The Nodaway County Commission, at their regular meeting Thursday, declared a state of emergency for the county due to the heavy rainfall that fell in the county from Saturday to Monday. Some places had as much as eight inches of rain fall over those three days. Independence Township was among the hardest hit, with gravel getting washed out, water cutting through roads, and tubes plugging or getting washed out. They had two approaches and a culvert get washed out. Water cut into a road just north of Gaynor from Route E, making it difficult to access without jolting. In Hughes Township, some of the bigger tubes were clogged with debris. Some places held up better than others; roads that were crowned properly did better than the ones that were flat.
Nodaway County Emergency Management Director Christy Forney met with the commissioners to start the process. For the county to qualify, it had to have at least $103,000 worth of damage from a storm. Commissioner Chris Burns estimated that the damage just from gravel being washed off was around $375,000. The declaration includes Maryville. In Maryville, Peach Creek threatened to wash out structures and a tube on east 16th Street which had been a small issue was now a big issue. The county will apply for $1 million in disaster relief. The figure is subject to change as further disaster reports come in.
There were some state roads affected as well. Route 246 west of Sheridan saw Honey Creek jump the road Tuesday, leading to that road's closure; it was subsequently reopened. Water was also over the road on Route NN west of Parnell.
It will take the state a week or two to respond, followed by FEMA, which could take a while. Funding is allocated based on documentation of damage along with alignment with the county's emergency response plan, which is updated every five years. All counties must have this to get disaster relief funding; Nodaway County has such a plan. County employees and township personnel will document damage that they find and forward it to the county in order to get funding.
Scott Wilson, a backup water operator for Bolckow, came to talk about the proposed $6 billion data center south of Maryville. He said that he was concerned that the facility processing that much water would add strain on his town's water capacity when it starts using 600,000 gallons of wastewater a day. He noted that when Maryville put in Mozingo Lake, it eased the strain on his town's water resources. He said that the area is already stretched thin for water resources without a gigantic data center locating. Currently, he noted that Barnard already uses 10,000 gallons of water a day and Fillmore uses around 9,700 gallons a day.
Representatives from Hughes Township and Enel, the wind farm that is located there, came to work out with the county who is responsible for what. Sage Jones of Enel produced an agreement made between the company and a previous board which the current board was not aware of. There were issues with the township saying that certain roads were the wind farm's responsibility and vice versa. The county does routine maintenance; Hughes Township does field entrance tubes if they already existed before the project and were installed properly. The wind farm maintains tubes on its access roads that it uses to access the windmills. The representatives agreed to be in communication so they can be on the same page regarding who is responsible for what. There are 32 miles of access roads that Enel uses to access its windmills.
Presiding Commissioner Bill Walker will not seek reelection this year. Commissioner Chris Burns is running unopposed for his seat, barring a third-party or a write-in bid. Upon Mr. Burns assuming the Presiding Commissioner's seat, Governor Mike Kehoe will appoint a replacement to serve out Mr. Burns' remaining two years.
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