In February of 2018, our area was hit with historic flooding. It was rough. Along with several key staff, we worked for 91 out of the first 97 hours of the crisis responding to the various community needs.
In addition to the urgent concern back then, I recently was asked what Goshen is doing about this. Understandably, many folks in our community are worried about this sort of thing happening again. I wish there were easier answers, but the solutions are complex.
There are some who want immediate answers or quick solutions such as building up a higher wall. Unfortunately complex problems require multi faceted solutions. There are many layers to the flooding problem in our area and and simply damming up the river in one place will cause problems elsewhere.
While there area rarely easy fixes, I refuse to shrug it off and we have actually been putting solutions into action, both long and short term.
- A flood relief emergency fund was created by the City to cover a much wider range of potential future disasters.
- Continued emphasis on clearing storm drains
- We have formally taken our first steps in creating the Department of Environmental Resilience which will focus on forestry, data collection, education, and finding environmental and financial efficiencies.
- The City recently purchased its first electric vehicle in an effort to further test alternative fuel cars and their impact to the City’s budget and the environment.
If these issues are important to you, I encourage you to make your voice known. City Council meetings are a great venue to do this. And, in this voting season, the ballot box is also a crucial arena. I appreciate your vote, but also a vote for the city council men and women who similarly want to see this positive environmental change.
Sincerely,
Jeremy P. Stutsman