Cortland Standard .net

By COLLEEN SIUZDAK
Staff Reporter
csiuzdak@cortlandstandard.net
Cortland County highway officials Tuesday discussed ingreater detail the problematic flooding that has plagued McLean Road, sharing the results of another phase of a hydrological study that suggests about $6 million in repairs are needed.
Officials will be examining the options at meetings to be set in coming months.
Highway Department Superintendent Phil Krey said during the Highway Committee meeting that the firm Barton & Loguidice studied the results of making channel and gravel pit detention changes at Otter Creek.
“It does show improvements,” Krey said during the meeting, noting the combination of the two options.
Deputy Superintendent Bob Buerkle said the results focusing on the area in Cortlandville will mitigate any future flood events.
“McLean (Road) has flooded four times in the last 10 years ... We had to close it,” Buerkle said Tuesday morning. “So this does improve that issue. McLean roads are the highest volume roads.”
He said this morning he was referring to McLean Road and McLean Road Extension as roads having the highest volume of traffic on the county highway system.
Barton & Loguidice, a Liverpool-based engineering firm, concluded there are two options for the county to consider to help manage the flow of water in the event of a flood.
The firm estimated the concept of considering a gravel pit water-detention design would cost approximately $3.6 million.
Channel improvements would cost about $2.1 million.
The study was done in four phases. It intended to find different ways to improve the flow of water in the culvert carrying Otter Creek under McLean Road.
The firm initially studied the impact of increasing the size of the McLean Road culvert, but the results found doing so would not help contain floods.
Committee members referred to a flood in August 2013 that spread through most of the town, including the Walmart store parking lot on Bennie Road.
Legislator Joseph Steinhoff (R-Cortlandville) said Cortlandville and the city should be included in any future plansbecause they would be impacted during a flood.
“I saw the water coming down the hill, we had roads that turned into rivers,” Steinhoff said during the meeting. “The amount of water and how fast it rose ... was frightening. It came up so quickly.”
Jeremy Boylan, clerk of the Legislature, said during the meeting Tuesday that the study was brought about by a group of officials who met last year to discuss the potential impacts of future flooding.
Boylan recommended Tuesday that last year’s group reconvene and reconsider the options but wait for Legislature Chair Susan Briggs, who was not present Tuesday, to set up themeeting.
Steinhoff agreed.
“We have to think about it as could this happen again? When could this happen again? What are our risks?” Steinhoff said.
This group included Briggs (R-Cortlandville); Garry VanGorder, executive director of the Cortland County Business Development Corp.; Amanda Barber, director of county Soil and Water Conservation District; and representatives from Gutchess Lumber.
Gutchess Lumber, located at 890 McLean Road, has been heavily impacted over the years from flooding of the culvert that carries Otter Creek under McLean Road.
VanGorder said during the meeting it is important to consider making changes because local businesses are being impacted by the flood, especially Gutchess Lumber. He noted the company is plagued by additional expenses because of the repeated flooding.
“We need to keep the momentum going on it,” VanGorder said, referring to addressing the problem of flooding at theculvert.
Krey said Wednesday afternoon that the county could qualify for funding for the project from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) if it can show the total amount of public and private damage.
“Since there wasn’t ... an emergency declaration of ... damage, it’s something we didn’t qualify to get direct FEMA funding for repairs,” Krey said.
He added that FEMA would give funding based on the amount of damage and the probability of any future damage recurring. He did not want to totally rule out FEMA funding.
Krey said a committee weighing the options would have to determine the most fiscally prudent move for the county.
“When you’re talking about costs and the results, it’s really black and white because obviously everything costs money,” Krey said.
Barber, who was on the subcommittee last year, said Wednesday afternoon she has not seen the results of the firm’s study yet. She agreed it is important to lessen the impact on the local businesses and homeowners in the area.
“Hopefully, it will provide some updated information ... as well as some updated ideas that we can move forward with,” Barber said in a telephone interview. “Certainly, that’s an area of the town and county where there’s important economic development happening.”