Cedar Rapids, Linn County have deal on May's Island flood protection

Cedar Rapids and Linn County have an agreement in principle to share the cost of flood protection for government buildings on May's Island, county Supervisor Brent Oleson said after a meeting with Mayor Ron Corbett and city officials.

“Protection of the island is as paramount to the city as it is to the county,” Oleson said after this morning's meeting. “You're not going to get specific percentages (yet), but we did get a memorandum of agreement.”

Supervisors want to ensure flood walls or other protection for the island, site of the county courthouse and jail and the city Veterans Memorial building, are included in the city's flood-protection plans. Oleson and other supervisors said this week they'd consider restricting the collection period for a 20-year sales tax extension - virtually the county's only bargaining chip – absent a commitment from the city.

This morning's meeting with Corbett and City Manager Jeff Pomeranz convinced Oleson and Supervisor Ben Rogers the city won't restrict May's Island protection to any single funding source. In addition to May's vote on the sales-tax extension, Corbett is seeking federal aid and passage of the proposed Growth Revenue Initiative (GRI) to pay for a comprehensive flood protection system.

If adopted by state lawmakers, the GRI would allow the city and county to keep at least a share of future growth in sales-tax revenues collected locally for flood projects.

“Miscommunication happens from time to time because we don't talk often enough,” Oleson said. “We feel we're on the same team. We (county supervisors) feel like we're not going to get in the way of any sales tax vote or any 20-year plan.”

This week, Dave Elgin, the city of Cedar Rapids' Public Works director and city engineer, said one preliminary flood-protection plan for May's Island calls for placing removable flood walls close to three buildings on the island, the Veterans Memorial Building and the county courthouse and jail, rather around the entire perimeter of the island. Such a plan will require about 2,200 lineal feet of removable wall rather the 3,200 feet that would be needed to protect the island's entire perimeter. The walls closer to the buildings also would not need to be as high as those on the perimeter, cutting costs.

What those costs might be is unclear, though Elgin says removable flood walls can cost between $5,200 and $7,200 a lineal foot. At the lower dollar figure, the cost would be $11.44 million.

However, Elgin noted that the city has looked at other options, too, including permanent flood walls, temporary measures and increased flood-proofing measures for the buildings.

Oleson is optimistic the GRI will pass, despite this week's disagreement between Corbett and Gov. Terry Branstad, both Republicans, over the use of project labor agreements on the city's convention center project. Branstad issued an executive order banning the use of PLAs – a pre-negotiated agreement with organized labor – on projects receiving state funding. Corbett says the PLAs signed before Branstad's order are still valid.

“It makes eminent sense, and Republican legislators I talked with yesterday agree it's a good idea,” said Oleson, a Marion Republican. “It could be a pioneering way to fund major disasters in the future.”

Oleson said the “pushback” he's received on GRI has come from Democratic legislators concerned about its effect on the overall state budget.

“There's a lot of work to be done, I agree, but if anybody tries to play politics with the flood to say you're not going to get a PLA if you want GRI, I think that wouyld be a big mistake,” Oleson said.