Payson Roundup

Although engineer Andy Romance said he doesn’t have all the answers available for Star Valley now, he plans to get to work right away on possible solutions to the town’s persistent flooding problems.

Romance was hired Tuesday night by the Star Valley council to research the towns worst flood areas, including Houston Creek, Mayfield Canyon and Goat Camp and provide viable solutions.

At a maximum cost of $5,000, Payson-based Mountain Standard, Inc., an engineering company, under the direction of Romance should complete the study within a few weeks.

Star Valley’s Floodwater Task Force has already identified four possible solutions to combat flooding. They include removing vegetation in the washes, stabilizing the banks, improving the channels and creating an upstream flood control facility.

“We want the engineers to tell us what will happen if we clear the debris from the creeks,” said task force member Gary Wilder.

Task force vice-chair Joanne Conlin said the committee wants to know what they should do first.

“We want to make sure we are assisting the community in the right way,” she said.

“Because all of this water is harming and flooding property. Some people are losing land and they could lose their home or (have) already had flooding in their home.”

Romance said he would take the task force’s solutions into consideration along with the area’s history and develop “real projects with real solutions.”

“Hopefully we can take these ideas, reel them in and filter them through my experiences,” Romance said