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August 16, 2012

‘Hurdles’ overcome

Officials mark first steps of fixing Feather Creek problem

Arthur Foulkes The Tribune-Star

CLINTON — John and Darlene Hoggatt of Clinton have watched the flood waters from Feather Creek rise many times over the years. They’ve also been disappointed in the past when plans have been announced to solve the problem, only to be dropped.

But now, it seems something is finally happening.

“I’m glad to hear that something’s being done,” Darlene Hoggatt said Wednesday, after learning local and federal officials were a few blocks away marking the first real steps in finally solving the Feather Creek problem.

The meandering Feather Creek, which cuts through the middle of Clinton, lies just a few yards from the Hoggatts’ driveway. For more than five decades the couple has seen the waters rise, flooding dozens of homes nearby.

But now, a project funded largely by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is under way to make the creek wider and deeper, a project designed to help dramatically reduce the number of floods.

This week, workers are moving creekside utility lines, said Kristy Jerrell of the West Central Indiana Economic Development District, which helped facilitate the project. If all goes well, sewer relocation should be complete by Oct. 1, she said.

Dredging and widening the creek could begin in December, Jerrell said. The whole project is slated to take one year, but may require less time than that, she said.

To mark the start of physical work on the creek, U.S. Rep. Larry Bucshon, Clinton Mayor Jack Gilfoy, City Council President Dean Strohm and Jerrell all spoke with reporters on a bridge over the creek Wednesday morning. They said teamwork and community support helped make this project happen.

“As of today, I can say that everything looks great,” Gilfoy said. “I think we’ve overcome the biggest hurdles that we needed to overcome.”

Officials in Clinton have been attempting to find a solution to the frequent flooding of Feather Creek since the 1930s, Gilfoy said. The Army Corps of Engineers has been involved since the 1980s.

At a town meeting in January, about 180 Clinton residents made their case to Corps’ Col. Luke Leonard, who visited Clinton to see Feather Creek for himself. At the time, it was unknown whether the Corps would provide the nearly $1 million needed for the project. Then, in February, the Corps announced the Feather Creek project was a “go.”

“Col. Leonard listened and acted,” Bucshon said Wednesday. “It’s difficult in these times to find money for projects. He’s been very helpful to me in a number of areas.”

Jerrell has been a driving force behind the Feather Creek project from her office at the WCIEDD in Terre Haute. She has a large, framed photograph of a major Feather Creek flood taken in June of 2008 on the wall behind her desk. She personally obtained easements for the project from dozens of Clinton residents over the past couple of years.

“I think this will give residents a peace of mind,” Jerrell said of the project. People living along the creek worry every time it rains that they may lose everything, she said.

In addition to $900,000 from the Army Corps of Engineers, the project is receiving about $400,000 from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs and about $13,000 from the City of Clinton, Jerrell said.

Looking down the currently dry creek bed to the south, Gilfoy said it will be rewarding to be in the mayor’s office when the Feather Creek problem has been finally solved.

“If I can come down here and look down through here and see clearly, and see that these people are resting a little more easily, it will be gratifying for me,” he said.

Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

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