DUTCHTOWN LEVEE REPORT DUE THIS WEEK; FARMLAND STILL NOT PROTECTED

DUTCHTOWN -- A feasibility report on a proposed levee that would protect Dutchtown from flooding is due this week, but a report on the study findings probably won't be available until later this summer.

Larry Sharpe with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the feasibility study was assigned to a private firm, which is scheduled to complete its work this week.

"They have been analyzing some levee designs. We will see if they feel any of these are feasible," Sharpe said.

The study looks at the feasibility and economic justification of a levee to protect Dutchtown and Highway 74 from Mississippi River flooding.

"We do expect we will have a pretty firm answer, once we have reviewed their input, as to whether there is a feasible project," Sharpe said. "We will probably be wrapping up the draft report by the end of the summer."

Residents of Dutchtown have been actively seeking a levee since October when they met with Cape Girardeau County Commissioners and representatives from the corps. The corps needed a governmental entity to take the lead in a levee project. In addition, the corps wanted $8,000 up front to begin the project.

The county commission didn't want to own a levee and urged Dutchtown residents to take the lead. Residents of Dutchtown gathered signatures and petitioned for incorporation.

The village was incorporated in February by the Cape Girardeau County Commission. Later in the month, the commission gave Dutchtown an $8,000 loan for the local share of the study's cost. The federal government is paying the remainder of the $116,000 study.

Mark Carnell, a member of the Dutchtown Board of Trustees, said village officials are waiting on the study results before proceeding on the project.

"Everything is just on hold until we get the results," Carnell said. "Everyone has got their fingers crossed."

If the report is positive, Carnell said village officials will begin looking for additional funds. "We'll be checking into available grants and investigating all that," he said.

The levee is proposed to protect the Village of Dutchtown and the highways. It was never designed to protect agricultural land, which floods when the river rises.

"We have the north ditch levee and that protects farmland when the river gets up to 38 or 40 feet," Carnell said. "But that levee belongs to the Little River Drainage District. The Dutchtown levee never did ever protect any farm land."

Sharpe agreed that the option being investigated concerns protection of structures at Dutchtown and the roadways.

While Dutchtown residents receive a direct benefit, Dutchtown officials have said the entire region would benefit if highways 74 and 25 could remain open during floods.

"Dutchtown is the crossroads for a lot of people," Carnell said.

Highway 74 has been closed by flooding four times in the past three decades: 1973, 1983, 1993 and 1995.