A public meeting on the First Creek Drainage Improvements Project, Phase II, will be held Tuesday, January 8, from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Arlington Baptist Church at 1928 Fairmont Blvd. The meeting will be in the church's Fellowship Hall and will be attended by staff members of the City of Knoxville's Engineering Department. Bill Lyons, senior director of the city's Department of Policy & Communications will moderate the meeting.This meeting will give residents and other interested parties background and an overview of the ongoing project aimed at alleviating flooding problems along First Creek in North Knoxville as well as an opportunity to comment on the plan.The total cost of the project including design, right-of-way acquisition and construction is estimated at $5.4 million. The project boundaries travel along the First Creek channel from Chickamauga Avenue at N. Broadway to Emoriland Boulevard at N. Broadway.The scope of the work includes widening a 1,853-foot-long section of the First Creek channel to provide an additional 40-feet of grass-lined channel; the replacement of the existing bridge at Fairmont Boulevard and construction of a new bridge at Emoriland Boulevard designed to provide a high-flow bypass for the First Creek Channel.Comment cards have been sent to homeowners within the boundaries of the project area as well as some individuals in adjacent areas and the cards will also be made available at the meeting.Those cards can be turned in at the meeting on January 8, or they can be mailed or faxed to the City, before Jan. 22.