Public input sessions set today on Cedar Rapids flood protection plan

City leaders and the Army Corps of Engineers are making progress on a flood protection project for the east side of the Cedar River.

For years, engineers have been working to prevent residents from reliving another disaster.

"If we get another 2008 flood, currently, we're going to have the same issues we had before,” said Cedar Rapids Public Works Project Engineer David Scanlan.

Now, the city-Corps team is ready to show people a pre-construction design at public input meetings Wednesday. This will be the first time residents have seen the plan.

Two meetings are set, at noon and at 5 p.m., at the African American Museum of Iowa, 55 12

^th

Ave SE.

"When they start seeing the bulldozers start moving and the actual construction happening in a few years from now, they understand what the process is and how we got to that end result,” said Public Works Maintenance Manager Craig Hanson.

The end result, however, has a big price tag, with more than $100 million in levee systems stretching about two to three miles along the east side of the river.

Engineers said the money to pay for the plan was still in the works.

"It's a 35/65 percent split, 65 percent will be federal dollars and 35 percent will be city money, and that's where a local option sales tax will come into play,” Scanlan said.

That extension of the local option sales tax was voted down in the spring.

But a group of residents called Cedar Rapids Extended Sales Tax, or CREST, isn't letting go of the option. They've crafted a petition to get the issue back on the ballot in 2012, with some changes. All they need is enough signatures.

"As of a couple weeks ago, we were at about 75 percent. There's hundreds more that have come in. We do need more,” said CREST's Al Pierson.

Still, it remains to be seen if residents will support the renewed effort if it gets back on the ballot.

"As far as paying more sales tax, I mean, I don't really agree with it, but if it's going to a cause of going back into our city, it would be a good choice, I think,” said Cedar Rapids resident Chad Floerchinger.

"People (are) going in the right direction what they're doing now, but it's got to be a little more done to get things in order,” said Cedar Rapids resident Joseph Whiteside.

Engineers said Congress still needed to approve the federal portion of funding for the east side project. If all goes as planned, construction could begin as early as 2014.