Photo courtesy of city of Hoover
Stormwater floods onto U.S 31 near the Riverchase Crossings shopping center in Hoover, Alabama, on May 4, 2021.
The Hoover City Council on Monday night agreed to pay up to $4 million to fix a stormwater drainage problem in Riverchase that has been flooding one of the city’s busiest intersections for years.
The fix was welcomed by some residents, but the council and mayor were criticized for failing to disclose information about the expenditure, which is settling a two-year-old lawsuit. And some residents claimed city officials are being inconsistent about whether the city can or should fix various stormwater problems around the city.
The area in question is in and around the intersection of U.S. 31, Lorna Road and John Hawkins Parkway, which frequently has been flooding during heavy rains ever since stormwater pipes in the adjacent Riverchase Village shopping center and adjoining properties along U.S. 31 began failing in 2017.
A major failure in 2017 that flooded numerous businesses in and around that shopping center led to a lawsuit between the various property owners and their insurance companies, and a subsequent failure of a stormwater pipe on private property along U.S. 31 in 2020 has led to multiple additional flooding incidents that spill over onto U.S. 31 and additional lawsuit claims between the parties.
The Hoover City Council joined the dispute in September 2022 by declaring the property a public nuisance and in 2023 filed a lawsuit to force the property owners to fix the problems, but the matter has been tangled up in court ever since.
At least one of the property owners claimed the city of Hoover shared in responsibility for the problems, saying the city itself is contributing a substantial amount of stormwater runoff from Lorna Road and Data Drive into the shopping center’s stormwater system.
That party, Rogina Investment, claimed it was the city’s responsibility to operate and maintain that system.
The council decided it wanted to settle the dispute and agreed to pay up to $4 million to help fix the problem, but the proposed settlement agreement the council was voting on was not made public prior to the vote.
In a work session Thursday and when the resolution to enter into an agreement with property owners was publicly read Monday night, no city official mentioned the amount of money to which the city was committing. The actual settlement agreement was not included in the council’s packet that was made available to the public prior to Monday night’s meeting, even though it was referred to in the resolution as an attached exhibit.
Ken King, a resident who lives off Ross Bridge Parkway, on Monday night revealed the $4 million figure and accused city officials of being “sneaky” instead of telling the public what was going on.
Photo by Jon Anderson
Ken King, a resident who lives off Ross Bridge Parkway in Hoover, Alabama, talks to the Hoover City Council on Monday, April 21, 2025.
He noted that the mayor two weeks ago was claiming the city didn’t have $6.1 million for sanitary sewer repairs in Riverchase and was proposing to take that amount away from performing arts center funding, but now suddenly they can come up with $4 million that was not in the budget for stormwater sewer repairs on private property.
The mayor and Council President John Lyda for years have been telling people the city can’t address stormwater issues on private property, but now suddenly in an election year it’s time to start turning dirt to address problems, King said.
The owner of the shopping center years ago committed to fix the stormwater drainage issues, and the city has failed to hold the developer responsible, King said.
Matt Winther, a resident of Scout Creek, said he’s glad the city is finally doing something to fix the problem and said this case is a prime example of why the city has responsibility for oversight of stormwater management on private property.
When the property was redeveloped in late 2015 and 2016, city inspectors should have required updates to the stormwater drainage at that time, Winther said.
His mother, KT Thomas, also a resident of Scout Creek who has repeatedly been critical of city officials for failing to address stormwater problems in the city, said this settlement agreement supports the notion that stormwater infrastructure is the city’s responsibility.
“Fighting it only makes it cost more,” Thomas said. “More damage occurs. More people are hurt.”
She wouldn’t be surprised if the city had to spend $4 million every year to fix stormwater problems because so many problems have gone unaddressed for years, she said.
William Cary, a resident of Southlake, said the city has failed to address stormwater issues in his community, causing severe erosion problems on private property and causing Indian Valley Lake to be filled with silt and sludge.
Kristin Landers, a resident of Altadena Woods, told the council, “When you spend $6 million here and $4 million elsewhere, it’s not government money. It’s taxpayer money. You’re spending the money of the hard-earned workers of the city of Hoover. … Don’t spend money recklessly. We’re in this predicament because of poor city management, and I hope we can do better in the future.”
Councilman Casey Middlebrooks said he certainly doesn’t want to spend money recklessly.
“There is a clear public purpose for the safety of the general public — our citizens and those traversing that highway anytime it rains,” Middlebrooks said. “It’s just an incredibly dangerous situation there.”
The city has attempted to hold the property owners responsible for paying for the stormwater repairs that need to take place at that location, even taking them to court, but the court case could go on another two years, Middlebrooks said.
“I’m not willing to put those people that traverse that highway at further risk,” he said.
Photo courtesy of city of Hoover
Hoover police block traffic on U.S. 31 as stormwater floods onto the highway near the Riverchase Crossings shopping center in Hoover, Alabama, on May 4, 2021.
Middlebrooks noted that while the city is agreeing to pay up to $4 million to fix the problem, it may not end up costing that much. The original estimate to fix the problem was $2.5 million, he said.
Hoover City Attorney Philip Corley said the city won’t know the cost until it seeks bids on the repair job.
Rogina Investment, which owns the property that contains the Walgreens and the Panda Express restaurant, has agreed to pay $500,000 toward repairs, according to the agreement provided after the vote. And Trea Riverchase Village, which owns the shopping center, has agreed to pay for any more needed repairs on its property, Corley said.
Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato said the bottom line is that the city had reached an impasse with the property owners regarding the legal dispute and the council didn’t want to let the flooding problems continue.
“It’s flooding every other week it seems like now,” Brocato said. “It’s moving out to Highway 31. We’ve actually had to rescue people out there due to the flash floods. Rather than continue on fighting it in court, we’ve worked out an agreement with all parties. The council has seen it. They voted on it unanimously.”
When asked why the agreement wasn’t in the council packet that was made public, the mayor said he wasn’t sure. “We thought it was,” he said.
The city attorney provided the agreement after the meeting upon request.
