Northwest Indiana Discussion

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/compromise-could-pave-way-for-little-cal-maintenance/article_66f1f168-a8bc-5d5d-8e1c-737ab70276fb.html?mode=story

Compromise could pave way for Little Cal maintenance

Two of the main antagonists in the fight over maintenance of the 22-mile Little Calumet River flood levee have come to agreement on who should do it and how to pay for it.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. and state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, now say they favor a plan to levy per parcel fees throughout a large swath of Lake County as well as a nine-seat governing board with eight locally nominated members.

McDermott characterized the new format for the governing board as a "hybrid" of earlier proposals and boards, because although almost all board members are locally nominated, the governor gets to say yea or nay on their appointment.

The Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission, which oversees the levee system, currently has five members, all appointed by the governor. It does not have the funds to do long-term levee maintenance.

"Ed showed he's willing to compromise, and that's great," McDermott said. "The fact me and him worked together on this should make it easier."

The two credited the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, particularly board member Harley Snyder, with mediating their dispute over levee maintenance funding and the governing board.

Both acknowledged there still will be some persuading to do when it comes to including communities like Merrillville and Winfield in the watershed plan. According to a study McDermott and Soliday are relying on, it will take a fee of $45 per residential parcel, $90 per agricultural parcel, $180 per commercial parcel and $360 per industrial parcel to pay for levee completion and maintenance.

The fee would raise $5.6 million per year, according to the study by Policy Analytics LLC. That money would be used for annual maintenance costs estimated at $3.7 million per year, another $7.3 million in completion costs, and payback on a $6 million loan from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

The study notes localities also could be on the hook for up to $12 million more pending the result of current negotiations over the value of localities' contribution over the 26-year history of the project.

Unless a maintenance plan is put in place and funded, 9,500 residential owners and businesses within the Little Calumet flood plain will have to continue paying flood insurance premiums that average $870 yearly. Furthermore, if the levee and its complex drains and pumping stations are not maintained, the entire basin will be in danger of devastating floods like those that occurred three years ago.

In the last session of the Indiana General Assembly, Soliday promoted a proposal to assess homeowners in the watershed a $25 annual fee for levee work. That never made it out of the House, in part because of fierce resistance to the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission's makeup by McDermott and others.

A bill promoted by the Senate would have used Hammond, Gary and Lake County casino tax revenue to pay for levee maintenance. But that proposal died in the Senate. A proposal to form a conservancy district put forward by McDermott and Lake County Surveyor George Van Til also bit the dust when local municipal boards resisted.

Soliday said leaving maintenance to individual communities just won't work because many don't have the resources. Also, if any one community neglects its portion of the work, all communities could suffer.

"My argument is everyone benefits, so everyone pays a little bit," Soliday said.

The Policy Analytics study also looked at extending the Little Calumet watershed, and the attached fees, east of Interstate 65. That would be done only if a $50 million flood control project for areas east of I-65 were approved.