Hartley receives grant for flood mitigation

Ongoing efforts to mitigate flooding issues in Hartley received a boost recently.

City Administrator Erica Haack announced during Monday's council meeting that Hartley received a Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) Project Scoping grant worth $100,000. The grant is administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and will allow the city to retain engineering services to develop future flood mitigation strategies.

"It kicks a lot of the beginning stuff into gear," said Superintendent of Public Works Jaron Benz.

Money from the BRIC grant will help cover engineering expenses and other related costs, according to discussion. Using previous survey information, engineers will develop the best flood mitigation improvements based on a cost-benefits analysis and formulate a path forward. Once the city has those plans in place, officials will be able to apply for additional grants for construction of the projects.

"It's a good thing and good start to get this thing going," said engineer Wes Boyer.

Hartley officials have been discussing flooding issues for more than 10 years. When the area experiences heavy rainfall in a short amount of time, water inundates several portions of town. A particularly wet summer in 2018 led to extensive damage in Hartley homes due to flooding and sewer backups.

The city was recently selected by the Silver Jackets Program, which completed a survey of flooding issues in town this summer. The program exists in all states and several territories, bringing together multiple agencies to learn from one another in reducing risk from floods and other natural disasters. According to the program's website, the teams enhance preparedness, mitigation, and response and recovery efforts by applying their shared knowledge.

Hartley also received a flood mitigation report in 2021 from the engineering firm Curry-Wille & Associates, of Ames.