Levee study for Iowa City's Taft Speedway delayed

The city of Iowa City is holding off on awarding a contract to study a controversial levee on Taft Speedway Street to consider how the levee would affect a nearby neighborhood.

The City Council was to vote Tuesday to award an $84,550 contract to HDR Engineering Inc. to study what the levee would mean for the nine homes remaining on Taft Speedway along the Iowa River by City Park.

Instead, it voted 7-0, with no comment, to defer the decision until Aug. 2.

Residents of the Parkview Terrace neighborhood slightly upstream from Taft Speedway recently contacted the state to say they want the study to more fully consider the impact the levee would have on their neighborhood, said David Purdy, Iowa City's flood recovery specialist.

The Iowa Department of Economic Development, which has agreed to pay for the study, asked the city to expand the work to include Parkview Terrace.

The study already was going to use computer modeling to estimate the effects the levee would have on the neighborhood, and now it will also consider additional, to-be-determined information, Purdy said.

City officials have said preliminary modeling found water would be 4 inches lower in a 100-year flood and 6 1/2 inches lower in a 500-year flood at the midpoint on Taft Avenue with a levee in place, with similar drops seen in Parkview Terrace.

The study also will look at the impact of a levee on the Taft Speedway homes, including property values, accessibility, insurance coverage and relocation of utilities. Alternatives to a levee are to be researched.

Taft Speedway residents have objected to the city's plans to elevate Taft Speedway Street and No Name Road up to 10 feet to protect the area to the north, which includes a 92-unit condominium association.

The Taft Speedway homes would be left on the “wet” side of a levee.

The $10 million levee has been a priority for the city since the area was devastated by the 2008 flood. City Council members have said while they regretted homes being on the river side of the levee, they felt it was important to protect as many homes as possible.

Purdy said he's not sure what the study will cost with the additional work, but the state would have to OK it and is still expected to cover the cost.