The City of Hastings will host flood mitigation open house on Dec. 3, (City of Hastings, Courtesy)
HASTINGS — The City of Hastings invites the community to attend a public open house as part of its effort to improve flooding conditions in the city.
The open house will be 4:30-6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 3, Hastings Municipal Airport at 3300 W. 12th St.
All members of the public are invited to participate in the meeting. No formal presentation will be made, and attendees may drop in anytime.
The purpose of the meeting is to seek public input on flood risk reduction alternatives being proposed for the following three locations – Central Hastings, downtown area and immediately south; Lake Hastings dam; and Pawnee Creek property near the Hastings Municipal Airport. Each of these locations have experienced significant impacts and damage from flooding events over the last decade, and the proposed improvements at each site will help to alleviate future flooding impacts as well as improve overall flooding conditions in the community.
The project team will be on hand to answer attendees’ questions and record feedback. A previous open house held in March 2024 presented findings from a flood risk evaluation conducted at each site and obtained public input on individual experiences with flooding and flooding impacts at each of the three locations.
This project is part of an effort to obtain Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) BRIC (Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities) grant funds that would support the review of existing infrastructure, assess threats of flooding, develop mitigation activities to address flooding, screen alternatives to select preferred alternatives, and develop a funding plan for implementation. BRIC is a FEMA program that supports states, local communities, tribes and territories as they undertake hazard mitigation and flood risk reduction projects, reducing the threats they face from disasters and natural hazards, including extreme flooding events (FEMA.gov 2024).
The City of Hastings received federal grant dollars in summer 2023 which allowed them to begin the first phase of this project which included the evaluation of three sites in town to determine potential flood risk reduction improvements for each of them. After evaluating flooding conditions at each of the three locations, Central Hastings – Downtown) was selected for FEMA BRIC funding to be used to support the construction of its proposed improvements. Funding for the other two projects will come from the City of Hastings’ stormwater management fund.
Following the completion of the Final Design and Development Phase, the City will begin the process of applying for federal grant dollars to be used to support the implementation of this project. Public feedback is an important part of this final design process and all residents of the community are encouraged to attend to learn more about how this proposed project can improve flooding conditions within the city of Hastings.
For more information, visit the project page: https://www.cityofhastings.org/government/administrative-services/reports-and-studies/2024-city-of-hastings-flood-mitigation-project.html
