Ames Tribune
The Ames City Council voted 5-1 to allow eminent domain use for a flood mitigation project though the city will first pursue purchasing the land.
Since the Federal Emergency Management Agency granted $3.7 million to fund the project, the council is required to hold a public forum on potential eminent domain use. The project, which will mitigate flooding along Squaw Creek near the South Duff Avenue bridge, will require total acquisition of two properties and will impact seven other properties.
One business owner, Jim Howe of Howe Welding and his wife, Piper Wall, expressed their concerns with the project at Tuesday s City Council meeting.
Ames Tribune
Correction: This article has been updated due to an error. The city s flood mitigation study target the Squaw Creek and the Skunk River.
Jim Howe has operated Howe Welding next to Squaw Creek for 33 years, experiencing eight floods during that time though he has reservations about the $4.9 million flood mitigation project that could take part of his land.
Squaw Creek and Skunk River have a long history of major flooding in Ames, and after the impacts of the 2010 floods, the city launched a flood mitigation study. Seven years after the completion of the study, the Federal Emergency Management Agency granted $3.7 million to the city of Ames.