Missouri Valley, Iowa – Officials with the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), in Atlantic, report following the spring flood of 2019, SWIPCO helped the city of Missouri Valley obtain a $583,000 CDBG Disaster Recovery grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority to restore damaged drainageways and ditches, as well as replace street surfacing destroyed by flood waters. The project is now in its final stages of completion.

2019 Spring Flood affects Missouri Valley (SWIPCO photo)

Missouri Valley City Administrator Jodie Flaherty said “The drainage system we had in place before was just not functional, and that led to some serious delays in the floodwater receding in 2019. This project is going to prevent a lot of damage to property and make Missouri Valley a safer place to live going forward.” In addition, Flaherty said the $1.9 million project, whose funding came from a combination of FEMA funds following the 2019 flood events and the CDBG administered by SWIPCO, will boost the economic and physical well-being of the city.

City officials including Flaherty, Mayor Shawn Kelly, Streets Public Works foreman Robert Riesland, and City Engineer Jim Olmsted were all involved in the project’s development and implementation, in coordination with SWIPCO community development staff. Following the spring 2019 floods, the city made temporary repairs, like placing granular surfacing on damaged streets, but FEMA officials agreed the reconstruction of the drainage infrastructure and replacement of the street sub-base and surfacing was needed to prevent further challenges down the line.

The construction of the new drainage infrastructure, as well as the resurfacing of the roads, will result in increased property values and provide additional vitality to the Willow Park subdivision of the city of Missouri Valley. Officials note that with improved infrastructure, Missouri Valley may be more attractive to developers and builders who are looking to build on empty lots.

SWIPCO routinely provides grant writing and administration services to its member communities in Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie, and Shelby Counties and brought over $53 million in grants to the region in the last two years alone.