The Greenville City Council approved a resolution on Monday night that will help address storm drainage issues on South Street and along Hwy. 10 West near Magnolia Cemetery.

Council members awarded a bid for drainage improvements to Mitchell’s Contracting Service for $346,064 during their Monday meeting. The contractor will make repairs to the drainage systems under the roads.

Parts of South Street have been closed for months after a portion of the street caved in.

The problem stems from the pipe that is not large enough to handle the amount of water that runs downhill from Fort Dale Road, according to McLendon.

“On South Street we had a road cave in,” he said. “It’s been blocked off for several months. The problem is when you fix it, it’s going to be more water to come through there because you’ve got to put a bigger pipe in there.

“There’s a big pipe underneath the highway that the state has, and it’s big enough. But the problem is when the water gets underneath that pipe and gets into the pipe over at the cemetery, it’s all fell in. It’s been that way for 15 years. That’s the reason we have a portion of the cemetery that we can’t sell lots in.  It floods.”

McLendon said once a large pipe is installed along South Street, the flooding will stop, which will also make traveling on Highway 10 safer during heavy rains.

“We don’t have any choice, but to do this,” he said. “Once we open up South Street, it’s going to be more water. When you don’t do that, Highway 10 is overcome with water, and that’s the only way to the hospital. I know of at least four times in 15 years that road has been closed off because when you get a lot of rain at one time. It’s a problem that we’ve got to fix.”

McLendon told council members that he hopes the project will be underway this summer or in the early fall.

“We want to go ahead and get started on it, and get it finished,” he said.