Moving vehicles create a spray of floodwater on West Main Street during Thursday’s flash flood. | Clif Knight

The City of Hartselle might have to wait until next year before any of the downtown flooding issues can be resolved, according to Mayor Don Hall.

Hall said the project includes building a retention pond between Milner, Hammitt and Georgia streets behind the Hartselle City Schools’ central office, northeast of downtown.

“They’re saying that it could be spring of next year before they could start work on it,” Hall said. “I wish that we could get it built before the next winter rainy season, but it doesn’t appear that will happen.”

In August 2012, the city received approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a $325,800 project to alleviate flooding concerns in downtown Hartselle, where two streams merge underneath the downtown area. One stream runs underneath Cahoots restaurant while the other runs under Hickory Street before the two streams merge and exit near the Farmer’s Market.

Department of Development director Jeff Johnson said August 2012 that the goal of this project is to slow the rate of water runoff upstream and increase the rate downstream to prevent future flooding.

In addition to the retention ponds upstream, the project calls for cleaning and widening drains downstream to help the water flow more freely once it arrives in downtown Hartselle.

The city is receiving $244,350 in federal money for the project. The city must match $81,450 in either funding or in-kind services.