WORK ON CITY FLOOD-CONTROL RESERVOIR TO START SOON

City officials and the Army Corps of Engineers will meet today with the company that will build a detention basin, dam and spillway north of the city that will help alleviate flash flooding in Cape Girardeau.

The preconstruction meeting with Dumey Construction Co. is planned to put final touches on the project, which may involve signing contract agreements or discussing plans one last time before work begins, said Ken Eftink, development services coordinator with the city planning department.

Construction of the 157-acre detention basin northwest of Route W is the final phase of a $48 million project designed to help eliminate flooding along Cape LaCroix Creek and Walker Branch. The Corps of Engineers is paying for 75 percent of the work, and the city is paying the remaining 25 percent.

The overall project includes:

* Channelization along Cape La Croix Creek and construction of the LaCroix Recreational Trail that runs through the city, which have been completed.

* Construction of the detention basin.

The Corps of Engineers awarded a contract on the detention basin to Dumey Construction this month. The Corps received three bids for the project, which had been estimated to cost between $3 million and $5 million:

* Bloomsdale Excavating, $4,785,561.

* Robinson Mechanical Contractors, $5,873,465.

* Dumey Construction Co., $4,511,743.69.

Dumey should begin work before the end of June.

Plans call for building a dam and reservoir on LaSalle Fork, a tributary of Cape LaCroix Creek, that will collect water from a major rain. The basin "prevents that rush of water that causes flooding," Eftink said. "It is a key component of the control project."

The basin will only fill during heavy rains and will have the capacity to hold a once-in-500-years flood. After the rain the water would slowly drain down the watershed over a period of days. Another component of the project is to install sanitary sewer lines in the area around Route W Mobile Home Park before the dam is built.

"We are taking advantage of the opportunity to put the line up before the dam is built," Eftink said. The sanitary sewer trunk line will eliminate sewer lagoons and will eventually connect with existing city lines.

That portion of the project is $944,744.90, which will also be done by Dumey Construction. The cost of the sewer trunk line is included in the portion of work being paid by the city.

Building the basin likely will help bring some properties out of the floodplain areas along the creek, Eftink said. Once the entire project is complete, the city likely will change its floodplain management ordinance, he said.

The project is expected to take two years to complete.

While the project is designed to prevent flooding, it hasn't been without problems of its own.

The city had hoped to start construction of the water-detention basin by 1995, but some of the affected property owners opposed the project in the courts. In April 1992, a judge ruled the city didn't have legal authority to condemn land outside the city limits. In August 1995, a judge threw out a condemnation lawsuit brought by the city.

Judge Michael Bullerdieck of Perryville ruled the city hadn't made valid offers for the land and didn't make a good-faith offer for property belonging to the owners of the Route W Mobile Home Park. The Corps of Engineers then took over the condemnation process.

In addition to looking at ways to eliminate flooding along Cape LaCroix Creek, the city is trying to find ways to manage stormwater runoff along the Ranchito-Arena Park watershed.