LENRD votes against JEO Battle Creek bypass channel evaluation proposal
In the ongoing story of what to do about the floods in Battle Creek, many new options were explored and decisions were made during Monday night's meeting.
By News Channel Nebraska
NORFOLK, Neb. -- In the ongoing story of what to do about the floods in Battle Creek, many new options were explored and decisions were made during Monday night's meeting.
In a meeting stretching close to midnight, the LENRD set out to address a proposal made by JEO to perform a bypass channel evaluation. The cost of the proposal increased when it was initially reported back in early March from $64,020 to $78,970. The proposal was made by JEO Consulting in an effort to address the flooding in the Battle Creek area.
According to John Petersen and Patrick Hartman of JEO consultants, the diversion channel is estimated to cost $25.9 million. However, there are some concerns over the proposal, such as the speed of the water, which some in attendance said could damage county roads and cause an increase in erosion. JEO says the diversion channel would also save an estimated $13.6 million in flood damage for Battle Creek.
Another project which was proposed during the meeting was building a levee on one side of Battle Creek, allowing water to spread to the northeast and join the river more slowly. John Petersen spoke on the matter, saying while the levee could work it would come out to a negative cost ratio, making it ineligible for federal funds.
"Potential that could work, yes," Petersen said. "It would require further study to see exactly what that entails. The main take away is even if we did just look at this right bank levee right on the west end of town, the cost of that piece alone would have a negative benefit cost ratio."
Ultimately the decision to pass the evaluation project was voted against 13-1, with the sole yes vote being Chad Korth. After the vote, Korth questioned what was next, now that the bypass proposal was off the table. Mike Sousek, general manager for LENRD, said that the levee seemed to be the most likely answer, and that he would look at the proposals and attempt to get into a dollar range below $80,000
"The discussion I heard tonight was the levee and the detention cell and I'm going to try to get to a dollar figure," Sousek said. "It's all going to come down what does this board want to spend and so if we can get to that answer without having to spend $80,000 I'm going bot e having those conversations with JEO.
Korth left after the vote for they bypass and was absent for the rest of the meeting. The next LENRD meeting will be the subcommittee of the whole on April, 14.