MnDOT, Mankato working to ensure North Mankato avoids insurance hit

Nov. 10--NORTH MANKATO -- Local and state officials are making progress on a plan to fix a flaw in Mankato's flood-control system -- a flaw that federal officials have warned could force lower North Mankato property owners to buy costly flood insurance.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has advised the city of Mankato that flood mapping to be released in 2019 could put much of lower North Mankato in the flood plain because of a problem with Mankato's flood-control system on the west bank of the Minnesota River just north of Highway 14.

Mankato has contacted consultant HR Green Inc. about looking at options and helping navigate the FEMA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatory system, according to City Manager Pat Hentges.

"We don't want to design something, make an improvement without (asking the Corps) 'Is this acceptable?'" Hentges said.

Greg Ous, the district engineer at the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Mankato office, has agreed to prepare a cooperative agreement between the cities and MnDOT covering payment and oversight of the project, Hentges said.

MnDOT is coordinating the effort because the repair would occur on the Highway 169 right-of-way and would likely involve raising the highway slightly.

The flood-control system, as originally designed four decades ago, calls for a temporary earthen berm to be constructed across Highway 169 for the very worst floods. That berm -- if the river reached historically high levels -- would be the only thing keeping water from surging back through the Highway 14 overpass into the previous river channel past the Hiniker Pond area, through Spring Lake Park and into surrounding neighborhoods of lower North Mankato.

Hentges said he believes FEMA, after levee failures during Hurricane Katrina, decided its too risky to rely on local officials to build temporary, hastily constructed earthen berms. Last summer FEMA informed the city that a more permanent solution was needed or the affected neighborhoods would be designated as flood-endangered when new maps are issued.

While it's technically Mankato's portion of the levee system, North Mankato residents would face the insurance repercussions if the new FEMA maps are released before Mankato makes the improvements.

"We don't want to let this go because it's important to our residents," North Mankato Mayor Mark Dehen said.

In fact, one Nicollet Avenue resident told North Mankato Council member Bob Freyberg that his insurer was already insisting he needed flood insurance -- something that can add hundreds or thousands of dollars to an annual insurance premium.

Ous is hoping to identify 2018 funding for the project, which could include raising about 500 feet of Highway 169 and its ditches just north of the westbound off- and on-ramps of Highway 14.

FEMA might be asked to pin down when in 2019 the maps will be finalized to see if MnDOT can be given some flexibility in whether to do the flood-control work in 2018 or 2019, Hentges said. It might be logistically preferable to push the work back a year because 2018 is when a $7.5 million resurfacing of Highway 14 is scheduled through much of Mankato.

___

(c)2017 The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.)

Visit The Free Press (Mankato, Minn.) at www.mankatofreepress.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.