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This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Questions
remain about levees
By
LAURA McVICKER
H&N
Staff Writer
Since
a levee failed last June, flooding 2,000 acres of farmland, Highway 140
and a portion of the Running Y’s golf course, the legal loopholes of
preventing a future disaster aren’t much clearer for county officials.
The
county’s levee task force conducted its second public meeting
Wednesday to address how to prevent another break like the June 7
incident. One committee developed maps of levees, and another committee
worked to find what authority the county has in maintaining levees.
The
task force has grappled with questions about ownership and condition of
the county’s levees for nearly a year.
Unanswered
questions
There
are still unanswered questions, officials said. At the meeting,
Commissioner Bill Brown recommended setting up an advisory committee,
studying the issue and consulting with commissioners.
Private
and public levee owners alike find the federal inspection process a
maze, officials said at the meeting, and the county needs a checklist of
relevant agencies owners can consult.
Farmer
Bob Flowers attended the meeting and said his fellow farmers struggle
with not knowing whom to contact for federal levee inspections. And they
worry that by exposing themselves to federal officials, they would incur
high costs of federally mandated repairs.
“There’s
no place where you can get information on what you can do,” he said.
Incurring
liability also is a concern for county officials. They have considered
setting up a countywide district, bringing together levee owners to be
eligible for a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inspection program. This
causes the county concerns because most levees are privately owned, so
they’d be making themselves responsible for private property.
“Do
we want to put the county liable or do we want to go back to how we’ve
been doing things since 1920? ” Brown said.
The
Corps offers an inspection program for levee owners who are in a special
taxing district. Once a levee is determined to meet standards, the
owners are included in a Corps program and receive immediate assistance
in the event of an emergency.
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