Dan Gardner resigned on Friday from the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission, just days after U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., demanded his dismissal in the wake of devastating flooding in parts of Northwest Indiana.

Completing construction of a levee along the full length of the river in Northwest Indiana will require that confidence be restored in the commission, Gardner said in a letter to Commission Chairman William Biller.

"That effort and the work to restore it will require a full-time executive director," Gardner's letter said. "To that end, I submit my resignation," effective immediately.

Failure to complete the levee after more than 20 years has been blamed for floodwater pouring over the river's banks and onto streets and highways, submerging all or parts of thousands of homes and businesses following a deluge of rain on Sept. 13 and 14.

Visclosky, who earlier this week called Gardner "the obstinately ineffective" commission director, said in a prepared release on Friday that Gardner "has acknowledged the need for change in leadership" of the commission and has decided to step down.

"I am confident that new leadership will reinvigorate the project and accelerate its completion," Visclosky's statement said.

Visclosky called for the prompt hiring of a new executive director, one with construction management and contracting experience.

This month's flood must put an end to "business as usual" and mark the start of an era of "working with a sense of urgency and purpose," Visclosky said.

Plans by the 11-member commission are to meet in a special session Monday to consider Gardner's resignation, Biller said.

At a regular meeting on Wednesday, the commission could begin laying the groundwork for hiring a replacement, he said.

"I would hope we can move quickly," Biller said.

Hammond City Council President Dan Repay, who earlier this week was approached about the possibility of replacing Gardner, said Friday he's not sure what will happen next.

"It's something the commission is going to have to decide, how to handle from this point forward," Repay said.

Gardner's resignation will do little to help Munster neighborhoods, where flooding forced thousands of people out of their homes and destroyed many of their homes and belongings, Munster Town Councilwoman Helen Brown said.

Brown said she's concerned that finding a replacement, and possibly reorganizing the commission, as Visclosky has recommended, will only further delay completion of the levee project.

"Whether Dan is there or not it's not going to clean out anybody's basement," Brown said. "We need higher levees now."

Biller said Gardner "did the honorable thing to resign."

"I think Dan has been a very good public servant over the years," Biller said. "He always had the welfare of the region forefront in his dealings."

The 22-mile levee system is planned to stretch from Martin Luther King Drive in Gary west to the Illinois state line.

It has been completed to the east end of Munster, which remains protected by an old system of levees that has proven inadequate.

For the project to be completed, easements and rights of way along the river must be granted to the commission.