The flood prevention council can still do in-kind work on the 500-year upgrades and let the Army Corps of Engineers do its share of the work later – if the Corps can get any money allocated then. But why go that cumbersome, uncertain route when the Corps had millions of dollars ready to spend?
This decision has the fingerprints of St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern and Madison County Board Chairman Alan Dunstan all over it. They would rather stick up for their union supporters than act for the overall good of the region.
The irony is that most work done in this area on Corps projects is done by union labor. The low bid might have included a PLA. This standoff means fewer jobs in the metro-east, union or otherwise, and less flood protection.