Council talks flooding, downtown plan

The Pullman City Council on Tuesday approved an application for a FEMA grant to fund two projects along Missouri Flat Creek aimed at preventing major flooding onto the city’s streets.

One project includes constructing floodwalls along both sides of Missouri Flat Creek, immediately north of the Stadium Way bridge, to prevent the creek from overflowing onto Grand Avenue. It is estimated to cost $500,000.

The other project includes removal of the remainder of an old car wash that sits directly above Missouri Flat Creek and which is a bottleneck during flood events. The above-ground car wash structure was removed by the property owner in 2019, but the bridge portion of the structure remains. This project is expected to cost $76,000.

These projects are scheduled to take place during the next two years.

The grant covers as much as 75 percent of the project costs. Pullman’s stormwater fund would cover the rest.

Missouri Flat Creek flooded Grand Avenue and Stadium Way in April 2019 and caused extensive damage to businesses and vehicles.

Councilman Al Sorensen supported the grant application but advised Pullman Public Works to also consider flood mitigation farther north up Missouri Flat Creek.

Also Tuesday, Pullman took another step toward its goal of improving the city’s downtown based on recommended changes described in the Downtown Master Plan completed last year.

The city will request proposals from professional consultants interested in implementing the changes laid out in the plan. The chosen consultant would obtain data, reach out to the community and figure out how much it would cost to implement the changes.

Consultant proposals will be due to the city by Sept. 17. An agreement with the consultant is anticipated by November. Construction work is expected to begin in summer 2023.

The City Council also heard a presentation about the possibility of Pullman creating its own municipal court.

The city currently has a contract with Whitman County to hold district court hearings at the old city hall building on Paradise Street. Hearings also are held in Colfax.

A municipal court would give the city more local control over its criminal justice approach. It would cost between $471,558 to $481,792 per year, not including the $200,000 startup cost. The current contract with the county for district court is $471,000.

This presentation, organized by Washington State University researcher Megan Parks, can be found at bit.ly/3DfLDzC.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.