DUTCHTOWN TOPS ANOTHER HURDLE ON WAY TO FLOOD-CONTROL LEVEE

The Village of Dutchtown has taken a big step towards getting a flood-control levee after village officials signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a project feasibility study.

The agreement paves the way for Corps of Engineers experts to study the feasibility and economic justification of a levee to protect Dutchtown and Highway 74 from Mississippi River flooding. The study should be completed in December.

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 will pay the remainder of the $116,000 study.

Village officials signed a Feasibility Cost Sharing Agreement earlier this week.

It was signed Monday by village chairman H.W. "Bud" Obermann, village secretary Robert Moss and village treasurer James Seyer. Signing for the Corps of Engineers was Col. Gregory G. Bean, commander of the Memphis District.

"Following virtually every major Mississippi River flood that has occurred in the last 20 or 30 years, Dutchtown residents have searched for ways to get flood protection for the community," Obermann said.

Residents of Dutchtown started their search for the $8,000 in October when they met with 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 Corps would pay the majority of costs for the feasibility study and any levee with federal flood-control money, but a local match was required.

The county commission didn't want to own a levee. It urged Dutchtown residents to take the lead, and they did.

In February, residents of Dutchtown gathered signatures and petitioned for incorporation. Then the new village requested $8,000 from the county. Commissioners acknowledged the village had no money to pay back the loan, but future grants of other funding sources may become available.

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

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