64 is a federal highway, the North Carolina Department of Transportation is responsible for installing the box culvert, according to city officials.

The two projects carry a combined cost estimate of $5.1 million. That estimated does not include easement acquisition, utility conflicts and engineering fees.

Last month, council members asked Buck to provide them with costs estimates for drainage improvements in the Jack’s Creek Basin. That request came after some city residents voiced concerns with flooding in their 12^th Street neighborhood. They made it clear to city officials that they want immediate action to address flooding in the Jack’s Creek Basin.

In other business, the council received an update on the fundraising efforts of the Save the Pool committee.

“At this point, actually, we’ve raised over $26,000, so we’ve added to our collection at this point in time, said Kristi Roberson, the city’s parks and recreation director.

The fundraising golf tournament set for Oct. 11 was cancelled because of Hurricane Matthew, but it will be rescheduled, Roberson said. The Save the Pool committee plans to make the tournament an annual event, she said.