HAMMOND | Based on a flood control plan being finalized by Hammond Sanitary District Manager Michael Unger, Sanitary District officials estimate the city will need to find $9 million to $12 million to get a handle on the city's flooding woes.
Two weeks prior to the major flooding that closed the Borman Expressway in late August, the City Council had asked the Sanitary District to provide the council with a list of recommendations and their cost.
Tuesday, Unger presented the five-member board of sanitary commissioners with a draft of a 16-point wish list he estimated would cost between $17 million and $20 million.
Topping the list is the need to control the runoff from the Borman Expressway, where a major storm in late August closed the highway at Kennedy Avenue for several days.
A substantial amount of the plan calls for boosting the electrical capacity of the city's pumping stations, particularly those along Kennedy Avenue, where power failures are most frequent.
Another major "hot spot" is the area near the Indianapolis Boulevard pumping station, Unger said.
To run a fourth pump, capacity must be boosted at the station, which August's storms nearly flooded.
"There's so much water coming in there from somewhere," said Unger, who was asked by the Sanitary District board to fine-tune the flood control plan before it's submitted to the mayor and the City Council.
The City Council must approve its 2008 budget by Sept. 30.
The plan also includes adding to the city's three backup generators.
Commissioner Louis Karubas said the Sanitary District has $9 million earmarked for several projects identified in the flood control plan.
To obtain the balance, he proposed the six district City Council members be approached for $1 million in casino money for each of two years, which adds up to $12 million.
Karubas argued basements should have priority, rather than the streets and curbs, which the City Council tends to support with its casino dollars.
Commissioner Steve Fowler, however, said the council should be provided the plan without demanding a set figure.
"Some (council members) just don't have it," he said of the $1 million figure.
However, the problem is more than financial, said City Engineer and Sanitary District board President Stan Dostatni, who charged some council members with counting votes rather than dollars when it comes to deciding where projects could continue.
As a result, the city's infrastructure resembles a giant jigsaw puzzle with major parts failing to connect "in a logical sequence," he said.
"Maybe this will bring us all together," Dostatni said of the storms that have touched residents citywide.
