What is the Brainerd SEP?

This project is the result of a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) developed by the City of Chattanooga (City) Water Quality Program to address some permit legacy problems with Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC).
We hope the resulting Green Infrastructure Retrofit Project for the Brainerd Community will provide a model for retrofitting the entire city, while simultaneously addressing the social, cultural and economic issues and characteristic of each designated district.

This was a project resulting from a stakeholder process in the Eastgate community of Brainerd. It was designed as a demonstration area to test the feasibility and the effectiveness of the City's new Runoff Reduction Standard.  It has a number of advantages for a demonstration district scale project, including:

• Stakeholders with a variety of incomes, lifestyles, ages and ethnic backgrounds.
• A wide range of land uses from airports to golf courses and from small retail establishments to big box commercial and shopping malls of different ages and designs.
• Brainerd Road is a large central public arterial.

While separately administered and funded, this project is intended to work in conjunction with the creation of city-wide Standards for Runoff Reduction, this pilot project will demonstrate the effectiveness of the program.

Three Tasks of this SEP were:

Task 1 – Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan Development
The process required for the implementation of new standards of land development in Chattanooga requires a district scale assessment of physiographic, hydrologic and cultural resources as well as an intensive and effective public process and participation. Information gathered during this participatory process along with identified opportunities and constraints will inform a green infrastructure conceptual vision used for public outreach.

Task 2 – Design and Engineering Site Plan Development
The result of the public engagement process in Task 1 will be the development of a strategic master plan for the Green Infrastructure Retrofit Project, which will reexamine and establish the scope of the individual projects and their timeline for implementation. The following areas were proposed as possible projects in the Community Plan.
• Brainerd Road Corridor as a 21st Century Street
• Brainerd Mission Area
• Brainerd Village
• Eastgate
• Brainerd Library
• Airport Authority

Task 3 – Education and Public Outreach
A critical component of the project is education and professional training. An educational sign will be installed on site along with the videos produced (see below).

As a result of the Stakeholder process, a site owned by the Chattanooga Municipal Airport was chosen. The Airport already had obtained an FFA grant to raze a car dealership site and they signed a Interlocal agreement to work with the City to implement a regional green infrastructure retrofit basin. This site will relieve some of the flooding concerns from the state highway and demonstrate infiltration practices and native vegetation development. A compost and compost Tea workshop was held in association with the project.

Airport Site Sign 1

Airport Sign 2