Ideas flow for flood study
time.
“Then, there are conveyance improvements that don’t necessarily store water but help the water flow more efficiently, so that the water doesn’t come out of a stream bank and onto the road,” DeLuca said.
Additional improvements might include more culverts, supplemental cross culverts and additional ways to move water at the lower portion of Main Street.
Taking into account some 18 potential stormwater projects, costs are estimated at $85 million.
Asimilar study was last completed in the area in 2011 after Tropical Storm Lee, DeLuca said, to address flooding from Rogers Avenue to Ellicott Mills. However, it only analyzed the Hudson Branch, measuring at a little over1.5 square miles.
Mark Hemmis, owner of Phoenix Emporium at the end of Main Street, said he was impressed with the presentations on Wednesday.
“It’s hard when you get a group of people this big together, a group that’s still pretty raw with emotion from what happened last year,” said Hemmis, whose business was ravaged by flood waters. “It’s a monster project, but they’re going the right way.”
Hemmis said he realizes there’s no way to eliminate all flooding in Ellicott City, but management seems more feasible. “The idea of eliminating flooding in a floodplain is ridiculous,” he said.
Officials say that as plans emerge, the Ellicott City Watershed Master Plan has a mission to incorporate not only elements of the city’s topography, hydrology and road network, but also its heritage as a mill town.
Val Lazdins, director of Planning and Zoning for the county, said a team of consultants is working on the master plan, led by the Baltimore-based landscape architecture and urban design firm Mahan Rykiel Associates. Another firm, Arnett Muldrow & Associates, will consider economic development strategies and marketing, and other contractors will look at other elements.
“It’s a typical multi-disciplinary team that’s been established,” Lazdins said.
Five public meetings are scheduled throughout the process before the master plan is adopted by the county as the plan for the Ellicott City watershed area.
DeLuca said public works is also collaborating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a non-structural flood-proofing study to determine what techniques businesses can use to prepare for and reduce flooding.
County Executive Allan Kittleman signed an executive order May 26 to create the Ellicott City Master Plan Advisory Committee, saying the panel will be “integral to the process to create the plan.”
The 11-member committee will work through June 2018 to involve the community in the process and provide input to consultants. Lazdins said advisory committee members share different perspectives —including both residents and business owners in downtown Ellicott City. anmichaels@baltsun.com
“Then, there are conveyance improvements that don’t necessarily store water but help the water flow more efficiently, so that the water doesn’t come out of a stream bank and onto the road,” DeLuca said.
Additional improvements might include more culverts, supplemental cross culverts and additional ways to move water at the lower portion of Main Street.
Taking into account some 18 potential stormwater projects, costs are estimated at $85 million.
Asimilar study was last completed in the area in 2011 after Tropical Storm Lee, DeLuca said, to address flooding from Rogers Avenue to Ellicott Mills. However, it only analyzed the Hudson Branch, measuring at a little over1.5 square miles.
Mark Hemmis, owner of Phoenix Emporium at the end of Main Street, said he was impressed with the presentations on Wednesday.
“It’s hard when you get a group of people this big together, a group that’s still pretty raw with emotion from what happened last year,” said Hemmis, whose business was ravaged by flood waters. “It’s a monster project, but they’re going the right way.”
Hemmis said he realizes there’s no way to eliminate all flooding in Ellicott City, but management seems more feasible. “The idea of eliminating flooding in a floodplain is ridiculous,” he said.
Officials say that as plans emerge, the Ellicott City Watershed Master Plan has a mission to incorporate not only elements of the city’s topography, hydrology and road network, but also its heritage as a mill town.
Val Lazdins, director of Planning and Zoning for the county, said a team of consultants is working on the master plan, led by the Baltimore-based landscape architecture and urban design firm Mahan Rykiel Associates. Another firm, Arnett Muldrow & Associates, will consider economic development strategies and marketing, and other contractors will look at other elements.
“It’s a typical multi-disciplinary team that’s been established,” Lazdins said.
Five public meetings are scheduled throughout the process before the master plan is adopted by the county as the plan for the Ellicott City watershed area.
DeLuca said public works is also collaborating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a non-structural flood-proofing study to determine what techniques businesses can use to prepare for and reduce flooding.
County Executive Allan Kittleman signed an executive order May 26 to create the Ellicott City Master Plan Advisory Committee, saying the panel will be “integral to the process to create the plan.”
The 11-member committee will work through June 2018 to involve the community in the process and provide input to consultants. Lazdins said advisory committee members share different perspectives —including both residents and business owners in downtown Ellicott City. anmichaels@baltsun.com
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