Lock Haven’s Flood Protection System Marks 25th Anniversary
LOCK HAVEN – 25 years to the day that the City’s $70 million flood protection project was dedicated, Lock Haven officials past and present gathered Monday at the Water Street base of the mammoth dike/levee system to give thanks to those who fought tirelessly to bring the project to fruition.
Program master of ceremonies was Terry Shultz, chairman of the Lock Haven Area Flood Protection Authority. He thanked the many individuals and agencies involved in bringing local flood protection to the city. Shultz made special mention of two late city officials for their role in the effort: Frank Taggart, city manager from 1970 to 1991, and Diann Stuempfle, who served as mayor and a member of city council for 24 years.
Shultz traced the project history which followed the devastating flood of June 1972. The project design was approved in 1990 and ground was broken in October of 1991, the protection completed in 1994. Since that time, Shultz said, the system has provided “a lot of benefits, a lot of protection.”
Speaker Steve Stevenson, city council vice-president, said three prospective floods did not happen in the subsequent quarter-century because of the dike/levee system. He offered a “thank you, thank you, thank you to those who came before us.”
Mike Flanagan, President/CEO of the Clinton County Economic Partnership, talked of the economic protection the system has provided and noted that the former International Paper Company had been a project contributor before leaving the area, pointing out that First Quality now occupies the old paper mill site, within the confines of the dike system which extends into Castanea Township.
Flanagan shared a note from retired Pennsylvania Rep. Bill Clinger, now living in Florida, and for whom the Clinger Walkway is named. The retired congressman said the city system was the biggest infrastructure public works project within his district in his 16 years in congress. The now 90-year-old Clinger said he was “grateful” to have the river walk in his name.
June Houser, a city council member and “yes” vote when the project had been approved by city council more than a quarter-century ago, talked Monday of the positives for the community, including, among other things, the boat launch area in Woodward Township. Other council “yes” votes during a project-induced divisive time in Lock Haven, came from the late mayor Stuempfle and late council members Al Hoberman, Joe Nevins and George Shade. All had family members present for the Monday ceremony. Also speaking was Jo Ann Bowes of the city’s flood advisory committee who noted the continued work of that agency.
The city had approved $4.4 million in local funding in 1990 towards the $70 million project.
