Firm reviews flooding study

A week after deciding to form a committee to address Jay County’s flooding problems, commissioners heard a presentation of potential solutions for part of the issue.
In May, Jones and Henry Engineers completed for the City of Portland a study of flooding related to Millers Branch. On July 20, after Portland’s third and worst flood of the summer, Jay County Commissioners and Portland City Council both discussed forming a committee that would look into having engineering firms complete a study not only on Millers Branch, but on flooding problems county-wide.
On Monday, engineer Brian Houghton presented to the commissioners and a room full of residents and business owners three potential solutions to the Millers Branch portion of flooding issues.
For about $2.14 million, a bypass ditch from Millers Branch could be constructed from north of the Jay County Fairgrounds parking area through farmland to the Salamonie River.
A box culvert could run east along Pearl Street, north along Morton Street and east along Division Road to a new ditch that would run from near the fairgrounds grandstand track to the Salamonie River. This project would cost around $6.21 million.
The most expensive option, at an estimated $7.47 million, is a detention basin along Millers Branch that would hold excess water.
These options would help address flooding in downtown Portland, which Houghton said occurs because the 72-inch storm sewer (which Millers Branch flows into) in the city is too small to handle even a two-year storm. Unable to reach the Salamonie River fast enough, water backs up and floods Meridian Street and nearby side streets.
Still, Millers Branch is only part of the problem.
“There’s a lot of areas affected that have nothing to do with Millers Branch,” said Dan Watson, county engineer.
The commissioners will continue working toward a plan that will address all of Jay County’s flooding.
Commissioners Faron Parr, Doug Inman and Jim Zimmerman decided the committee created last week will consist of Watson, county surveyor Brad Daniels, building and planning director John Hemmelgarn, Portland mayor Randy Geesaman and Zimmerman, acting as drainage board president.
The commissioners also:
•Heard about the county’s impact on the Soil and Water Conservation District’s budget from district educator Bettie Jacobs. The county provides $10,000, which means the state provides a matching $10,000.
•Heard from Rusty Inman that the John Jay Center for Learning has served more than 500 students in post-secondary classes this fiscal year, including a 44 percent increase in Ivy Tech class enrollment. The center also began offering a Senior Learning Series and high school equivalency classes for Jay County Jail inmates. The county provides $70,000 to the John Jay Center.
•Heard from Hemmelgarn that the Jay/Portland building and planning department’s budget will remain around $136,000, similar to last year. The county provides half of the department’s budget.