ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 26, 1996 TAG: 9612260018
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BUENA VISTA
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM STAFF WRITER
With two miles of levee and 900 feet of floodwall, Buena Vista's flood control project might be the city's savior when it's completed, probably this summer.
It'll put a stop to the Maury River's occasional forays into town, sure.
But more than that, it could bring the peace of mind, confidence and revenue to resuscitate the oft-drowned city and bring it back from a long, slow decline from prosperity.
With the flood control system in place, property values are expected to go up by as much as 22 percent in some flood-prone areas when the city does a general reassessment for July1, 1998. That will strengthen the city's tax base.
Many homes probably won't require flood insurance anymore, either, and those that still do may have lower rates.
"I'm hoping that it brings in new industry," said Jim Painter, of Painter Space Printing, a yarn dyeing operation that is repeatedly flooded. "There'll be a peace of mind for the people themselves that would come here."
"We can bounce back," said Mar Vita Flint, the city's commissioner of revenue and a lifelong Buena Vistan. "We've been a little slow for a while, but I think we're on the right track."
Years of flooding wiped out a good bit of the commerce in this city that Flint says is so small everybody knows "whose checks are good and whose husbands are bad."
Few businesses could survive in downtown Buena Vista, nearly all of which is in the heart of the flood plain.
"The whole downtown was pretty much a ghost town," said Steven King, city engineer and acting city manager.
After the flood of 1985, the Rea Magnet Wire plant closed. So did the Reeve's Brothers plant, which manufactured a rubber-coated fabric.
Although it was unrelated to flooding, the biggest blow came in 1993, when the Blue Bird bus plant closed, putting more than 200 people out of work.
The Army Corps of Engineers began work on the $41.8 million project about five years ago. Buena Vista's share of the cost is 12.5 percent, the state pays 12.5 percent, and the federal government covers the rest.
But the project is likely to come in under budget, King said. It's also ahead of schedule.
It's about 80 percent complete. The levee, which runs the length of the city and encircles the public works plant, is nearly done. So is the floodwall that protects the wastewater treatment plant. The river has been widened in many places, too, to make room for more water.
The project also includes three massive floodgates that can be closed to keep water from coming across railroad tracks and one main road.
Perhaps the most ingenious elements of the project are the gates and canal that will control flooding along a creek called Indian Gap Run. Historically, when the Maury begins to rise, water backs up into Indian Gap Run, causing flooding well away from the river.
Soon, a set of gates will be installed to shut off the creek where it meets the river. Water coming down the creek will be channeled into a mile-long canal and a few small retention ponds. Once the river goes down, the water in the canal can be released.
Buena Vista has seen more than its share of flooding over the years.
The worst in recent memory was the flood of 1969, which submerged the better part of downtown. That was a 140-year flood.
It was also bad in November 1985, and the city got swamped twice in one week in June 1995.
The flood control project will hold back a flood equal to the 1969 deluge, plus 3 feet.
The increase in property values means an increase in taxes, but Flint hopes that blow will be offset by the need for flood insurance being eliminated in some areas. Flood insurance is administrated by a federal agency, the National Flood Insurance Program, which will have to re-map the flood plain in Buena Vista.
Laura Lee Hostetter, whose home on Forest Avenue has been flooded several times in the three years she and her husband have owned it, said she won't mind the extra taxes.
"You don't ever like paying more money," she said, "but it's better than the hardship of moving everything upstairs every time you hear it start to rain hard."
Not having flood insurance, however, leaves Hostetter a little uneasy until she's certain she's out of the flood plain.
"And you can't be sure until you get a flood."
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. 1. This part of the flood wall byby CNBthe railroad tracks near Buena Vista allows trains to pass during
normal times but swings its gate shut during flooding to protect the
town. The 900-foot wall is designed to hold back rushing water 3
feet above the 1969 flood level. 2. The Army Corps of Engineers
began work on the $41.8 million project about five years ago. Buena
Vista's share of the cost is 12.5 percent, the state pays 12.5
percent, and the federal government covers the rest. This is a view
of the beginning of the flood wall from the 10th Street Bridge.