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Local News

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Rural flood info sought
By JOY BROWN

STAFF WRITER

Consultants hired by the Army Corps of Engineers are seeking information on rural areas that flood, potential ecosystem restoration projects, and ideas anyone may have to lessen flooding in the outlying areas of the Blanchard River watershed.

Jay Mosley, project technical manager for URS Corp., told Hancock County's township trustees Wednesday that he has been meeting with village officials and others, but would also like input from the trustees and the agricultural community in the six counties the watershed spans, including Hancock, Putnam, Allen, Hardin, Wyandot and Seneca.

Mosley said his firm will be gathering data and ideas over the next three weeks.

"If you have flood-prone areas, let us know. Any data you have on historic damages" from flooding will also be appreciated, Mosley said.

"We don't have a lot of agricultural data yet. That's something FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) doesn't really have a handle on either. Ag land is not included in the (federal) flood plain program, and some people just don't file claims" for damage, Mosley said.

The more damage that can be documented, Mosley said, the more it will tip the scales for the better in terms of the Army Corps' benefit/cost ratio, which determines whether it makes financial sense to undertake flood control projects.

Residents are also being asked to come up with ideas for flood control and ecosystem restoration.

The Army Corps "wants these to be multipurpose projects," said Mosley. "They're trying to be a new Corps and have a new image. They've been asked to look at a holistic approach to the watershed" rather than concentrating solely on physical structures to improve the flooding problem, he said.

"This is your chance to participate in the process... to throw your ideas on the table. It may be that you don't have anything you want to contribute, and that's OK. But if you have ideas, we can look at them as conceptual alternatives," Mosley told trustees.

He said URS would like such information within three weeks.

"Can you chit chat and ride in a combine?" quipped Hancock County Trustees Association President Dick Fenstermaker.

"Our goal as agriculture is to incorporate what you're doing, and for you to help us also," Fenstermaker summarized. "I'd rather be on the inside looking out than on the outside looking in. We don't want to have to come back two years from now saying, 'Gee whiz, I wish...'"

Maps were handed out for trustees to indicate areas that typically flood and to offer ideas for solutions.

A $1 million study of the outlying areas of the watershed will take about two years to produce results, Mosley said. With it, Army Corps officials will come up with project alternatives and cost/benefit analyses, just like the studies now under way for Findlay and Ottawa.

Concentrating on the "headwaters" of the watershed, the Army Corps will identify three to five project alternatives for various regions of the watershed, Mosley said.

Project ideas may include "hard engineering" concepts that would physically move parts of the flood plain; less elaborate concepts like two-feet-high flood walls around certain properties; and efforts to enlarge and preserve the ecosystem.

Half of the study will be paid with federal money, and 25 percent is expected to be paid through in-kind work using local professionals.

Hancock County sales tax revenue, and a portion of a $3 million flood control grant the Northwest Ohio Flood Mitigation Partnership secured from the state will pay for the remaining 25 percent, according to Partnership President Tony Iriti.

Two more public meetings will be held to get the word out that information is sought. One, for the agricultural community, will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at the Hancock County Agricultural Service Center on County 140. The other, for Hardin County trustees, will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Hardin County Courthouse veterans' hall in Kenton.

Mosley can be contacted at 216-622-2350 and by e-mail at

Also working on the Blanchard River watershed study is Tom Denbow, URS project manager, who can be reached at 216-622-2334, or by e-mail at

The Partnership is serving as a liaison between residents and URS. Partnership headquarters is in the Glass Building at 101 W. Sandusky St., Suite 200, Findlay. Iriti or his assistant, Leigh Esper, can be reached at 567-251-3802.

Brown: 419-427-8496,

Send an e-mail to Joy Brown
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News Briefs Work scheduled on Findlay streets
Findlay's Main Street, northbound, will be reduced at times to one lane between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. for waterline connection.

Main Street will not be accessible from East Lincoln Street. Lincoln Street will be closed to through traffic from South Main Street to South Blanchard Street from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for continued improvement work. Access to local businesses and residents only will be maintained.

Recount planned in trustee's race
OTTAWA -- After certifying election results on Wednesday, the Putnam County Board of Elections has announced a recount will be required for the Union Township trustee race, according to Deputy Director Shelly Burkhart.

The recount will be completed on Wednesday at the county elections board office, 336 E. Main Street, Ottawa.

Incumbent Daniel R. Ellerbrock has secured his position on the board, earning 685 votes. However the remaining trustee spot will require a recount as Gery P. Wurth earned 598 votes and Mark J. Kahle collected 601 votes, according to official results.

An automatic recount is necessary if the margin is within one-half of 1 percent of total votes cast, according to state law.

Road to be closed
Forest Lake Drive, between Marion Township 237 and Indian Lake Drive/Forest Lane, will be closed today for a pipe installation.

The road is expected to open by 5 p.m., weather permitting.

Motorists are advised to use Township 242.