When Kankakee River Basin Commission members met Thursday morning, they permitted a total of $254,000 to be paid to three counties in order to assist with immediate repair needs resulting from the recent flooding.
Initially, members considered having all funding requests submitted at a meeting that would be held within the next 30 days but a few members said there were some issues with that idea.
Many surveyors had no choice but to immediately tend to problems that arose during the floods. The work that has already been done needs to be paid for and La Porte County Surveyor Tony Hendricks requested $85,000 to cover repair costs while Jasper County Surveyor Vince Urbano asked for $71,000 for work that has been done so far.
Starke County Surveyor Bill Crase presented another unique issue. He explained that he had to rent trucks for repair work that Starke County crews have been doing. He added that La Porte County has been utilizing those trucks as well. He said if he has to wait for the funding, the trucks will have to be returned and the rental process would need to start over, which would end up costing more money. He had additional work that has been done and needs to be paid for as well. He requested a total of $98,000 to help cover repair costs so far.
The remainder of the county representatives said they would be able to wait to request funds at a later date once they have a better idea of what work will cost. Commission members voted to pay Jasper, La Porte and Starke counties for their immediate needs.
Additionally, members voted unanimously to hold a special session at 9:30 a.m. on April 12th, in order for members to prioritize projects for funding requests. Many places have been patching up problem areas but permanent fixes will need to be made in order to keep the same problems from occurring during future storms.
Jasper County Surveyor and Commission Secretary Vince Urbano expressed a concern with holding a meeting so soon, saying it is still too dangerous for crews to do full assessments at this point. However, he was assured that if all projects are unable to be submitted in April, the funds won’t be fully allocated and additional plans can be submitted later once it is safer to assess the area.
The counties of Starke, Marshall, La Porte, Lake, Porter, Newton, Jasper and St. Joseph all have county surveyors, commissioners and Soil and Water Conservation District supervisors on the Kankakee River Basin Commission (KRBC). The members coordinate on various aspects related to the river including maintenance, planning and organizing funding for projects.
More details from the KRBC meeting will be provided in future stories and audio will be shared this Sunday at noon during the Kankakee Valley Viewpoints program on K99.3 WKVI.
