INDIANAPOLIS | State lawmakers gave final approval Tuesday to legislation handing Gov. Mitch Daniels the keys to the Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission.
House Bill 1716 would end five local appointments to the 11-member levee building panel and have the Republican governor name a new five-member commission. Four board members must come from communities adjacent to the river, such as Hammond and Munster.
"The wisdom of that is, if we're going to reduce the membership down to the point that we're reducing it, the communities that border the river should have voices on that commission," said Rep. Dan Stevenson, D-Highland.
An earlier Senate version of the measure would have allowed the governor to select levee commissioners hailing from within the river's drainage basin, which stretches to St. John, Crown Point and Valparaiso.
"Every time the Little Cal gets to a certain level, it flows east. And when it flows east, all of that stuff comes out at the Portage beach," Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, said after voting against the more narrow appointment area. "The Hammond group is not the only group concerned about the Little Cal River. I just wanted to send that message."
The legislation cleared the Senate 46-2 and the House 90-1. It now goes to the governor.
Meanwhile, lawmakers said the current version of the state budget, which must pass by tonight, includes the full $14 million needed to complete the levee project. An earlier version offered only $9 million.
The Little Calumet commission took the brunt of the blame for September flooding that damaged more than 4,000 homes. The panel was created two decades ago to build protective flood walls along the river from Gary to the Illinois border.
The governor's new appointees could not hold another appointed or elected office, and three of five commission members would be required to have a background in construction management, flood control or a related field. The final commissioner would be from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
