BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Nearly six months after approving a sweeping yearlong moratorium on multi-unit developments and student housing projects near downtown Auburn, the Auburn City Council received updates on studies commissioned to guide future development decisions on May 5.
The progress report focused on four key infrastructure components, including traffic, zoning, stormwater drainage and sanitary sewer systems.
According to City Manager Megan McGowen Crouch, all of the studies are on schedule, even as an emergency repair prepares to tear up a stretch of Magnolia Avenue.
“There was an unexpected situation that happened, and that’s not abnormal in infrastructure,” Crouch told the council, noting the repair sits within the moratorium study area but was not part of the active study work. “We won’t know until we get closer to the fall, where [the results] are going to be as we continue to process data internally.”
Engineering consultant Kimley-Horn, which was contracted in mid-December to lead the traffic study in the urban core and Urban Neighborhood West moratorium area, has completed initial counts at all study intersections, established growth rates for projecting future volumes and reviewed preliminary accident data.
With an initial analysis complete, the firm is now prioritizing intersections for deeper analysis, and a citywide public survey on traffic concerns will launch soon.
On the zoning front, consulting firm Whitesmith and Cusano has met with staff to identify provisions in the city’s ordinance that may need amending, particularly focusing on the urban core and Urban Neighborhood West.
Once those initial staff-level meetings are complete, the firm will meet with council members and the Planning Commission at a later date.
As part of the stormwater drainage system review, Neel-Schaffer held a kickoff meeting in mid-March.
Since then, city staff members have provided the consulting firm with GIS system data and a range of documents and studies, and modeling software has been installed on Public Works and Engineering Services computers.
At the same time, crews are working on drainage and sub-basin delineation and have prioritized basins inside the moratorium footprint.
Thirty sanitary sewer flow monitors have also been installed across the collection system, including throughout the moratorium footprint, for a 90-day data collection period that began in April and will run through June.
Alongside the stormwater drainage study, city staff members have compiled current and historical water-usage data.
When asked whether the university being out of session for part of the window would skew results, city officials said the larger concern is the recent lack of rainfall, since dry weather limits inflow and infiltration data collection.
Toward the end of the presentation, city officials cautioned that final recommendations may not be ready until the moratorium’s deadline expires later this year on Nov. 30.
While the studies themselves may be completed, turning findings into formal recommendations and regulatory changes will depend on public input and review by council members and the Planning Commission.
Staff could neither guarantee nor rule out completion by the end of November.
City officials also flagged an emergency repair to a sanitary sewer and storm drainage line beneath Magnolia Avenue that must be completed before a scheduled World Cup friendly match scheduled to be held at Jordan-Hare Stadium on June 9.
That work is expected to impact traffic flow on the stretch of Magnolia Avenue that runs from S. Donahue Drive to the Chipotle located at 346 W. Magnolia Ave.
A specific completion date was not provided, although Crouch said work could begin after the World Cup match.
In other news, the council also:
- Announced a vacancy on the Water Works Board. That term will begin on June 22 and end on June 21, 2032. The council will make that appointment during its June 2 meeting.
- Announced two vacancies on the Planning Commission. Those terms will begin on Aug. 1 and end on July 31, 2032. The council will make those appointments during its July 7 meeting.
- Approved a special events retail alcohol license for Aramark Educational Services, which is doing business as Plainsman Park at 351 S. Donahue Drive.
- Approved a $136,383 contract with Carahsoft Technology Corp. for a subscription to the Procore Project Management software.
- Approved a $42,350 contract with INdigital to renew customer support services for the Public Safety Department’s 911 Call Handling System.
- Accepted public easements located at 120 Cedarcrest Circle from Cedarcrest Court LLC.
- Accepted public rights-of-way and public drainage and utility easements located south of Beehive Road and east of Biltmore Lane from the Industrial Development Board.
- Accepted a public utility easement located north of Beehive Road and near Choctafaula Creek from Robert Miller, Kathy Miller, Starr Miller and Richard Miller Jr.
- Approved a $705,500 tax abatement amendment and extension for CNJ, Inc.
- Approved a nearly $1.53 million tax abatement for DIA USA.
- Approved a $655,216 tax abatement for Kamtec Auto USA Corporation.
- Approved a $628,000 tax abatement for KettenWulf, Inc.
- Approved a $1.24 million tax abatement for KettenWulf Property Inc.
- Approved a $951,780 tax abatement for Vertex Innovations LLC.
- Approved a reimbursement resolution that allows for the issuance of up to $75 million in debt to help cover initial costs associated with the construction of Plains High School and site preparation for the junior high school.
- Approved a $504,668 contract with Restocon for maintenance and repair work at the Wright Street Parking Deck.
