Howard Bend Levee District

Our Website will routinely post recent news, meeting minutes, picture galleries, and other basic information about the Howard Bend Levee District. A summary description of the District, its history and its flood protection and stormwater management systems and utility systems is included as well as contact information for the District's Executive Director to obtain more information if needed. The Howard Bend Levee District is situated along the Missouri River in St. Louis County between the Riverport/Earth City area and Chesterfield Valley. It consists of approximately 8500 acres of land of which approximately 6500 are protected by a 500 year levee from Missouri River floods. Major assets which this levee protects include the Missouri-American water plant, the City of St. Louis Water Division water plant, the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District Howard bend waste water treatment plant, the Hollywood Casino and Hotel, the Creve Coeur Airport and Creve Coeur Park as well a network of major highways spanning the District. The 500 year levee along the Missouri River provides protection equivalent to that level of protection provided in adjacent areas of Chesterfield, Riverport and Earth City. Access to the District is provided by a network of major highways. Missouri Highway 364, a ten lane limited access highway and Missouri Highway 141, a six lane divided highway, meet at an interchange in the center of the District. Interstate highways 64, 70 and 270 are all within a five minute or less drive of the District. The St. Louis Lambert International Airport is located approximately five miles east of the District along Interstate Highway 70.

NEWS UPDATE:

This past spring and summer, the District experienced well above normal rainfall amounts and prolonged high river elevations. As a result, the District experienced internal flooding from stormwater and seep water. The District installed six temporary pumps, to help alleviate the flooding. It became apparent, after that event, that a large, permanent pump station is necessary to avoid this situation going forward.

Since late July, work has been ongoing by an appointed pump station committee and engineers for the District, to finalize plans for a permanent pump station, located in the Creve Coeur Airport sub-district. That work should be completed in early February, 2020. The capacity of this pump station has to be large enough to deal with both stormwater and seep water in this area, as well as the enormous amount of stormwater coming into the area from runoff in the upland areas.

The Maryland Park Planning Commission is completing the work to plan for future development in the area. One of the recommendations of the planning work by the consultant teams, is a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) proposal recommended for the area, to support infrastructure needed in the area. This includes significantly funding a permanent pump station. The twelve member TIF commission has met to work through the information for the proposed TIF, including holding two meetings, in November and December, allowing public comment. The public comment period has been closed. The TIF commission is scheduled to meet at 5:30 pm on January 3, 2020 at the Maryland Heights Government Center, to vote on the proposed TIF plan. Business and property owners in the District are encouraged to attend this meeting, to show support for the proposed TIF. The City of Maryland Heights Government Center is located at 11911 Dorsett Road, Maryland Heights, MO 63043.

Following that meeting, the Maryland Heights City Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 7:00 pm at the Maryland Heights Government Center to consider the recommendation of the TIF commission. A detailed report on the proposed permanent pump station in the Creve Coeur Airport sub-district will be presented at that meeting by the engineering firm Horner and Shifrin, which has been engaged by the District for over 20 years. Business owners and property owners in the District are encouraged to attend this meeting as well.