SIMPCO collaborated to complete the Westside stormwater improvements through Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds

Project Background:

• In April 2011, the Mapleton community was directly struck by an F3 tornado, which damaged 50% of the town. The heaviest damage was in the Westside Neighborhood, leveling or damaging homes, trees and businesses. With this severe damage in the Westside and the shallow depth of the water table, severe flooding events started to happen.
• The community formed the Mapleton Rebuild and Recover committee to help transform the community to start an exhaustive planning process to prioritize projects that were needed to rebuild the community.

• In 2013 the community partnered with Jeffery L. Bruce Company, Iowa State University, Trees Forever, and Iowa DOT as part of Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program. Through a series of workshops, they developed a rebuilding plan. One of the key findings of this plan was that the majority of Mapleton’s surface runoff flows through the Westside neighborhood.

Project Purpose:

The purpose of the project was to utilize CDBG funds, various other grant funding, local funds, and volunteer help to implement bio-infiltration trenches and surface treatment best management practices in the Westside neighborhood.

Future Impact:

• Creating a new and improved living environment for Mapleton’s Westside neighborhood, as a progressive, vibrant and peaceful place to live.
• The project will pave the way for additional rebuilding projects to occur, complete streets and integrated green infrastructure improvements, and help mitigate stormwater run-off.

Help infill housing on the Westside to help meet housing supply demands.