Panel flooded with information on levees
County committee starts long process to fix devices
"The time line for you is pretty intense early on," bond consultant Mary Kane told the three-member Madison County Flood Prevention District Commission in its first meeting Tuesday .
The nearly 90-minute session served as primer course on levees and flood issues for the members appointed last month by the County Board: Thomas Long, of Alton; Ronald Motil, of Maryville; and James R. Pennekamp, of Granite City.The committee was formed to tackle repairs on three Madison County levees not up to new federal standards. Areas with levees below certain benchmarks are often designated flood zones, forcing property owners there to pay for additional insurance.
State legislation signed earlier this year allows Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties to create the new flood panels and create a quarter-cent sales tax to fund the fixes.
The tax could generate up to $5 million each year, said Kane, who works for Stifel, Nicolaus and Co. Inc., a consulting firm hired by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to work on the project.
The panel does not necessarily have to approve the tax - it could find another way to pay for the repairs - although it remains the only viable funding mechanism for the fixes until federal reimbursements arrive, which could take up to 20 years.
County leaders who lobbied for state lawmakers to approve the new tax have repeatedly called it the best option to repair the levees. But Tuesday night, all three flood panel members indicated they wanted more information about who would be affected by the additional fee, applied to almost all purchases except groceries and medications. Long, a Glen Carbon lawyer, also asked that the EWGC provide data on the economic impact of flooding, testimony from city officials in county areas outside the flood zone, and possible health impacts if the levees failed.
Madison County Director of Administration Joseph D. Parente said that the information would be ready by the next meeting, scheduled for July 17.
"We'll find some of those folks to present their case," he said.
Pennekamp, who chairs a task force on the levee issues with members from the three counties, said the impact is clearly significant, given the amount of heavy industry in the region.
"I think it's safe to say there is a potential catastrophic loss of life and property," he said.
If the panel approves the tax plan, it would then have to quickly submit information to the County Board and the Illinois Department of Revenue in order for the sales tax to start. That would have to happen before Aug. 31 for the tax to begin in January, Kane said. If not, the county would have to wait another six months before state law allows a new tax to be added.
She estimated repairs in Madison County would cost from $73 million to $120 million on the Wood River and Metro East Sanitary District levees. (The Chain of Rocks Levee in Granite City is a federal flood control device and not under county control.)
Efforts to repair Wood River, which protects northern Madison County, started years ago and are far ahead of Metro East, she said. County officials Monday signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Wood River Drainage and Levee District to start improvements on that structure. It will cost $7 million.
Tom Cooling, an engineer for URS Corp., another consulting firm, told the panel that most repairs on Metro East and other levees will include relief wells and, in some cases, new bedrock walls that protect the shore.
He said water seeping beneath the levees is the major issue.
"The heights are OK," Cooling said. "As far as stability, we think that's generally not a problem. The problem is underseepage."
Parente said the panel should act by next month to get the tax in place and the funding starting, which would allow preliminary planning to start. It's vital not to miss that deadline, he said.
"We don't want to be in a situation where we're sitting waiting and not doing anything," Parente said.
Flood map meetings
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has scheduled three public meetings in the region to discuss new flood maps set for release this year.
The forums are:
July 29, 5-8:30 p.m.: Monroe County Annex Building, 901 Illinois Ave., Waterloo
July 30, 4-8 p.m.: Gateway Convention Center, One Gateway Drive, Collinsville
July 31, 4-8 p.m.: Southwestern Illinois College, 2500 Carlyle Avenue, Belleville
For more information, call 274-2750 or visit http://www.swillinoislevees.com/
Fed funding approved for levee, sewer improvements
The U.S. House is considering several million dollars worth of funding for Metro East levee repairs and other waterway improvements.
The House Appropriations Committee last week approved the funding package, part of the 2009 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill, that includes:
- $500,000 for sewer infrastructure improvements in Madison and St. Clair counties
- $450,000 to underseepage at the Prairie DuPont Levee in St. Clair County
- $2.5 million for construction of levee berms at Chain of Rocks Canal
