COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa — Columbus Junction is moving forward with its effort to relocate the city’s water treatment plant, and officials hope two federal grant programs will provide the nearly $3.6 million needed to finance the move.

The Columbus Junction City Council approved a resolution to submit a $3.2 million hazard mitigation request to the federal Economic Development Administration and a $356,000 application to the Community Development Block Grant program during its regular meeting Wednesday.

Last month the Council received a report from the city’s engineering consultant that identified several potential sites for the plant, which was inundated by floodwaters from the Iowa River last summer.

The flooding put the plant out of operation for several days, forcing the city to rely on a temporary water line to the nearby Tyson meat plant and water trucked in by the National Guard and other relief agencies.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Tracy Lamm, economic recovery coordinator for the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission, Burlington, told city officials she was hopeful the applications would be approved.

“The Economic Development Administration was here this summer and they have already seen some of the application,” she told the Council.

Lamm said if the Administration’s grant was approved it would finance 90 percent of the project cost, while the Community Development Block Grant award would cover the remaining 10 percent. She said the Economic Development Administration paperwork, which is actually a pre-application, should be ready by the end of the week. The Community Development Block Grant process requires a publication of the grant application notice and a seven-day comment period before any paperwork can be submitted. Lamm said that process was on-going, with publication of the notice expected next week.

If the Economic Development Administration approves the city’s pre-application, it would be invited to submit the more detailed general application, Lamm said.

After that, she said the timetable for announcing any awards would be up to the review agencies. “I hope to have good news soon,” she told the Council.

Levee upgrade

The Council also learned efforts

are continuing to obtain funds to upgrade the levee system along the Iowa River, as well as $108,000 in state disaster relief funds the city is eligible to receive.

Council member Mark Huston said he and other officials from the Louisa County Fair Board had recently met with city engineer John Meyer to discuss Meyer’s plans for raising the levee from the railroad tracks south to the Hoover Nature Trail.

According to Huston, Meyer had estimated it would cost around $600,000 to raise the levee to a river stage of about 34.5 feet. Flooding in 2008 reached a record 32.49 feet, according to the National Weather Service.

Huston, however, said about $400,000 of that total would be for trucking dirt to the levee. The Fair Board already owns ground near much of the levee and Huston speculated the trucking costs could be substantially reduced if the dirt was moved from the fairground land.

“We don’t know what hoops we’ll have to jump through yet,” Huston said about the levee proposal, adding officials were aware that other work would still need to be done to solve all of the city’s water concerns.

In addition to the plan, Mayor Dan Wilson said the city is still planning to submit projects for its share of $22 million allocated to Iowa for flood relief. That money would be funneled through the governor’s office and Wilson said Columbus Junction would be eligible for up to $108,000. He said the city is developing a list of potential projects that could qualify for the funding.

“We don’t want to get more than our share, but we don’t want to be left out,” he told the Council.

He said an application for those funds should be available by the Council’s Wednesday, March 11, meeting.

In final action, the Council received its monthly economic development report from Mallory Smith, Community Development Center executive director and assistant director Nitza Lopez-Castillo. Smith updated the Council on several projects, including a community health center open house on Feb. 27, a farmers market, the united fund and other activities.