Conservation board looks to solve campground flooding issue

By Bryce Kelly, Mt. Pleasant News

The Henry County Conservation Board hopes to resolve flooding issues at the Water Works Park campground.

During a Monday night meeting of the Henry County Conservation Board, the board agreed to pursue an engineering service agreement with Warner Engineering to start the preliminary planning to begin an investigation into moving Water Works Park campground.

?Basically, we would be looking at the feasibility and overall effectiveness of moving the Water Works campground from where it currently is to another area within the park,? said Henry County Conservation Department Director, John Pullis. ?The area that we are considering moving it to is at a little higher elevation.?

Pullis said finding an area where that campground wouldn?t be able to flood as often would be a major improvement to the overall upkeep and use of that space every year.

?With this, we also want to make sure if we move the campground, it would be someplace where the campground could be open longer throughout the year,? Pullis added.

The engineering service agreement was approved at $6,000. No timeline has been set for the work.

In other campground-related news, Pullis said campgrounds in Oakland Mills will officially open for the camping season this Friday.

?Everything is ready, our (campground) hosts are in place, and we are looking forward to welcoming campers,? he said.

Despite the campgrounds being open for business, the Oakland Mills Nature Center will remain closed to the public until Saturday, April 22.

Finally, Pullis reported that the Henry County Conservation Department has received an addition to the Ketchum Switch Recreation Area. The department inherited a small 12-acre parcel of land on the northeast corner of Ketchum Switch from the Iowa Department of Transportation. Ketchum Switch Recreation Area, which totals 270 acres, is an upland and grassland mitigation area.

The small parcel of land is being deeded to the department at no cost.

The Henry County Conservation Board will meet again on May 10, at 5:30 p.m., in the Henry County Conservation Department Board Room.