City likely to split with Corps

A three-year planning period between Portland and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to solve the city’s flooding problem will likely result in nothing.

Portland Mayor John Boggs said after the city’s council meeting Monday that he’ll likely terminate a negotiation agreement with the Corps that first began in 2017 and is set to expire this October. This comes years after the city first requested a study from the Corps in 2015 that eventually cost Portland and Jay County $154,000 to commission.

The Corps’ study concluded that the most affordable solution to Portland’s flooding problem is to create a 40-foot wide ditch that would carry overflowing water from Millers Branch to Cartwright Ditch and eventually the Salamonie River. Such a project is estimated to cost $7.9 million.

That was never considered a viable solution, as Jay County Fair Board, the Tom Homan family and the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association refused to turn over the land required for such a ditch, instead suggesting that storm sewers be run underground.

The Corps refused to fund an underground solution.

Now, Portland’s only option to complete a project with the Corps, which would pay 65% of the tab, would be to acquire the land from the property owners through eminent domain, which could take a lot of time and money noted city attorney Bill Hinkle.

The city’s flood advisory committee secretary, Barry Hudson, who on behalf of the board recommended that the city move on from the Corps, told the council that Indiana would support the city’s decision to acquire the land. However, citing a lack of certainty about whether or not Portland would receive any money from the state for the project and next year’s city and statewide budget being uncertain because of the coronavirus pandemic, the committee concluded that the most cost effective solution would be to walk away from the Corps and see if the city can find another solution.

The biggest opponent of splitting from the Corps at the meeting was council member Kent McClung, who said that the likelihood of finding a more cost effective solution is minimal.

“It’s a lost cause,” said Hudson, who gave a briefing to the council for over an hour.

The decision to terminate the agreement ultimately lies with Boggs, who said that even if an extension was given to allow the project to begin later, it would still cost too much money to complete.

“I don’t know where any of (the money) would come from,” Boggs said during the meeting.

Council did not take any action on the agreement.

Another possible flooding solution that has gone nowhere thus far is the removal of an unused railroad trestle across the Salamonie River near the intersection of Water Street and Blaine Pike. Norfolk Southern Railroad, which has jurisdiction over the trestle, has thus far not shown any interest in removing it.

Boggs said he believes he could possibly have more success with trying to come to an agreement with the railroad company.

Portland Board of Works is also expected to soon vote on a project that would repair sewer lines along Meridian Street. Those repairs are expected to help combat downtown flooding.

In other business, council members Michele Brewster, Dave Golden, Mike Aker, Don Gillespie, Matt Goldsworthy, Janet Powers and McClung approved a five-year tax abatement for FCC (Indiana) for $14.5 million in manufacturing equipment after it was green lit by the city’s tax abatement advisory committee.