Debris piles an eyesore, but officials say cleanup coming

Jan. 26—Piles of rock, dirt and construction debris on Fairground and Sims roads in Southwest Decatur are causing concern for a nearby business, but a city official said there are plans to clean up the properties.

The largest collection of debris is south of Tractor Supply Co. on Fairground Road, with other piles along Sims Road, south of Home Depot. Both areas of debris sit close to Decatur Athletic Club.

David Lee, chief code inspector with the city's Community Development Department, said he has had several conversations with owner Frank Hernandez Sr. about construction debris on his land along Sims Road. There are also multiple dirt piles and large boulders on the property.

Lee said his department sent a notice to Hernandez, and he has seen progress in removal of the construction debris.

"Some of the construction debris is gone and part of it is still there," Lee said. "He hasn't reached the deadline (specified in the notice) so we don't have a problem. The dirt is suitable fill so there's nothing we can do."

Hernandez said he plans to use the dirt to build up the site for a planned office building at Old Trinity and Woodall roads.

"The wood stack we plan to take it somewhere and burn it or take it to the dump," Hernandez said. — Apartments

Hernandez and his son, Frank Hernandez Jr., are planning to build an apartment complex on their 6.18 acres behind Decatur Athletic Club, Home Depot and Academy Sports.

At its Dec. 20 meeting, the Planning Commission gave conditional approval to Hernandez's site plan for a 74-unit apartment complex.

"He still has a couple of items he needs to do to get his site plan ready," City Planner Lee Terry said. "It shouldn't be too much longer before the plan gets full approval and then construction can begin."

Hernandez Sr. said they plan to build one-, two- and three-bedroom "modern" town home-style apartments. Each apartment will have a one-car garage and a living quarters on the first floor and bedrooms on the second floor.

"It's a great location because you can walk or ride a bike and quickly be at Walmart, Home Depot and all of the restaurants and stores," Hernandez said.

Some of the boulders piled along Sims Road will be used for landscaping at the apartment complex, he said.

The large piles of dirt, broken-up concrete and old pipe on Fairground Road is on property owned by Aaron Guthrie.

Jeremy Goforth, owner of the new Decatur Athletic Club, said the Fairground Road property, just across from his parking lot entrance, is unsightly and airborne dirt from the piles is also a problem.

"It's horrible," Goforth said. "When the wind blows, several of my customers complained about the dust covering their cars. There's also no silt fence."

Goforth said this Southwest Decatur area around Home Depot is developing quickly and traffic is heavy every day on Fairground and Sims roads.

Decatur Utilities spokesman Joe Holmes said DU contractor Vortex has been using the Fairground Road property as a laydown yard while it does sewer rehabilitation for the utility. Decatur Utilities is in the midst of a $160 million sewer rehabilitation project as it tries to solve the city's problems with sewer overflows.

Vortex "is actively working to dispose of the unusable excavated material currently being stored with permission at a staging yard located on privately-leased property on Fairground Road Southwest," Holmes said.

"Vortex also uses suitable material as needed for restoration work in previously excavated areas. This is a common practice for any civil construction work, especially ongoing underground utility work."

Holmes said the wet weather experienced during the fall and winter months "creates difficulty in hauling material, especially to spoil pile locations, due to the wet ground conditions and driving heavy equipment on what are typically dirt surfaces."

Holmes said the company is taking steps to reduce problems caused by its use of the property.

"Vortex has implemented measures to minimize runoff and DU is making every effort to minimize any inconvenience to our customers within our service area while we continue to make the necessary improvements to our wastewater system," he said.

Lee said he "has no interest in interfering" with the work Vortex is doing as long it's actively using the site, especially since he's sure the company has the required Alabama Department Environmental Management permits as part of its sewer rehab project.

"We need to be patient with Decatur Utilities while they try to solve a massive problem," Lee said.

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432. Twitter @DD_BayneHughes.