Progress report

Flooding.
Excess water dominated late spring and the first month of summer 2015 in Portland. And it was the focus of Tuesday’s state of the city address.
Mayor Randy Geesaman spent the bulk of his half-hour speech talking about the flood problems of the previous year, steps that have been taken to alleviate such issues in the short term and potential long-term solutions that are being studied.
He also touched on the drug problem in the city and county, major construction projects from 2015 and some goals for this year.
June and the first half of July were marked by nearly constant rain in 2015, with downtown Portland under water three times. The worst of those was July 15 when most of downtown Portland was inaccessible and Geesaman declared a state of emergency.
That continued what has become a trend in recent years following a 50-year flood that caused millions of dollars in damage in 2011. The downtown area was flooded again in December 2013, and there have been a variety of less severe issues in between.
“The so-called experts would tell you that in June and July we were just experiencing that 10-year, that 50-year, that 100-year flood,” Geesaman said to the about 80 in attendance at the Jay County Chamber of Commerce luncheon at Jay County Hospital. “But everybody in this room knows that in Portland, Indiana, since 2011, Mother Nature has not paid any attention to these experts.”
“I cannot stop Mother Nature, but I believe we can, over time, reduce the impact that heavy rains have on our community.”
He noted some of the steps already taken, such as installing flap gates and check valves, cleaning the Salamonie River in the area near Seventh Street, replacing catch basins on the west side, removing roots from sewer lines along sections of North and Race streets and working with the county and Jay County Fair Board to improve drainage at Jay County Fairgrounds.
He added that the city is looking at other potential solutions: Installing a new 42-inch sewer line to replace an 18-inch line that runs along Water Street between Wayne Street and Blaine Pike that currently has several 24-inch lines feeding into it; Expanding a detention pond in Portland’s industrial park or adding an additional detention pond near Pearl Street, just north of where Millers Branch feeds into the city’s sewer system; and adding check valves where sewer lines on North, Arch, High and Walnut streets connect with the Millers Branch line.
While spending most of his 35-minute speech on flooding, Geesaman also touted some of the accomplishments in the city in 2015, including bringing Lutheran Air medical helicopter to Portland Municipal Airport. The helicopter and its crew have been stationed in Portland since mid-October and can reach anyone in Jay County in about eight minutes.
He also noted the three major construction projects of the year — the west side sewer project, Indiana 26 and Portland Water Park.
A partnership with INDOT brought the construction of a new road and sidewalks, replacement of sewer and water lines and new LED lighting in a three-quarter mile stretch of Indiana 26 (Water Street) from Meridian Street to the eastern edge of the city. The west side work featured the replacement of sewer lines and catch basins, as well as some paving, in an area centered around Grand Street.
And the $3.2 million Portland Water Park project replaced the 55-year-old Portland Pool, which had been hampered by a variety of maintenance issues. The new facility, which features a lap pool, lazy river, dump bucket and two water slides, is scheduled to open on Memorial Day weekend.
“I believe that probably the most proudest part of this whole project is the fact that it was a public-private partnership,” said Geesaman, noting that the city spent about $2.5 million (including engineering and design fees) and private donations topped $1.2 million.
The mayor also complimented businesses like FCC, Fort Recovery Industries, W&M Manufacturing and Pennville Custom Cabinets for their expansion projects.
Among his goals for the first year of his second term, he highlighted working to combat the drug problem. He said there were 64 Drug Task Force cases involving methamphetamine or heroin in Portland last year.
He also put a focus on blight elimination, dealing with abandoned downtown buildings and beautifying the area, mapping the city’s sewer lines, continuing the sidewalk program and paving more streets and alleys.
“My mission for the city of Portland for 2016 is to continue to provide open, honest and proactive services focusing on the needs of today and a vision of the future,” he said. “We will meet the challenges that we are presented head on and present solutions that are not only cost-effective, but that will work.”