DAPHNE, Ala.—The bone David Wetzel has to pick with Bayside Academy isn’t one he found in a creek that borders the campus, although he said he has found American Indian axe heads and fossils in the stream.

Wetzel is concerned with the school’s continued development of wetlands that run from Mobile Bay out to neighboring Old County Road and Belrose and Dryer avenues. A resident on Belrose for 30 years, he has seen the landscape around his home dramatically altered over the years.

He recalled a Catholic Church that once sat on the site of the academy’s football field. The property — mostly swamp land — had a spring that today runs under Old County Road. Surrounding it were more than 30 cyprus trees. “But in the early ’70s, they (developers) cut all the cyprus trees down and filled in the swamp,” he said.

Wetzel said he fears that continued development has negatively affected neighboring streets; he identified cracks where water flows underneath. He claimed that development has caused a shift in the aquifer’s natural direction and said a stream now runs through a neighbor’s backyard that never collected water in the past.

City site containment inspector Ashley Campbell said she can’t substantiate Wetzel’s claims but did acknowledge the presence of a tributary that flows on the property’s north side.

Campbell said the stream’s origin is an unknown pipe — installed years ago by a private developer — for which she has no additional information. She added that the city’s water system includes a pipe that runs underneath Belrose Avenue.

Wetzel contended that the area has cultural and historical significance and should be protected. He claimed that a stretch of beach at Belrose Park Pier once served as a shipping point for American Indians as they continued their perilous journey of the Trail of Tears. To support this claim, Wetzel said the Alabama Historical Society has a stone axe that was found in the half-mile-long stream and verified as an authentic American Indian artifact.

Gregory A. Waslekov, anthropology professor at the University of South Alabama, said he can’t confirm that the area was indeed a shipping point but can attest to the stream’s cultural significance.

“Although there was a wharf in the vicinity, I am not aware of that spot being used during Indian removal,” Waslekov said. “If there have been Indian artifacts found there, then that is an important archaeological site since very few have been found on the Eastern Shore between Daphne and Maryann Beach.”

Christopher Haveman, a University of West Alabama history professor and Creek Indian removal expert, also said he can’t confirm Wetzel’s claim but said many Creek Indians may have passed through Daphne on their way to Mobile.

He added that Indian removal rarely used boats to ship American Indians; the most common transportation means across the state was a steamboat route from Montgomery to Mobile and onto New Orleans.

“A number of Creek detachments did pass through Mobile on their way to present-day Oklahoma but I have only come across references to Mobile, not Daphne or any other town in the bay,” Haveman said. “I do know that Grant Foreman’s book ‘Indian Removal’ mentions that a detachment of Creeks passed through Mobile and camped below the city: that could mean Daphne or simply the south end of Mobile.”

Bayside’s construction plans include building a culvert — to make room for the parking lot — that would run up the creek’s side and into the middle of a gully. To clear a construction path, close to 15 trees have been removed from the area.

Wetzel said he is concerned about Bayside’s perceived lack of awareness and diligence.

“The people running the show just don’t care,” he said.

Not so, according to Bayside Academy headmaster Tom Johnson, who said the administration acknowledges what value the neighborhood places on the wetlands.

“We are very aware of the sensitivity of this area,” Johnson said. “We are not impacting the stream. We are well away from the stream. Our first priority is the environment.”

The school employed Aerostar, an environmental surveying firm, to monitor stream activity during construction, he said. When asked what duties are involved during maintenance, An Aerostar spokesperson refused to comment, saying they defer all questions to their client, Bayside Academy.

“We are cognizant of what we’re doing,” Johnson said. “We have all the permits and approval for construction of our performing-arts center.”

Johnson said the school faces a challenge in finding a balance between protecting the environment and offering their students as many resources as possible.

“We’re doing everything we can to provide for our students to be the best they can,” he said.

While touring the gully, Wetzel and a Daphne Bulletin reporter encountered the construction project’s foreman. Representing Termac Construction of Mobile, the foreman said that impact to the creek is being closely monitored.

“If they find artifacts, we’ll shut the project down,” he said, speaking of Aerostar’s involvement.

He added that a five-year topographical study, analyzing the stream’s elevation, detailed significant decay in the creek’s southern walls. He expects deterioration to continue northward upstream.

“I’m not trying to bully anyone,” Wetzel said of his awareness efforts. “I’m just trying to educate.”

Wetzel said his goals are: to see no more damage done to the gully and stream; to have a walkway built along the gully for student observation; and to preserve the valley’s ecosystem.

“I think people are not aware,” he said. “People are just too busy.”