Schoharie County officials are helping to design a more than $5 million flood mitigation system that will protect the county buildings in case of another flood like Hurricane Irene.
The system will involve flood walls, automatic flood gates, flood windows, reinforcements to existing walls, a concrete buttress in the basement of the county building and a ditch around the buildings to prevent seepage, said Treasurer Bill Cherry, who is coordinating the county's flood recovery effort.
The system will cost between $5 million and $6 million on top of the $5.6 million being spend to rehabilitate the flood-damaged county building, he said.
The cost for both projects will be paid by FEMA.
The new flood mitigation system will also include a reworked look for the front of the main county building.
While the rehabbing of the county building is expected to be completed by the end of next March, Mr. Cherry said the new flood mitigation system will take longer to finish.
With the new system, he said, architects said the county buildings should be protected from flood water of Hurricane Irene plus an additional 10 inches.
Flood gates will be built around half of the county building, health department building and the courthouse.
The gates will lay flat when not in use and look like a grated sidewalk, Mr. Cherry said.
They will be hinged against the buildings and will automatically rise according to the height of any flood water.
Flood walls will be built on the east, front and rear sides of the buildings.
The flood walls will be six feet on the east side and eight feet in the rear.
They will be stained to fit in better with the building, said architect Mark Kukuvka of Labella Associates.
Most of the walls in the rear of the county building, as well as smaller sections on east side near the health department building and the rear by the courthouse will be reinforced.
An important addition will be grout-injection ditch around the entirety of the building to prevent seepage into the basement.
The ditch will be four feet wide and 10 to 20 feet deep.
There could still be some leakage in case of future floods, Mr. Kukuvka said, but the ditches will stop most of the underground water.
He noted that additional sump pumps will be tied into emergency generators.
"Curtains' will be used to keep the soil stable and the ditches will be built a few feet at a time and then left to cure before the next section is started, he said.
In addition to staining the flood walls, Mr. Kukuvka said other decorative measures will be taken.
Landscaping and screening will be put in place and the front entrance of the building will be transformed into a more park-like setting.
The floodgate retaining walls in the front of the building will be incorporated into a newly-designed "community courtyard" which Mr. Cherry said will improve the look of the existing building.
It will also provide a better community center for events, he said.
Members of the Schoharie Promotional Association have been contacted for their suggestions for the front.
The community courtyard could include a podium.
Schoharie Supervisor Gene Milone said he would like to see a covered area in front.
The design of the front has not been finalized and several supervisors said the community has to be involved in the plan.
Supervisors will be given monthly updates on the work on the county buildings.