Outstanding Performance Award

To the City/Corps Valley Park Team,

A few short years ago we were all working with a huge sense of urgency because the city needed to acquire easements and the Corps needed to build the riverfront portion of the Valley Park levee before the next damaging flood. With dedication and hard work by the city and the Corps, and with the cooperation of many and the good fortune of having Environmental Specialists Inc as the Corps contractor, we were able to finish the levee in the Fall of 2005. We finished the draft O&M manual in March 2007 and in May 2007 the Corps turned the levee over to the city to operate and maintain. In the Fall of 2007 we finished the miscellaneous items so all aspects of the levee system were in good condition for the city's use, and finished the bottomland hardwoods contract, the last piece of environmental mitigation.

We all share a great sense of happiness and satisfaction that our levee prevented millions of dollars of damages and untold grief when it kept out the big flood this weekend. City forces did a great job operating the levee, with advice provided by the Corps Emergency Operation team.

Congratulations to all.

We will work with the city to improve the O&M manual before publishing the final version, and assess the performance of the levee to determine if any additional project features are needed.

Jim Zerega
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers