Engineering plans will be unveiled later this year for two large flood mitigation projects that will benefit Eureka residents, Mayor Sean Flower said.
On Aug. 6, the Eureka Board of Aldermen approved three easement agreements with property owners in Old Town and near the Eureka Wastewater Treatment Facility. Flower said the agreements put the city one step closer to finalizing engineering and design plans for flood mitigation.
The board voted 5-0 on Aug. 6 to approve the easement agreements for 353 Bald Hill Road, 33 Truitt Drive and 100 Old Towne Drive. Ward 1 Alderman Wes Sir was not at the meeting.
The agreements for Bald Hill Road and Old Towne Drive will make way for plans to build a floodwall to protect Old Town businesses. The Truitt Drive agreement was put in place to protect the city’s sewage treatment plant.
“I think we’ve got three (easements) left (before work can begin on city floodwalls),” Flower said. “We’re in negotiations and we’re talking with all those parties. We’re trying to make sure we’ve got (the easement agreements) all designed correctly so we get what we need and make sure (the floodwalls) are in good shape as well.”
The mitigation projects are partially being funded with proceeds from the Proposition E sales tax.
Voters approved Prop E, a 1/2-cent sales tax, in 2018 for the construction of a Police Station, replacing the Allenton Bridge and flood mitigation measures. The city anticipates collecting nearly $3 million from the Prop E sales tax during the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to the budget said.
Flower said the city received a $4 million Missouri Department of Natural Resources grant for flood mitigation.
The city is allocating $10 million from the Prop E Public Safety Fund in the 2024-2025 budget for flood mitigation analysis and implementation.
The future work on flood mitigation will be more substantial than previous creek cleanout and brush removal efforts, Flower said.
Major flooding in 2015 and 2017 caused approximately $10.7 million in damage to homes and businesses, according to city documents.
In 2020, Flower presented a plan during a Board of Aldermen meeting to build two floodwalls.
Flower said the walls are intended to protect areas of the city most affected by flooding, including Old Town, the sewer plant, sections of Hwy. 109, the Eureka High School campus and the Elk Trails subdivision.
A wall to be built in Flat Creek will be located about 1.5 miles from the Meramec River, and a wall to go in Forby Creek will be located about a half mile from the river, Flower said.
Flower said the walls will have pipes to allow water to flow through the creeks normally, and those pipes could be closed during high water.
The most recent easement agreements approved at the Aug. 6 meeting focus on preventing flooding from Flat Creek from damaging Old Town. According to city documents, Daily Hybrid Real Estate LLC in Eureka has granted the city a 51,700-square-foot easement on its property at 353 Bald Hill Road. The property sits north of Drewel Park and is parallel to West Main Street.
Smart Progress Inc., which leases the Circle K gas station at 100 Old Towne Drive to Mac’s Convenience Stores LLC, has granted the city access to 20,940 square feet of its property. Flower said the city has worked with the gas station owner to rework the parking area so that the wall can be built.
“It took a couple of months to get it all negotiated,” he said. “We worked with (the owner) as far as how to not interfere with their parking. We’re going to be doing some swapping around there to do it.”
According to city documents, Circle K will move its parking area to what is currently the city’s easement along Old Towne Drive to the north of the gas pumps. The city will use the space behind the station and parallel to Kircher Trail for easement to build the floodwall. That space is currently used for parking and storage and has a dumpster and tire air pump. The existing car wash and main convenience store building won’t be affected by the agreement, according to documents.
Denise Wallach and Mark Becker, co-trustees of the Wesley A. Becker Living Trust, have granted the city a 42,079-square-foot easement to 33 Truitt Drive for $10. The property lies east of Hwy. 109 and just south of Earthbound Recycling. The property is at the corner of Truitt Drive and Labarque Way Road, which leads to the sewage treatment facility. Flower said the floodwall will be built along the property to avoid contaminating nearby waterways with raw sewage.