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Flood rebuilding still unsolved Photo by Jim Craven The fate of Calle Guanajuato, used by the walker at right, is still under discussion in Ashland. The area was heavily damaged in the New Year's Day flood of 1997. Park commission struggles with plan By WENDY SIPOREN ASHLAND -- More than two years after the New Year's Day flood of 1997, elected officials are still struggling with difficult decisions over how to rebuild Ashland Creek along Calle Guanajuato. The Parks Commission Monday held back from seeking bids for design work for the area, deciding instead to seek clarification from the City Council as to just how it would like future floods managed. Calle Guanajuato, a broad paved alley behind the Plaza buildings, was heavily damaged during the New Year's Day flood of 1997. Named after Ashland's sister city in Mexico, it is used for outdoor dining and for a craft market in the summer months. Last week the City Council directed the commission to come up with a park design that would seek to accommodate a 100-year flood -- meaning even more water than in 1997. "It's really kind of a bugaboo," said Parks Commissioner Terry Coppedge. "Are they (council members) willing to include as part of a 100-year flood a certain amount of damage to those buildings or could we use sandbagging or portable dams (as part of the flood control plan)? "Because if you want to allow a 100-year flood, we're going to lose something -- either land on the Calle side or land on the other side." At a joint study session last week, elected officials and business owners were highly critical of one design option which would eliminate most of the current Calle by dramatically enlarging the stream channel. A second design option would slightly widen the creek bed and use terracing to make it more attractive. Both preliminary designs would retain a pedestrian path on the west side of the creek. But both designs become problematic further downstream, where the creek channel narrows to 20 feet before flowing underneath the Main Street bridge. Designs from the Eugene-based architectural firm of Cameron-McCarthy-Gilbert show water several feet up the side of the building holding Munchies Restaurant. "Both options are awful for the business owners," said Parks Commissioner Rick Landt. "I am very concerned that the needs for flood control damage that area as a park." Whatever plan is ultimately decided on is likely to be controversial. Many Plaza building owners were critical of how the 1997 flood was handled, blaming the city for the water, mud and debris that flowed around to the front of the buildings, destroying merchandise and doing structural damage. A group of local ecologists called the Ashland Watershed Partnership maintain that the city shouldn't have built a flood-control wall and the Windburn Way bridge without looking at how it would affect areas downstream. Landt, a member of the partnership, would like to see the city do a feasibility study of piping or channeling flood waters through the Plaza, in front of those businesses. "We've got to realize that the entire Plaza buildings were built on a flood plain. What creeks normally do in a flood plain is branch out," he said. "To mimic what nature does may be a benefit." Also left for future consideration is the North Main Street bridge and a culvert under Water Street. "We're kind of just moving our way downstream to address other areas which may be potential problems," said Mayor Cathy Shaw. What is sure is that the Calle will have to go through another summer unrepaired. Coppedge says she would like the commission to go ahead with some low-cost temporary repairs to the area to make it more pleasant for the summer. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA