Arcadia flood options could see March vote

Arcadia council members are reviewing alternatives for the first phase of a major flood control effort, a step that indicates that federal engineers have not yet reached 35 percent completion of their design.

Council members were introduced to the 95-page value engineering document last Wednesday in a closed meeting. The document includes descriptions of the costs for alternatives for levees and other flood control measures along Turton Creek.

The council could decide which approach to endorse at their March 2 meeting, according to city administrator Chad Hawkins. The document was discussed in a closed meeting because it contains information about which properties the city may need to buy for the Turton Creek phase of the project.

“This is an important milestone before 35 percent (of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ design is completed),” Hawkins said. “It’s really a brain storming session that may or may not save money.”

Hawkins said the step occurs before the corps reaches 35 percent completion of its detailed design. He estimates the corps is at about 25 to 30 percent completion.

The document the Arcadia council is reviewing is for alternative engineering concepts for just the first “reach” of a larger flood control effort that could cost $40 million. The first phase covers levees and other flood control efforts along Turton Creek. The creek was responsible for the city’s most recent major flood in 2017. 

Hawkins has said the city should be able to fund the first phase with federal and state money along with city borrowing. Work is expected to begin this year on a separate, over $7 million internal drainage project that includes improved pumping capacity and storm drains to shed the rain that falls on the city. The internal drainage effort was carved out of the bigger corps study to try to reduce costs.

The city and corps agreed to begin the project in 2016. The last public estimate from the corps anticipates construction to begin in 2025.