Juneau officials outline temporary HESCO barrier plan, local improvement district and timeline for Mendenhall Valley flood protection

City Manager Katie Kester and Chief Engineer John Bohan told residents at a Jan. neighborhood meeting that the City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) is pursuing a two-track flood response for the Mendenhall Valley: short-term flood-fighting measures using HESCO barriers and a parallel long-term study with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The short-term plan — described as a temporary protection measure expected to last up to a decade — would install HESCO fabric-and-wire flood barriers along a roughly two-mile segment from Marion Drive to Rivercourt Way. CBJ officials said that deployment is intended to protect the largest number of damaged homes ahead of the next expected outburst flood, and that hydraulic modeling and permitting must be completed before construction begins.

The HESCO barrier deployment and associated work would be funded through a local improvement district (LID) that the assembly initiated earlier; CBJ staff said the preliminary assessment is $6,292 for each of the 466 properties included in the district, with a proposed 10-year payment plan at a 4.78% interest rate and a 60/40 split of costs between CBJ taxpayers and assessed properties. City staff said objections to the LID must be submitted in writing by the end of the public hearing on Feb. 3, 2025, and that the ordinance would become effective March 3 if adopted.

Why it matters

CBJ stressed that long-term solutions will take years to study, design and permit. The HESCO deployment is aimed at buying time and preventing repeat damage in the near term while the Army Corps’ general investigation (GI) study and other long-term options proceed.

What officials described

- Short-term vs. long-term: Chief Engineer John Bohan said CBJ is pursuing parallel paths: (1) hydraulic/hydrologic (H&H) modeling and short-term “flood fighting” measures such as barriers or sandbag…