Dutchtown nearer to goal of building a levee

And speaking of flooding in Dutchtown, the little village has become a good example of what a group of people can do for themselves if they are willing to work together.

Dutchtown incorporated as a village in 1998 for the sole purpose of getting a levee and stopping the all-too-frequent battles against Diversion Channel flooding. A couple years ago, residents voted sales and property taxes on themselves so they could fund a portion of a permanent levee.

And today, just two weeks after their latest bout of flooding, they are on the verge of success.

Tom Tucker, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission in Perryville, Mo., is helping the village file an application for a community development block grant to fund the last unpaid portion of a $929,696 levee. To break it down, the levee will be built with $25,000 of local funds, $25,946 of in-kind services, $278,800 of block-grant money and $599,950 in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers funds.

Dutchtown has raised its $25,000. Anything else it collects will pay for cost overruns, which are inevitable in a project of this magnitude, Tucker said.

The grant application is to be filed by June 15, and a decision should come 60 to 90 days later.

Those who make such decisions should take into consideration how hard Dutchtown has worked to make this a possibility. In addition, they should consider that, when highways 74 and 25 are shut down due to flooding -- two weeks ago, there was a levee across them -- there are some major traffic problems in the region. Residents of Stoddard and other counties west of Dutchtown are discouraged from coming to Cape Girardeau. Those who commute to Cape Girardeau must drive far out of the way.

Thus, a levee in Dutchtown would help the entire area.