MONTEVIDEO -- An agreement inked between the city of Montevideo and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week will allow some work to proceed this fall on upgrading the Minnesota River levee in the community.
City Manager Steve Jones said the city signed the project cooperation agreement as part of the formal process toward the levee project.
The city has been working to line up federal funding for the project, which is estimated to cost $10.3 million. The city has set aside nearly $1 million in local funds for the project, while the state of Minnesota has earmarked more than $2.2 million.
Congress has included an appropriation for about one-half of the federal share. Jones said officials with the city and the Corps of Engineers are optimistic that funding will be appropriated for the entire federal share. It will allow the project to go forward in full measure next year.
The project calls for designing and constructing nearly 2,400 feet of new levee, and raising approximately 4,500 feet of old levee, according to a news release from the St. Paul district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project also requires raising 4,300 feet of U.S. Highway 212 in Montevideo, and realigning the intersection with Chippewa County Road 42. Other work includes raising roads at levee crossings, installing two pump stations and three gate wells, and installing a reinforced concrete stop-log closure, the Corps states in the news release.
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The raised levee will upgrade the city's flood protection to meet the 100-year flood event standards.
The first work this year will involve building 800 feet of new levee at the Canton Avenue intersection with Minnesota Highway 7 and raising the Parkway Drive road. The city is responsible for acquiring easements and land for the project for 40 different properties. It must obtain 250,000 cubic yards of material and develop 25 acres of wetland for mitigation, according to Jones.
