Iola officials will continue to look at options now that the city will almost certainly be denied federal funding for a number of flood-control measures for Riverside Park.
City Administrator Matt Rehder said the writing’s on the wall that Iola will be denied once again for an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant that would have funded artificial turf for a football and softball diamond as part of a water storage retention system.
Engineers last year estimated such a venture would cost about $3.7 million.
The city had been unsuccessful in applying for the EPA grant, and subsequently filed a new application, Rehder said.
But within the last few weeks, all contact from EPA has been shut off.
“Everything we send them is coming back as ‘undelivered,’” Rehder said. “It’s a safe assumption that the grant is not gonna happen.”
With the update, Rehder asked for some direction from the Council. Does the city continue to look at flood-control measures? Are any kind of facility improvements at the park on the horizon? Should the city look elsewhere?
Council members urged caution.
Nich Lohman suggested any new football, softball or baseball facilities would be better off if they were built away from the park.
But, he quickly added, building away from the park doesn’t solve its flooding issues, and the artificial turf fields were a central part of the flood mitigation efforts.
Lohman suggested the city table the discussion. Perhaps other federal funding avenues will eventually open.
His thoughts were echoed by Council members Jonathon Wells and Joelle Shallah.
Wells urged the city to pursue a Community Development Block Grant that would fund $630,000 for flood-control measures, requiring a $130,000 match, while keeping the door open for a partnership with USD 257.
“We need to figure out how to mitigate the flooding,” Shallah added. “That’s first and foremost.”
THE DISCUSSION moved to the Recreation Community Building, which was closed briefly to the public last week when torrential rains brought floodwater to the front doors, an increasingly common occurrence.
“We don’t get regular rains any more,” Rehder lamented.
Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock said park crews have taken a proactive approach to keeping floodwater out of the building by stacking sandbags at the east entrance doors as soon as forecasts for heavy rain are imminent.
