The Centralia City Council delayed a vote Tuesday night on a pair of resolutions that each would define the city’s stance on flood control in the Chehalis River Basin.
Held off until the city council’s next regularly scheduled meeting on April 13, the vote for one of two resolutions outlining to varying degrees Centralia’s plan for flood control with levees and dams was delayed following a discussion among council members.
Instead, council members agreed to cut out specifics they dislike in the resolutions so city staff can pare them down into a single one for a vote next month.
The vote essentially would put Centralia in lockstep with other Lewis County governing bodies who have issued statements in support of building dams on the upper Chehalis River basin, with the Army Corps of Engineers’ Twin Cities levee project as a secondary option for flood protection.
Preliminary data have shown that during a major flooding event dams could lower the Chehalis River’s flood crest by four feet from historic levels.
Additionally, the city of Chehalis, the Port of Centralia, the Port of Chehalis, the Lewis County Public Utility District, the Chehalis-Centralia Airport and the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce have backed a study on two potential dams on the upper Chehalis River basin.
“We just want to go along with people,” Mayor Harlan Thompson said.
•••
Adam Pearson: (360) 807-8208
•••
Two Options
The Centralia City Council is considering two resolution options:
The first option supports dam construction for prevention of Chehalis River Basin flooding; agrees to the governor’s proposed study of dams and levees working together; supports a different U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Twin Cities Project, with dams as the primary focus and levees secondary, instead of only levees; and moves toward a county-wide flood control zone to replace the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority of Lewis, Grays Harbor and Thurston counties.
The second option basically supports the same elements, including providing primary and secondary access to Providence Centralia Hospital; flood mitigation for China, Coal, Salzer and Dillenbaugh creeks; improvements to storm drainage on Southwest 20th St.; improvements to Kresky Avenue; and designates responsibility for levees location and maintenance.
