ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603070024
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
The only way for Dora Highway residents along Peak Creek to avoid flooding may be to move somewhere else.
Pulaski Town Council agreed this week to contact Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, to see if federal funds are available to assist in relocation from flood-prone areas.
Jake Blevins, a Dora Highway resident, had argued last month that elimination of a bottleneck near his home along the creek would help ease seasonal flooding problems. But a study by Town Engineer John Hawley concluded it would not.
"A $750,000 improvement to widen the channel to 60 feet only lowers the flood to 3 feet," Hawley reported. "Widening the channel to 100 feet could cost $1.5 million and would only lower the flood 2 feet."
None of that would help other parts of town inundated by high water in January including parts of the downtown area, Kersey Bottom or Lottier Street, he said.
"So, no matter what we do, there's still going to be flooding out there on Dora Highway," said Alma Holston, chairwoman of the town's Public Operations Committee. "If we spend $1.5 million, it's not going to take care of the problem."
The town will seek advice and assistance on flooding problems from the New River Highlands Soil and Water Conservation District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Meanwhile, "Pulaski flooding is just where it was before," Holston said.
In other business, Town Council approved amnesty on penalties and interest for unpaid taxes through 1994, so long as they're paid by June 5.
And Town Manager Tom Combiths reported that the town engineering office had found a crack in the sewer line below the water level in Peak Creek that was sucking in an extra two to three million gallons of water and carrying it to the treatment plant. Fixing the crack could save as much as $33,000 a year, he said, by reducing the amount of water that was being treated unnecessarily.
LENGTH: Short : 44 linesby CNB