By Erica Solvig
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SYMMES TWP. - More than 70 residents turned out at the township administration building Monday night to voice their concerns about flooding along Polk Run Creek.

Keith and Gina Davidson of Deerfield Township were among those at the question-and-answer session with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Their basement flooded during the deadly July 2001 storm, and they still battle overflow from the creek regularly.

"Every time it rains, it comes up very quickly," said Keith Davidson.

"It just roars through there."

Water levels, current and erosion were among topics discussed at the meeting, which is part of a study under way on the creek and watershed.

Hamilton County, the city of Montgomery and Deerfield, Symmes and Sycamore townships asked for the study in 2002.

The first part of the study, expected to last a year, will gather information, map out the creek and identify possible solutions. Up to $100,000 in federal funds have been approved for that phase.

"We'll see if we can come up with a feasible option to see if we can reduce some of the flooding," said project manager Brandon Brummett, a civil engineer with the corps's Louisville district.

"We're just in the beginning of the study. We can't say what's going to be feasible."

Then the corps would work on a remedy, including possibly a retention basin or channel widening. If approved, it would work with the local governments on funding construction to eliminate the problem.

The process would take several years.

Brummett said the corps would also give the communities suggestions to ease flooding.

"That could be anything from doing some suggestions for zoning to clearing of specific areas of the creek," he said.

Polk Run, which flows in Hamilton and Warren counties, was among several creeks that flooded during the July 17-18, 2001, storms, which caused more than $10 million in damage across Greater Cincinnati.

Three people died in those storms, including a 16-year-old who died in Polk Run.

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E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com