OTTAWA — Franklin County commissioners will vote on whether to help pay for a study to certify the Ottawa levee system. About one-tenth of the levee system is outside the city. In the wake of levee failures at New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and other river cities, the federal government is requiring all cities with levees to certify them, said city planning director Wynndee Lee. The levees are in good condition but the engineering study may show future needs for maintaining them, she said. However, without the study, the federal government has said that downtown property owners and residents would have to buy flood insurance as if the levees weren’t there, she said. Such an option would be disastrously expensive, far more expensive that the estimated $200,000 cost of the study, said county commission chair Ed Taylor. The city had contested the order but ran out of options and is now proceeding with the study, Lee said. The county’s share of the first phase of the study would be about $7,000. The city of Ottawa will pay about $30,000.
Tuesday, March 8, 2:30 p.m.
