Meeting set on improvements to Milk River Levee

The Hill County Commissioners will hold a public meeting Thursday night at 6 p.m. in St. Jude Parish Center to talk about improvements that need to be made to the Milk River Levee and explore how the county should pay for them.

Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said the meeting is meant to educate the public about the levee, which is not certified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

He added it had met the standards of certification until they were changed after Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf coast in 2005, and the levees in New Orleans gave way.

Peterson said it is unlikely the levee, which was constructed in the early 1950s by the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent floodwaters from spilling into the city, will be breached. Nonetheless, things need to be done such as the cleaning up of brush alongside of it, he said, for it to be certified. Trees are also in the levee’s path and several buildings already have encroached on the levee, with some built too close, something that wasn’t discovered until they were built, he said.

Levees not certified by the Army Corps of Engineers are not eligible for federal assistance, Peterson said.

The county is working on getting a letter of intent approved by the Corps, which identifies concerns the Corps has with the current levee structure, he said. When the letter is approved, the county will then have two years to craft a system-wide improvement framework, or SWIF, which identifies what specific improvements need to be made and how to pay for them.

Peterson said the upkeep of the levee now costs $35,000 to $36,000 a year and is paid for by a small number of property owners along the levee.

Peterson said getting the levee into compliance could cost as much as a million dollars. However, he said, inaction would have consequences.

Representatives from Great West Engineering, which is working with the county on improving the levee, will also be at the meeting.