The Davenport City Council unanimously approved hiring H.R. Green, of Cedar Rapids to lead the flood mitigation study that originated from the task force created following the record-setting 2019 flood that was the highest crest, longest in duration and flooded several buildings downtown when temporary flood protection breached.

In February, the City Council and Mayor Mike Matson determined the objectives of any risk reduction measures that might be implemented in the future. Those objectives include how to allow greater mobility in flood-prone areas, land use planning, evaluating flood operations as well as funding and implementing any recommendations that arise from the study.

Once objectives were created, the City put out a request for proposals and received seven. A committee that included the mayor and Aldermen Rick Dunn, First Ward, and Matt Dohrmann, 5th Ward, then did six online interviews followed by two onsite interviews before unanimously recommending H.R. Green.

“It was a very long and robust process that we had in order to land on H.R. Green as our contractor that we want to consult,” Dohrmann said. “All six were good firms with good solutions but what made H.R. Green stick out in my opinion was they tackled large river floods because the Mississippi River is a big river that comes with big problems.”

Mayor Matson said he is glad to see H.R. Green, that is partnering with Sasaki Associates and Shive Hattery on the study, get started and what they produce.
“We’ve been talking about this for a long time,” he said. “People asked us to do it; we’re committed -- this council is committed to having someone give us a plan to do this.”