KIMMSWICK โ When the Mississippi River swelled to near-record levels earlier this year, officials raised an emergency levee and rented a fleet of pumps to keep this 160-year-old river town dry.
The hard work paid off, stemming the floods that ravaged other areas. But the efforts came with a price โ nearly $150,000 โ that means financial stress for the town of 180. And now officials fear the Federal Emergency Management Agency wonโt help pay the bill.
โI consider that to be a punishment for not drowning,โ said Kimmswick Mayor Phil Stang.
With historic homes, shops and restaurants tucked within a quiet handful of city blocks, the charm of the Jefferson County town is obvious. โItโs like living in another century, but in five minutes you can go enter another world,โ said Stang, describing life in Kimmswick.
But maintaining that feel can be difficult, especially with increasingly frequent bouts of major flooding on the adjacent Mississippi. This yearโs emergency pumps alone cost $49,000, Stang said.
As of this week, Jefferson County residents and small businesses are eligible for flood relief resources from FEMA. But the new federal designation does not extend to public assistance for municipalities in the county. As a result, Kimmswick is expected to absorb the $150,000 hit from its flood fight on its own.
โMoney well spent, but it still hurts,โ said Tammy Benack, Kimmswickโs city clerk and treasurer. She said the city started the year with about $250,000 in working revenue โ the pot that runs the police department, public works, city hall, the post office and more.
In such a small town, Stang said, effects on the budget are magnified.
Officials in the area arenโt holding their breath for outside aid to help fill the fresh crater in the cityโs books.
โAt this point in time we are assuming it wonโt work out,โ said Warren Robinson, director of Jefferson Countyโs Office of Emergency Management. โIโm not familiar with any other recourse for them to get public assistance. It is unfortunate.โ
He explained that based on population, the county would need to reach a threshold of about $820,000 in certain flood-related expenses to qualify for public assistance through FEMA. Currently, he said the county falls well short โ with Kimmswick accounting for nearly all of the eligible expenses.
Having that relief system hinge on countywide totals has left Kimmswick in a bind, and city leaders unhappy. Stang, for instance, believes the county-level approach is too imprecise. He thinks aid should be available for places that paid out-of-pocket for painstaking flood preparation.
โI think itโs counterproductive to not include significant preparedness,โ he said. โBy being prepared, weโre hosed. We donโt have the funds to fight this stuff all the time.โ
He said the town will maintain โessential servicesโ but will probably cope with its greatly diminished budget by postponing things like roadwork and purchases of some โthings we ought to buy.โ At other times, he said services like police staffing at certain events would still be sufficient, but perhaps โless than optimal,โ and trimmed by an officer or two. Meanwhile, the emergency levee will stay up โ minus a hole punched in it for a road to pass through โ unless some outside money comes along.
โIf nobody is paying me to take it down, weโre keeping the rest of it,โ Stang said.
The floodโs fiscal impact to Kimmswick encompasses more than city money spent. Maybe the most visible casualty was the cancellation of the annual Strawberry Festival โ an event that Benack said consistently generates $30,000 to $35,000 for the city, not including the economic boost to local businesses. That loss, she said, โalready nips intoโ next yearโs budget.
Tourism is a mainstay for Kimmswick. Visitors flock there each June for the Strawberry Festival and in October for its Apple Butter Festival. Quaint shops and โlevee-high apple pieโ at the Blue Owl Restaurant and Bakery pull in visitors the rest of the year.
But more and more often, the city has had to engage in expensive flood fights. So far, the town has been able to protect and maintain itself, but Benack believes the furious pace of flooding has prevented it from investing in opportunities for growth or improvement.
Stang agreed that the recent sequence of flooding is financially unsustainable for the town.
He hopes that will change โ and that better flood protection could become affordable โ if a bid to make the town a hub for steamboat tourism pans out. If all goes well, he said, a plan to relaunch the Kimmswick-based Delta Queen steamboat in 2020 could quadruple revenue for the town in three to five years.
โWeโre looking forward to a bright future,โ said Stang, โas long as we get there.โ
Levee saved Kimmswick from floodwater, yet ineligible for federal disaster assistance

Server Tori Suchara takes orders at the Blue Owl Restaurant in Kimmswick on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. Owner Mary Hostetter said that while the town's levee held back the Mississippi River, the restaurant's economic loss was large as visitors stayed away from the fragile situation. "We had a baby shower canceled because the father of the baby was afraid that the levee would break during the party," she said. (Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)
Levee saved Kimmswick from floodwater, yet ineligible for federal disaster assistance

Kenny Cagle clears a portion of the Kimmswick levee, to re-open Windsor Harbor Road into town at Smokee Robinson's restaurant on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. The levee that protected the town from Mississippi River floodwater through the spring at a six-figure cost to build may not be reimbursed from federal disaster relief funds. (Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)
Levee saved Kimmswick from floodwater, yet ineligible for federal disaster assistance

Kenny Cagle clears a portion of the Kimmswick levee, to re-open Windsor Harbor Road into town at Smokee Robinson's restaurant on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. The levee that protected the town from Mississippi River floodwater through the spring at a six-figure cost to build may not be reimbursed from federal disaster relief funds. (Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)
Mississippi River floodwater held at bay by Kimmswick levee

Kimmswick Mayor Phil Stang (left) does a daily walking inspection of his town's levee with Danny Meyer, public works director, and Lance Engle of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Construction of the 350-foot levee, a mix of clay, rock and sandbags, started in early April as Mississippi River floodwater approached. The Corps estimates the water will rise 1.7 feet more. With only one winding access road able to reach Kimmswick, cutting off parking lots, its annual Strawberry Festival this weekend has been canceled. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com.
Mississippi River floodwater held at bay by Kimmswick levee

FILE PHOTO: The old bridge over Rock Creek entering Kimmswick is flooded on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, as Mississippi River floodwater approached town. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com.
Mississippi River floodwater held at bay by Kimmswick levee

Kimmswick Mayor Phil Stang (left) does a daily walking inspection of his town's levee with Danny Meyer, public works director, on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Construction of the 350-foot levee, a mix of clay, rock and sandbags, started in early April as Mississippi River floodwater approached. With only one winding access road able to reach Kimmswick, cutting off parking lots, its annual Strawberry Festival in June was canceled. (Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)
Mississippi River floodwater held at bay by Kimmswick levee

Kimmswick Mayor Phil Stang (left) does a daily walking inspection of his town's levee with Danny Meyer, public works director, and Lance Engle and John Rossi of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. Construction of the 350-foot levee, a mix of clay, rock and sandbags, started in early April as Mississippi River floodwater approached. With only one winding access road able to reach Kimmswick, cutting off parking lots, its annual Strawberry Festival in June was canceled. (Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)
Levee saved Kimmswick from floodwater, yet ineligible for federal disaster assistance

On a rare day off, Blue Owl Restaurant owner Mary Hostetter gardens before opening time on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. During the height of spring flooding, the town of Kimmswick was protected by a levee that held off the Mississippi River, but at a high cost to the residents and business owners. "We're busy now and we're so thankful for that, but we have a lot of lost revenue to overcome," said Hostetter, whose restaurant was celebrating 34 years in business. (Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)
Levee saved Kimmswick from floodwater, yet ineligible for federal disaster assistance

Carissa Plunk coats the famous Levee High Pie with caramel as she works in the bakery at the Blue Owl Restaurant on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. Owner Mary Hostetter came up with the pie as a tribute to the 1993 levee that barely saved Kimmswick. Hostetter is joining the town's three other restaurants for a "Taste of Kimmswick" in September to raise money for merchants who lost revenue during spring flooding. While the town was once again saved by its levee, the economic hit was hard for area businesses. "We had a baby shower canceled because the father of the baby was afraid that the levee would break during the party," Hostetter said. (Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)
Levee saved Kimmswick from floodwater, yet ineligible for federal disaster assistance

Carissa Plunk coats the famous Levee High Pie with caramel as she works in the bakery at the Blue Owl Restaurant on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. Owner Mary Hostetter came up with the pie as a tribute to the 1993 levee that barely saved Kimmswick. Hostetter is joining the town's three other restaurants for a "Taste of Kimmswick" in September to raise money for merchants who lost revenue during spring flooding. While the town was once again saved by its levee, the economic hit was hard for area businesses. (Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)
Levee saved Kimmswick from floodwater, yet ineligible for federal disaster assistance

Mike Capriglione goes after a wasp nest with a tennis racket as he prepares to open his wife's rustic furnishings store and his motorcycle shop in Kimmswick on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2019. A 1957 International S-100, which Capriglione proudly says still runs, decorates the front of the businesses. While the town was once again saved by its levee during spring flooding, the economic hit was hard for area businesses. (Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)