U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Vanceburg, was on hand Friday for the official groundbreaking ceremony for Maysville’s $7.1 million floodwall restoration project.
Maysville-Mason County Industrial Development Authority Executive Director Owen McNeill served an emcee for the event at the Cox Building Conference Room and introduced local officials including city and county commissioners, Maysville Mayor Charles Cotterill and Mason County Judge-Executive Joe Pfeffer. The Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District was represented by Mike Keathley, district deputy engineer and by Kevin Nelson, who explained the project late last year to city commissioners.
Steve Zweigart of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary performed the National Anthem and Rev. Tony Liess of the Maysville Police Department offered the invocation.
McNeill gave a brief history of the floodwall, reminding those in attendance that the restoration project is “the next chapter,” for the structure which protects Maysville from Ohio River flooding.
Cotterill cited the importance of the floodwall and the project to ensure it longevity.
“This is a wonderful day,” he said. “The magnitude of this project for the city of Maysville can hardly be measured.”
He thanked those involved with securing funding for the project.
“The city of Maysville is gratefully appreciative of this,” the mayor said.
Pfeffer recalled how the floodwall was the product of the 1937 flood which devastated cities along the Ohio River, including Maysville. It was 1957 before the work was complete and the keys to the floodwall gates handed to then Mayor Rebecca Hord.He said the floodwall is important to Maysville in many different ways.
“It’s important in a lot of ways we may not realize,” Pfeffer said.
The project will repair storm damage the levee suffered in February 2018 and will cover an area from Main Street to Commerce Street.
The project will address erosion and slippage along the levee and all issues will be addressed from the river side of the floodwall and involve the lower two-thirds of the wall, Nelson told city commission in December.
Earth removed from the project will be hauled to the Mason County Landfill and replaced with stone to prevent future erosion, Nelson said.
Work is expected to be completed in June 2021, officials said Friday.
Since its completion, the floodwall has endured 38 high water events and prevents millions of dollars in flood damage to the community, Keathley said.
Only communities which maintained flood protection projects such as the floodwall are eligible for full federal funding for restoration efforts, Keathley said. Because of the commitment of local officials to maintain and repair the floodwall, Maysville is eligible, he said, “a testament to those here today but also to past generations.
Massie, who serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Waterways Subcommittee, took to the podium and told a lighthearted story about how his grandfather was known for catching catfish in the streets of Vanceburg during the 1937 Ohio River flood.
On a more serious note, he said for a project to gain his support it must pass three tests: 1. Is it Constitutional? 2. Can we afford it? and 3. Is it better done locally or federally? The floodwall restoration project passes all three tests, he said.
“We can’t afford not to do this,” Massie said.
Officials moved to the back of the room where ceremonial soil was in place for the official ground-breaking.
Work on the project is expected to start soon.
