If money grew on trees, Iola council members may have seriously considered a recommendation from the federal government to study the levees surrounding Riverside Park.
As is, it took all of five minutes for council to shoot down the proposal at their meeting Monday night
City officials recently received notice from the Federal Emergency Management Association suggesting a feasibility study to determine the efficacy of the earthen structures around the park. The study alone would cost almost $500,000, with nary a shovel of dirt turned. Iola would be expected to shoulder $273,120 of the cost through cash or in-kind labor.
Instead, council was prepared to keep on paying about $9,100 a year for insurance on seven structures in the park.
Carl Slaugh, city administrator, put their total value at about $6 million, including $2.5 million for the community building and about $1.1 million for the pool and bathhouse.
Without improving the levees the city most likely will see an increase in their insurance rate, Slaugh said. “We’re already in a higher category because we haven’t done anything to certify the levees since 2010,” he said.
Council members were willing to face the music.
“The costs to fix the levees could be astronomical,” said Steve French. “As long as we’re paying due diligence maybe we can create some protection for ourselves.”
French said perhaps the old railroad bed on the east side of the park should be raised. In the Flood of 2007 waters from Elm Creek entered the park from the east.
The study would determine if the current levees meet FEMA standards and if not, what would need to be done.
Slaugh said his only concern was if FEMA quits subsidizing insurance expenses for communities like Iola. He said he had heard of the possibility in the news, referring to the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. The National Flood Insurance Program is in arrears because the cost of flood insurance does not reflect the true costs of rebuilding a flooded community. To get on more solid footing, Congress has suggested phasing out subsidizing the insurance and requiring those in flood-prone areas to pay full-risk premiums.
The legislation allows for a five-year phase in, according to the FEMA website, but many of the details have yet to be worked out.
UPGRADES to Iola’s traffic signals will have to come in baby steps, said Corey Schinstock, assistant city manager.
“We can make some improvements, but we’ll have to wait until we do a major road project to get voice-activated lights with push buttons,” he said.
Even so, the signals at State Street, Washington Avenue and Jefferson Street can be upgraded to have LED signals that countdown the time a pedestrian has to safely cross the street.
“We can add five to 10 seconds at each intersection,” Schinstock said.
