Grassley stops at City Hall to talk about Congressional funding for flood protection

Sen. Chuck Grassley told city officials Friday afternoon at City Hall that it will be easier for him to make a case for a federally-funded flood-protection system in Cedar Rapids if the city has the backing of the Army Corps of Engineers, Mayor Ron Corbett said.

The Corps' Rock Island District office is currently conducting a feasibility study related to a Cedar Rapids flood-protection system, and the district office preliminarily has said the city's own preferred plan to protect against a flood the size of 2008's would cost too much for the value of the property it protects.

Corbett said he explained to Grassley how the city has asked the Corps to review its analysis.

Grassley suggested that Corbett and other community leaders, who are planning their annual lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. in late March, bring along officials from the Corps' district office.

“I think the senator is certainly supportive of making sure that Cedar Rapids is protected,” Corbett said.

Corbett said city officials managed to get Grassley for a 90-minute talk before the senator's scheduled stop last night to help dedicate the post-flood reopening of Theatre Cedar Rapids.

Council members Monica Vernon, Pat Shey and Justin Shields also attended as did City Manager Jim Prosser, Greg Eyerly, the city's flood-recovery director, and Dave Elgin, the city's public works director.

Vernon said the senator asked “detailed questions” about the city's progress with the Corps of Engineers and about rule-making changes that are now under way inside the Corps itself. Congress first must authorize a Cedar Rapids project before it can fund it, Vernon said Grassley pointed out.

“He sounded very interested in helping us get there,” she said.

Corbett said city officials also talked to Grassley about the cash-flow struggles of local businesses trying to come back from the 2008 flood and about how the city's buyout and demolition process is working.