The Town of Duck Hill was recently selected as one of six communities in nine states to receive a two-year grant to mitigate flooding from storm water runoff, improve the health and quality of life for its residents, and increase social and economic opportunities in the town.
According to Suzanne Burnes with the Southeastern Sustainability Directors’ Network (SSDN), this is the first time for the network to fund grants of this kind. Barnes said the two-year initiative for all six communities is a $1.2 million investment. Other communities awarded are Huntsville, Ala., Chattanooga, Tenn., Ashville, N.C., Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga.
“We received 35 applications out of nine states,” Burnes said. “I think [Duck Hill] is in a really interesting place in time. There are very few small communities that have woken up to these kinds of [sustainable] solutions. Duck Hill was the smallest community to apply, and there are a whole lot more Duck Hills out there than Atlantas. [Duck Hill] is on the cutting edge. Also, we were really impressed with the project team.”
Duck Hill’s program is known as ASEEDS (Achieving Sustainability through Education and Economic Development Solutions), a “partnership of diverse stakeholders enjoined to develop a comprehensive and holistic model to make vulnerable communities in Mississippi more sustainable and resilient.” The initiative will address storm water runoff and flooding mitigation, adaption and resiliency planning for the town’s future, conservation of natural resources and training at-risk youth to be Creek Rangers, and Master Planning through Creative Place Planning for the town.
In addition to SSDN, the Delta Regional Authority is funding a master plan for the Main Street and neighborhood development, as part of its Creative Place Making for the Arts Initiative program, said Romona Taylor Williams, project consultant.
Williams said the ASEEDS program involves three-pronged community engagement to improve infrastructure problems in the town, with the community working in collaboration to solve a pressing issue – flooding – in the community.
“Storm water runoff has been a problem for many years,” Williams said.
The solution to Duck Hill’s flooding problem will involve green and grey (pipes) infrastructure, explained Bobby Williams, managing partner and construction management lead for Sustainability Works, a partner of the program.
“We have come up with a water infiltration system with green infrastructure draining system around the worst area, and gray infrastructure for the sustainability [of that system],” Bobby Williams said.
Joe Sutherland, Duck Hill’s engineer, is working with Sustainability Works to create the anti-flooding infrastructure.
“This has been a new path for me, but I’m excited to learn,” Sutherland said.
Architect David Perks with the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, along with The Carl Small Town Center at Mississippi State University, will be working with the town to improve the town’s landscape and curb appeal.
“[SSDN grant] gives us opportunities to do more than just one thing,” Perks said. “We will be creating landscapes that are beautiful and educational. We can also raise the town’s sense of pride in their communities with the biggest benefit and the longest lasting benefit.”
And Duck Hill’s ASEEDS program will hopefully become a model of sustainability in the area and throughout the Delta, Romona Williams said.
Al White, director of Action Communications and Education Reform (ACER), said he thought the SSDN program was a dream come true for Duck Hill.
“[ACER] has been doing things to promote the town of Duck Hill, promote the culture of the town, and document the history,” White said.
The SSDN program will not be successful without community involvement. Newly-formed organization, North Montgomery Communities United for Prosperity, has been working diligently to spread the work around the community. Tuesday night, a community engagement forum was held, and the event was a huge success.
Partners of the ASEEDS program are SSDN, ACER, Town of Duck Hill, Joe Sutherland Engineering and Surveying, EcoAdapt, State Bank, Mississippi State University College of Architecture, Art, and Design, North Montgomery Communities United for Prosperity, and Sustainability Works.
