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Some towns still are striving to return to pre-flood conditions — like in Minnesota City, where state crews are replacing the city’s principal bridge, which washed out during the disaster.
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Water stands in farm fields along Hwy 16 near Hokah, Minn., Aug. 22, 2007.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) |
Other communities are working to prevent damages that could occur in future floods. In communities such as Goodview and Stockton, where residents sustained major damage to their wells and septic systems, the cities have scored state grants to install public utilities.
More than $11.8 million had been pledged for public-works projects that are under way or slated to happen in coming months. Here’s an overview of those projects, by city:
Elba, Minn.
Elba leaders learned in July that they have obtained about $1.4 million in state funds to rebuild levees to meet Army Corps of Engineers standards. Bringing the levee up to those guidelines also means it can receive federal repair funds if it’s damaged in another flood, said Joe Wheeler, director of the Southeast Minnesota Multi-County Housing and Redevelopment Authority.
Engineers have been working on the project this month, though it’s unclear when construction may begin, Wheeler said.
Goodview, Minn.
City leaders next week may award construction bids on a $3.8 million project to extend water and sewer lines to two flooded subdivisions that became part of Goodview after the disaster. The city annexed the Saehler-Anderson and Gunderson-Connaughty subdivisions in April and is using a state grant to extend the utility lines to more than 120 homes there.
Goodview also received a $1.2 million state grant in June to build an outlet for Lake Goodview and for other projects. The landlocked lake flooded homes, apartments and businesses last August because it had nowhere to drain.
Hokah, Minn.
The city received about $117,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to refurbish Como Falls Park — including replacement of a pedestrian bridge over Thompson Creek that washed out last August. The city has begun engineering the project and hopes to have it completed by winter, said city administrator Rodney Blank.
Minnesota City, Minn.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation has worked throughout the summer to replace the city’s main bridge on Bridge Street. That $1.2 million project should be completed as early as September, MnDOT officials have said.
Rushford, Minn.
The Rushford City Council voted last week to build a new, expanded community center to replace the facility damaged in the floods. A site for the new center hasn’t yet been chosen, City Administrator Windy Block said. The city has received about $375,000 in federal funds to rebuild the old community center, and leaders may ask to use those funds to build the new facility, which is expected to cost about $1 million, Block said.
The Army Corps of Engineers next month is slated to begin repairing 2007 flood damage to Rushford’s levees. City officials also are commissioning a study to determine if its levees need further repairs, Block said.
The city’s wastewater plant, badly damaged in the floods, has been repaired — though leaders may discuss teaming with Rushford Village and the city of Peterson to build a new plant, Block said.
St. Charles, Minn.
City officials announced in July that they had obtained more than $700,000 in state funds to buy out a mobile home park and two other properties and turn the land into a city park. Federal funds also will be used to demolish or relocate trailers at the Brookwood Mobile Home Park, where 16 of 19 mobile homes were damaged last August.
St. Charles officials hope to have the properties acquired and cleared out by this fall, City Administrator Nick Koverman said. Mayor Bill Spitzer has proposed turning the area into a trailhead park for a proposed bicycle trail to Whitewater State Park, though Koverman said the City Council won’t formally decide how to use the land until it’s acquired.
Stockton, Minn.
The Minnesota Public Facilities Authority earlier this month awarded Stockton a $3.2 million grant to build a public water system. The city council accepted the grant last week but still has plenty of details to work out, including whether residents will be required to hook on to the system, Mayor Jack Roberts said.
Roberts and other Stockton residents also have founded the Garvin Brook Watershed Alliance to advocate building flood-control structures on Garvin Brook, one of two streams that inundated the city in 2007 and in 1991. The alliance commissioned a federal study — released in June — that proposed building levees in Stockton and Goodview’s Gunderson Addition. Roberts said many alliance members remain cool to that proposal and would prefer building dams or retention structures upstream from Stockton.
Mark Sommerhauser may be reached at (507) 453-3514 or msommerhauser@winonadailynews.com
