Cass County commissioners authorize transfer to advance Davenport flood-control project

Cass County commissioners voted unanimously to approve the county’s share of the Davenport flood-control project and to authorize finance staff to transfer funds from the county flood sales tax fund so contracts can be awarded promptly.

At a special meeting, staff reported competitive bids for the project — the construction low bid came in at about $3.6 million, roughly $600,000 under the engineer’s $4.2 million estimate — and said the total project was roughly $7.3 million. Kurt, who presented the engineer’s statement of cost, said the State Water Commission last week committed roughly 60% of eligible project costs (reported in the meeting as about $3.75 million). Flood-sales-tax committee approvals to date total $1,425,000, and residents in a recently formed assessment district have approved assessments totaling $460,352. Using those figures, presenters said the county local-share request to the flood sales tax committee would be about $1,667,469 and the total local cost-share would be roughly $3.92 million (as presented at the meeting).

Melissa, who led the project presentation, told commissioners that eight bids were received and that the selected contractor was RJ Zaval and Sons. She said the project has a conditional FEMA map revision approved and that about 92 of the town’s 100 homes would be eligible for flood insurance coverage depending on mortgage status once the project is certified.

Commissioners and staff discussed how advancing county funds upfront would reduce bonding interest costs; staff estimated an upfront transfer could save nearly $200,000 in interest under conservative assumptions (a four- to five-year payback at roughly 5%). Sarah, the county finance staff member, confirmed the county has available cash and said funds advanced for the project would be placed in a special project account and could be processed through the county’s next voucher/payment cycle.

Commissioners asked about per-household assessment levels; staff said the average assessment was around $5,000, varying by whether a property is in the mapped floodplain, with higher assessments up to about $7,000 for some properties.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the additional requested local amount ($1,667,469 as presented) and to authorize the finance office to transfer funds upon completion of required steps. The clerk conducted a roll-call vote; Commissioners Brightling, Grinberg, Heinley, Wilson, Stein and Lichie recorded “yes,” and the motion passed unanimously.

Officials said that, assuming required paperwork with landowners and the railroad is completed, contracts could be awarded within a few weeks and the contractor hoped to begin work in September with completion by mid next summer. Staff also said certain permits and easement paperwork remain to be finalized before work can begin.

The commission asked staff to process the approved transfer through the normal payment cycle if possible, and to provide construction updates to the county and Davenport residents as work proceeds.