In a special 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 21, session, the El Dorado Springs City Council interviewed three engineering firms on their proposed approach to the downtown flooding issue.

Members present were Mayor Brad True, Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Baldwin and Council Members Randy Bland and Gene Floyd.
Council Member Jerry Friar was absent. Personnel present were Bruce Rogers, City Manager and Lisa Janes, City Clerk/Collector/Assessor.

Amec Earth & Environmental, Inc. was the first firm to interview. They had a power point presentation along with a matching handout. Two members from the firm presented their qualifications for the project.

When asked why all of a sudden the City has had two major flooding events in two years they responded it mostly has to do with more asphalt and less places for the water to go. They would be looking at one or more detention ponds, relief inlets downtown and channel improvements. Timetable would be 8-12 weeks.

Floyd received a phone call and left the meeting at this time.

Olsson Associates were the second firm to interview. Three members of the firm were present. Eric Dove stated the 6 to 6 and 1/2 inch rainfall received would fall under a one in 500 year event. This information can be gathered from the National Weather Service website.

Option one for Olsson would be detention and to use City crews. Detention is usually the best option for the money. Grant options and permits were covered.

Other areas of the project to be looked at would be to use the alley as a water escape and more inlets. The gun shop is acting as a dam right now; the ground would need to be reworked so that the water would move away from the building.

The detention pond area, if able to work out with the school, could be a multi-functional area so that the school would get good use of the property.

Olsson would probably look at a 100 year design. Timetable would be August-December (Notice to Proceed through Beginning of Construction).

Great River Associates were the final interview. Two members of the firm presented their qualifications and stated they would concentrate on the short-term and long-term design. An area they felt needed improvement is the inlet conditions, more water can go in with a larger opening at the inlet. When asked, they covered permits and grants. Timetable would be five months to complete through the design phase.

All three firms discussed the possibility of a detention pond on school property. Also, all three firms confirmed they did not feel the water was backed up in the tunnel to St. James St. during the most recent flood event of May 2010.

Once the interviews concluded, all remaining Council members agreed to the following order. The best presentation was Olsson, second would be Great River and 3rd Amec. After a brief discussion, it was decided to hold off a decision until the next meeting when other members would be present. Bland stated he would not be present at the next meeting in two weeks, but Rogers, Baldwin and True could let the others know his thoughts and feelings.