Plan proposed

Portland is considering a new idea for mitigating downtown flooding.

Indianapolis-based Wessler Engineering on Wednesday presented its findings and proposed solution for flooding in downtown Portland to local officials, including representatives from the city’s board of works and council.

Portland Mayor John Boggs explained he was looking for a firm to evaluate flooding in the city’s downtown area, an issue that has been discussed for about a decade. Various studies, including two by Jones and Henry and one each by Butler, Fairman and Seufert, MLS Engineering and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have looked at local flooding in the last six years.

Boggs said he appreciated that Wessler Engineering, a water resources consulting firm, wanted to look at the problem with a fresh set of eyes rather than basing its plan off of the previous studies.

“I knew then that Wessler was the firm that I wanted to come in, do the study and offer the solution for us,” he said.



The problem

As described by Wessler senior project manager Bill Leber, changes were made to downtown drainage as part of an Indiana Department of Transportation project in the mid 1990s.

The old 24-inch pipe that runs down Meridian Street is now unused. Instead, the section of the street from the Salamonie River to Votaw Street is essentially five separate systems.

Catch basins between the river and brick alley (between Water and Main streets) flow into a north-south pipe that runs directly to the river. The next four systems of catch basins — each covering about a block and a half between Main and Votaw streets — all are diverted east to Miller’s Branch along Walnut, High, Arch and North streets. Millers Branch is a 72-inch corrugated pipe that runs roughly along the north-south alley between Main and Harrison streets.

That additional water flowing through Millers Branch is overloading the pipe and, when the Salamonie River is too high, causing water to flow back up through the catch basins and onto Meridian Street.

“(Millers Branch) drains basically half of the town,” said Leber. “Everything from the east comes over and all the way north even beyond the town all comes through there.

“When you’ve got a drainage area that’s measured in square miles, it doesn’t take too much to fill that pipe.”

Boggs and representatives from Wessler discussed the issue with INDOT.

“They were sympathetic … but declined to help in any way financially,” said Boggs.



The history

Downtown flooding jumped to the forefront in 2011 when snow melt from a winter storm followed by several days of steady rain put Portland underwater. By noon Feb. 28, the Salamonie River had risen over its banks and flooded both sides of the river and putting dozens of blocks of the city under water.

The downtown area of the city was under water again in late 2013 after more than 4 inches of rain fell over the Dec. 21-22 weekend.

And then in 2015, Meridian Street in downtown Portland was closed three times in less than a month. The worst of those came July 14 — it rivaled the Feb. 28, 2011 flood — and drew a visit from then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. (Meridian Street in the downtown area was also under water June 17 and June 27 that year.) According to the National Weather Service, 21.75 inches of rain fell between June 1 and July 15, 2015. The annual average for Jay County was 20.66 inches.



Proposed solution

Wessler’s idea for mitigating the downtown flooding issues, which have been most predominant between Main and Race streets over the last 10 years, is to run a new storm sewer line. It would be 36 inches in diameter beginning between Arch and Race streets and then expand to 42 inches at High Street, continuing south to the Salamonie River.

The new line (about 2,000 feet long) would be used to drain three of the Meridian Street catch basin systems — those that currently drain the area between Main and North streets. The pipes that currently connect those systems to Millers Branch would be disconnected, thus taking some of the pressure off of the overloaded pipe. Flap gates would be installed on the new line in order to stop water from backing up through the catch basins.

(The northernmost catch basin system, between Race and North streets, would remain connected to Millers Branch. Leber explained because the elevation is higher in that area it has generally not experienced flooding problems.)

The project is designed to eliminate problems during what is referred to as “10-year-flood.”

The construction cost for such a project is estimated at $1.3 million.



Other ideas

The proposal for a new sewer line along Meridian Street is the latest potential solution presented to local officials.

Previous studies have resulted in a variety of other ideas:

•Reconnecting the old 24-inch Meridian Street line. (Wessler looked at this possibility but said the line is too small and would require significant repairs.)

•Convincing Norfolk and Southern Railway to remove its unused railroad trestle that disrupts the flow of water in the Salamonie River.

•Running a 40-foot-wide open ditch (or a buried pipe) through Jay County Fairgrounds and to the east of the city to divert water from Millers Branch.

•Building a detention pond south of county road 100 North and west of Morton Street to hold back water during heavy rains. (Boggs said this project would still be under consideration in an effort to further take pressure off of Millers Branch.)

Jay County surveyor Brad Daniels agreed that pressure needs to be taken off of Millers Branch, but also said repeatedly during the meeting he feels his department’s efforts to clean out the area of the river from the eastern city limits to Indiana 67 have made a significant impact. He said the city had once contracted for such work, but none had been done for about five years prior to the 2011 flood that caused millions of dollars in damage.



What’s next

The next step toward the Wessler Engineering project, or any of the proposed solutions, is to secure funding.

Laying out potential funding sources Wednesday, Wessler mentioned local bonds, a state Community Development Block Grant, a loan from the State Revolving Loan Fund and a long or grant for infrastructure projects through Indiana Finance Authority as possibilities.

Boggs said a downtown sewer project would fall under the purview of the city’s board of works but he would also want Portland City Council’s blessing. (Council could also be involved in the funding process.)

He added INDOT is now planning to resurface U.S. 27 (Meridian Street) in Portland during the summer of 2023. Once that project is complete, the state agency would not allow any drainage project on the street for 10 years after the work is complete.

“So we either do it by the summer of ’23 or we suffer what we have for the economy of downtown Portland for the next 10 years.” (The Wessler project would need to be complete about six months before the INDOT resurfacing to allow the ground to settle.)

Barry Hudson, a retired banker, former county commissioner and member of the local flood advisory committee, urged action. He noted that over several decades he’s been trying to get businesses to locate in downtown Portland.

“Unless we start some of these projects … I guarantee you that downtown Portland will go away … because the people will not come in these buildings,” he said.

“It’s a lot of money, but it’s either do or die.”