ROCK SPRINGS — The Rock Springs City Council approved a contract to examine a Bitter Creek levee, amounting to $194,000.

The city contracted with Old Glory Engineering to examine the levee at Pearl Street Park, which was built nearly a century ago and hasn’t been accredited by FEMA. Mayor Max Mickelson said the levee’s evaluation is the first step in getting it accredited. The examination will give the city an understanding of what work would be needed to have it accredited. Once completed, the city intends to apply for a Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant from FEMA to fund any improvements.

Mickelson said once the levee is accredited, the section of the city near it would be lifted out of the designated floodplain, opening it up for development while giving property owners the opportunity to extract the full value of their properties.

“It is actually an incredibly massive opportunity for the city and I appreciate his (Paul Kauchich, city director of engineering and operations) work in finding this for us,” Mickelson.

Councilman Rob Zotti said the floodplain issue has held the city back and the levee itself has no record of how it was built. Zotti said he is cautiously optimistic about the levee ultimately opening up development opportunities in Downtown Rock Springs. Kauchich told the Council FEMA and the Army Corp of Engineers brought the issue to the city’s attention, saying they map the Bitter Creek prior to it being rerouted. Until the levee is accredited, he said they will continue to map the Bitter Creek along its original path.

“They recommended to us to find a way to get this levee accredited,” Kauchich said.

The study is expected to take approximately one year.