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City seeks $100,000 SIP grant to restart long-dormant flood-diversion design
Summary
Project engineer Dave Brim and community development staff told the council they will apply for a $100,000 SIP grant to finish design work on a 1972 Army Corps plan to divert 100-year storm flows, then pursue multi-cycle construction funding to reduce flood insurance burdens and support economic development.
Project engineer Dave Brim and community-development staff told the Ephrata City Council they will submit a $100,000 Sustainable Infrastructure Program (SIP) grant application to complete design work on a long-dormant Army Corps preliminary plan for a dry-creek flood diversion channel.
"We're going after $100,000," Brim said, describing the funding as the first step to finish a 1972 preliminary engineering plan and produce a design package that will make the city more competitive for construction grants. He said the work would include multiple discrete projects: a debris basin near the headwaters, channel armoring and a three-sided box structure in parts of the existing channel, adjustments to the First Avenue bridge, and levee completion downstream.
Council members and staff framed the effort as an economic-development and public-safety priority. Brim said the current flood-control features were built to a lower design standard after 1974 and that the community has paid "a quarter of a million dollars a year" in flood-insurance-related costs; updating the federal-level designation for the city, he said, would remove a constraint on recruitment and development.
Staff estimated an initial schedule of about one to two years to complete design work if the SIP grant is awarded, followed by multiple grant cycles to fund the distinct construction projects. "One to two years for this initial design, six to eight years maybe for funding those projects," Brim said. He added that congressional or federal action may be required to change the city’s designation and that major projects could take several funding cycles to complete.
Council discussion noted that securing a finished design often increases the chance of winning construction grants. Staff said they are attempting to assemble historical mapping and aerial photography to strengthen the application; they also signaled an intent to seek matching funds only if required. The SIP application deadline was stated as the 15th of the month.
Next steps: staff will submit the SIP application and return with updates on the grant outcome, the completed design schedule if funded, and any required requests for local match funding.
