MOUNT VERNON — Two residents voiced their concerns about public and environmental safety on the city’s west side during the July 23 meeting of Mount Vernon City Council.
Tonya Kent noted that during a July 12 neighborhood meeting, she learned that the levee along the Kokosing River was decertified in 2016.
“This means that when FEMA looks at a flood plain map, it doesn’t exist,” she said. “[The decertification] was due to lack of maintenance and general upkeep.”
She noted that Knox Soil & Water Conservation District referenced a 2009 evaluation of the dike that recommended it be raised one to two feet.
“That was not done, and it needed to be done for it to be secure. Without proper maintenance, the flood plain has expanded exponentially over the last decade,” she said. “Not only has our flood insurance increased significantly, but we also have concerns that FEMA will not assist our residents in a catastrophic flood event.”
Kent questioned who was responsible for maintenance, why was it not done, who was responsible between 2009 and 2016 to rectify FEMA’s concerns, and has the entire dike throughout the county been decertified.
“We have incredible opportunities for economic growth in the next decade, and millions of dollars have been invested in future projects. But what is it worth when our entire neighborhood is in jeopardy due to our infrastructure not being secure?”
Noting he cannot speak on events prior to his administration, Mayor Matt Starr said, “This is a priority for me, this neighborhood. The levee is incredibly important to our flood control plan, for the county as well as one half of the population of the city.”
He said that now that the city has some revenue from the stormwater utility, the city is starting to do some maintenance, but it is too little because there are stormwater issues in all of the neighborhoods.
Maintenance includes mowing and starting a phased brush removal program last fall. Starr said there is a concerted effort to remove invasive species and replace them with native grasses.
The city plans to begin surveying the levee in the fall when the leaves are gone. Starr said the question is that since it has been decertified, “do we spend a lot of money trying to a full-fledged flood plain study or do we start over and redesign it altogether?”
“It’s been a priority for a lot of reasons, but it’s just been a long time coming,” he said. “We need to get this back on the priority list.
“I’m not going to candy-coat it for anybody. We’ve let it go for so long and now we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
City Engineer Brian Ball said the city has allocated $35,000 toward a survey. Additionally, city officials have discussed reallocating $45,000 in ARPA money (American Rescue Plan Act) from a drainage project in Memorial Park to the study.
Kent also noted that neglecting the dike provides a harbor for illegal activity, biohazard conditions, and harmful chemicals in the river.
Fountain Street resident Don Lang spoke to council about his request to vacate Maplewood Alley. His home sits 16 feet from the dike; if the city takes 15 feet in order to rebuild the dike, his home will only be 1 foot from the dike.
Lang said he has two maps, one which shows the alley and one which does not. He has maintained the area for 44 years but said there has never been an alley there.
Lang said he does not appreciate the response from city officials regarding how to fill out paperwork requesting vacation of the alley and the city taking over the property to rebuild the dike.
Safety-service Director Richard Dzik said that the area of land next to the levee has been platted as an alley.
“One of the reasons Mr. Ball is reluctant to vacate it is because it serves as an area for us to access the dike and also expand the dike,” he told Lang.
Lang also commented on a notification he received about ATVs not being legal in the city. He said his side-by-side is classified as a utility vehicle, not an ATV, and falls in the same category as a golf cart, which is legal if registered and inspected.
