Louisiana Seeks Solution For Dangerous Property
Rains, Flooding Create Problems For Residents, Area Municipalities
The heavy rains over the weekend only exacerbated the problems with the dilapidated building at 401 Georgia Street in Louisiana so now it appears city officials will be forced to make a fast determination on the future of the structure.
After more bricks began falling from the facade of the building on the east side over the weekend, the city had an engineer assess the structure. Jeff Windmiller, the city’s building inspector and code enforcement officer, said the building is not in immediate danger of collapse. He noted, however, that a decision will have to be made soon to demolish or attempt to save the structure.
An emergency meeting of the city council will likely be held this week. The building was inspected by Michael Purol of Poepping, Stone, Bach & Associates, Inc., of Hannibal. Windmiller visited the property with the engineer and has been keeping a watchful eye on the building.
A fence has been put around the property which is located at the intersection of Georgia and 4th Street. The city also barricaded the 100 block of North 4th Street to protect public safety.
The building was formerly owned by Gertha Hodges, but has become the city’s headache for the past few years. Windmiller noted there is still a lien against the property. He added the first floor has collapsed into the basement of the structure and the second floor was deemed unsafe for quite some time.
This will not be the first time the city council has examined demolishing the building. Bids have been sought in the past but due to the expense a final decision has stalled. City Administrator Kelly Henderson pointed out the situation is further complicated by the fact the building shares an interior wall with the building next to it. Previous bids have not included a plan for how to treat and stabilize the wall that would become exterior for the adjoining building. He added that anything that has to be done quickly will likely only add to the expense as well.
Unfortunately, the Hodges building at 401 Georgia isn’t the only problem that was either created or made worse by the storms over the weekend for Louisiana. Henderson said a few streets and properties were affected by the flooding. It also appear the water treatment plant was hit by lightning on Saturday.
Henderson says the city is still producing clean water, but the lightning caused damage to a number of motors and pumps. He said the city has been able to find short-term solutions until the facility can be completely assessed and new parts installed. The heavy rains also caused some sewer issues with the amount of water intake. Henderson noted that while it was an eventful weekend, city crews have risen to the challenge.
“People here pretty much know what to do when the water rises. Residents know what to expect and know what to do,” Henderson said.
There has been intense scrutiny on levee systems and how they change flooding. Debate has been intense over some areas such as the Sny District which begins at Quincy and has levees that exceed the original intent. Many believe these levees have made flooding much worse for areas such as Hannibal, Louisiana and Clarksville.
Henderson said he is aware of the ongoing debate. He noted that it does appear that since the flood in 1993 when levees were allowed to be raised (and many were never lowered) that flooding has been more habitual. He said he would like to see levees studied closely as one aspect of many in an investigation into flooding to develop meaningful solutions.
Clarksville Mayor Jo Anne Smiley is no stranger to the same concerns shared by Louisiana. She said the town experienced many of the issues it always faces with heavy rainfall.
“We had some sewer backups and had to do some pumping. That’s not unusual for us when the water gets high,” Smiley remarked.
She added the predicted Tuesday crest of 30.2 means water should not work its way into the streets.
“With the ground as saturated as it is we’ve had some trees come down and some mudslides, but it’s not anything we can’t handle ourselves. We’ve been here before.”
Several other towns in the area experienced places of flooding or mild sewer issues. In Bowling Green a lift station had some overflow issues and there were some streets with heavy water in Vandalia. Pike County Commissioner Bill Allen said the were a few issues in isolated areas but crews were able to deal with most things. He noted it’s to be expected when there is that amount of rainfall.
Naturally motorists had to keep an eye on reports as portions of Highway 61 and Highway 79 have been closed. Individuals can keep up with the latest on road closures on the Missouri Department of Transportation website.
