Harrisburg City Council approves pipe-sealing on levee
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[In a brief, early-morning meeting, Harrisburg City Council approved spending $26,000 in TIF funds to finance a project needed for levee certification.
Council approved spending the money to seal four pipes that run through the levee and another that used to pump water to the sewer treatment plant.
None of the pipes are used anymore. The Army Corps of Engineers mandated the project as necessary for levee certification.
The project was handled as two separate bids, both of which were won by Mott Excavating.
Each year $50,000 in TIF funding is set aside for levee projects, Mayor Valerie Rose Mitchell said. City Council members didn't know the money was there at the meeting on Thursday when they decided to hold off on the project while money could be found in the budget. Since then, council members became aware of the TIF money, Mitchell said.
"Both items are TIF fundable and money can be taken from the TIF for this," Mitchell said.
The city is seeking certification of the levee by the Army Corps of Engineers, which means council has to appropriate money to bring the levee up to Army Corps specifications. On Thursday, Water, Sewer and Flood Control Superintendent Raymond Gunning told council only a few items remain for levee certification.