Progress on Dallas Center’s $3 million southwest stormwater construction project has reached the long stretch of Hatton Avenue, passing within inches of the United Methodist Church and reaching the Dallas Center-Grimes Middle School on Vine Street.
The new storm sewer will relieve the city’s flooding on the west side of town by means of the new 42-inch trunk line running along Hatton Avenue northward from Linden Street. The contractor for the project is Progressive Structures LLC out of Elkader.
According to the construction schedule, this summer’s work will see the trunk line zigzag southeasterly from Linden and Hatton, reaching 13th Street (R Avenue) just north of the Dallas Center Elementary School.
Stormwater will then be carried eastward to a new detention pond to be built on the west side of the Raccoon River Valley Trail and north of 250th Street. The detention pond will lie to the northwest of the city’s wastewater treatment lagoons.
“This is something that should have been done 30 years ago,” said Dallas Center Public Works Director Brian Slaughter. “Hopefully, this all works out, and we get rid of some of this water. It’s always a problem.”
Dallas Center paid about $315,000 to buy land for the new detention pond, including small parcels acquired from the First Presbyterian Church and Spurgeon Manor and a 25-acre section bought from the Wilma J. Pollard Revocable Trust for about $308,000.
Last fall the city sold about $3 million in general obligation bonds in order to cover the costs of preliminary and construction engineering, land acquisition, temporary construction easements, permanent easements, engagement of a financial adviser and bond counsel and the detention pond and outlet pipe.
Dallas Center Mayor Michael Kidd said the sewer improvements will be followed by others as the city’s debt limit allow.
“This is Phase 1,” Kidd said, “since we don’t have enough borrowing capacity to complete the whole project at one time. We will then pluck off small pieces as we can afford.”
Mary Ellen Oberender’s business stands at the northwest corner of Hatton Avenue and Sycamore Street. She said the torn-up street is inconvenient, “but it will sure be nice to have that stormwater controlled.”
