Corps offer little hope of expedited process

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Army Corps of Engineers had little good news for Cedar Rapids' hopes of speeding up authorization of a flood protection system and using pre-flood property values in determining the cost-benefit ratio of such improvements.

There's a process to be followed, Brigadier General Michael Walsh, commander and president of the Army Corp of Engineers Mississippi River Command, said Saturday at a meeting Sen. Tom Harkin arranged with local officials.

"It has to go by steps," Walsh said when asked if it was possible to get authorization for flood protection before the Corps completed its feasibility study. "We don't know if there is a federal project here until we have the study.

"We can't assume it's a project until it's a project," he said.

The Corps knows how Cedar Rapids would like the study to turn out, Lt. Col. Michael Clarke, acting Rock Island engineer, said, but he would prefer to let science guide the outcome.

Harkin and Corps official said they understood the community's frustration with the slow pace of the study and decision-making.

"But we can't rush in and do things without understanding what we're doing," said Harkin, who urged the Corps to work with other federal agencies, such as the National Resources Conservation Services, the state and local agencies to "integrate" data needed to determine the best flood protection measures for Cedar Rapids.

"This wasn't just an ordinary, everyday Saturday afternoon flood," he said. "This was massive. I understand the frustration. I understand it's frustration to wait, but on the other hand, let's get it done right ... as right as we can."

The $7.5 million feasibility study won't be completed until December 2010 and a recommendation is unlikely before February 2011.

The city also wants the Corps to consider the pre-flood value of property damaged in the June 2008 flood, which would be much higher than the current value. City Councilman Brian Fagan urged the Corps to consider what the value of property would be once levees and flood walls are built. Those approaches would improve the cost-benefit ratio.

Corps officials conceded the city is at a disadvantage because the feasibility study will be conducted after the flood dramatically decreased those property values. It never considers future property values, said Dennis Hamilton of the Corps. He could think of only once - following Hurricane Katrina -- when pre-flood values were considered.

City Manager Jim Prosser seized on that precedent. He also explained to Harkin the city and the Corps had entered into an agreement for the feasibility study in May 2008 - before the flood. That would make it appropriate to use the pre-flood values, he said.

"If we had completed the study before the flood we would have been able to support a much higher cost-benefit ratio ... to support a higher level of improvements," Prosser said.

If that approach to get federal funds doesn't work, Prosser told Harkin, "we'll start a car company."