County awaits Ameren easement and plan to address floodplain fill violation

County planning staff said Sept. 2 that Ameren has provided a preliminary fix for an apparent floodplain fill violation but that the county is awaiting the easement paperwork and a formal plan before approving the remedy. A county staff member said Ameren will use a retention area and an easement arrangement so the utility can offset fill it previously placed on the site. Staff said the county’s engineer reviewed a preliminary plan and found the approach plausible, and that the company will submit a formal plan once the easement is in place. “Scott, Rebecca, our engineer, was satisfied preliminarily with the plan that he was shown by Ameren on how they wanna go about fixing the the issue,” a staff speaker said, describing the engineer’s initial review. The staff speaker added that the plan included a dry detention approach that would only hold water during higher flows to offset the volume of fill Ameren placed. Why it matters: floodplain ordinance enforcement seeks to prevent alterations that increase downstream flooding or change hydrology. Staff said Ameren’s proposed mitigation must show where removed fill will be placed and include engineered drawings the county can approve. What was not decided: county staff has not approved a final plan; Ameren must provide easement documentation and the formal engineering plan for county review. Next steps: staff said the county will review Ameren’s formal plan once the easement is provided and may call the county engineer to present findings to the committee.