Feds OK Feather Creek funds

CLINTON, Ind. (WTHI) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved $819,000 to fund improvements to chronically-flooded Feather Creek, officials in Clinton, Ind. said Tuesday.

Those improvements include deepening and widening of the creek along with the building of berms on either side of the creek.

The changes are meant to reduce flooding which has plagued neighboring homes for years.

“There are a lot of people who have lost their homes … they’ve lost everything,” said Mayor Jack Gilfoy. “There are a lot of people whose lives have been destroyed by this.”

Officials with the City of Clinton first began planning improvements to the creek in the late 1930s, and by the 1960s, the Army Corps of Engineers had gotten involved in the project.

Through the years, federal funding for the project has been awarded and revoked, but residents and community leaders continued pushing for the project. 

“A lot of times, they could have thrown the towel in, just given up,” said Gilfoy. “I think it shows that they have a lot of character and heart, and they were dedicated and focused to see this project through.”

Along with calls from community members, Kristy Jerrell of the West-Central Indiana Economic Development District said pressure from Senator Dick Lugar and Congressman Larry Bucshon was critical in getting the federal funds.

Jerrell said the entire Feather Creek project will cost about $1.2 million, and she said $363,000 will be funded by a state grant and still more will come from the City of Clinton’s Feather Creek fund.

Jerrell also said the federal funds will likely be received within a month, and she said work on the project could begin as early as Fall 2012.