This month, Findlay City Council voted to move forward with design and engineering for the recreation area. The city is now working with a design firm to explore various features, which could include approximately two miles of walking and running paths, a multipurpose stage, splash pad, kayak launch, and fishing areas. Plans also call for a 460-foot pedestrian bridge to connect both sides of the Blanchard River.
On Tuesday, June 3, Mayor Christina Muryn updated the City of Findlay Parks & Recreation Board on progress made toward the proposed improvements for the downtown recreation area. Over the past three years, the City of Findlay has worked diligently to advance plans for recreational enhancements within the planned Phase 2 benching area.
Findlay and Hancock County is getting money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to continue their flood mitigation efforts. They have been conditionally approved for a 24 million dollar flood hazard mitigation grant, and that money will be used for two major projects. 19 million dollars will be used to construct the Eagle Creek Flood Basin, which is considered a cornerstone of the city and county's flood mitigation plan. The total project cost is 60 million dollars; the rest of the money came from the State of Ohio.
The council is asking the Maumee Watershed Conservation District, Defiance, and the conservation district court to change their watershed plans to include the Eagle Creek flood basin. The basin would be constructed outside of town and is expected to reduce flooding by about 18 inches. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has already put in $30 million of funding for the basin, which is just one flood mitigation project that's in the planning stages or already underway in Findlay.
The flood mitigation project for the Blanchard River is continuing in Findlay.
The City of Findlay is ready to start a major project to reduce flooding in the area.
The fate of a massive flood control plan along the Blanchard River in Hancock County has taken a surprising turn.
