Haysi flood control to get millions in funds

The Army Corps of Engineers has approved $51.3 million in federal funds for a major flood control project in Haysi.

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced Jan. 14 that the Corps had approved a total of $286.9 million for flood control, including $235.6 million to Buchanan County.

The Dickenson County funds “will be used to relocate the Haysi Municipal Building and implement voluntary floodproofing and acquisition actions for up to 218 residential and commercial structures,” according to a press release.

The Buchanan funds will go toward completing a Hurley High School floodproofing project and relocation of the county’s career and technical center, as well as “voluntary floodproofing and acquisition actions for up to 730 residential and commercial structures.”

The funds come from the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act, signed into law in June 2019.

BACKGROUND

Roughly two years ago, county supervisors learned that because it paid for work on Route 637 to the Ridgeview schools campus, the county was eligible for roughly $1.2 million in Corps of Engineers credits, which could be used to leverage federal matching dollars for other flood protection projects.

At that time, County Administrator David Moore explained that the Corps has available dollars, known as Section 202 funds, available for flood protection. The only public building that qualifies is the Haysi municipal building, he said, adding that several hundred private residences also would qualify for relocation or flood protection.

In a split vote, supervisors agreed to commit roughly half of the credited funds toward leveraging matching funds for non-school projects. Doing so would leave about $600,000 available for construction of a new elementary school.

Ervinton District Supervisor Larry Yates, Sandlick District Supervisor Ron Peters and Willis District Supervisor Jason Compton believed the action would not harm efforts to build the new school. Clintwood District Supervisor David Perry and Kenady District Supervisor Shelbie Willis wanted to wait for additional information on possible school costs.

Schools Superintendent Haydee Robinson later expressed disappointment that school construction funds had been committed to non-education flood projects, adding that the $600,000 reduction would “significantly impact our ability to construct a new elementary school. As it has been stated several times in public meetings, the elementary construction budget is a very tight budget, with many unknown factors.”

She explained to supervisors that putting a new elementary school on the Ridgeview campus would have the least road cost, with Clinchco having the next least road cost. The most expensive cost would be the road to the Upper Backbone Ridge site in Haysi.