Courtesy Provo City

I often pick a single topic to address in these Our Town articles, but this time I’d like to provide an update on two items: a milestone at the Covey Center for the Arts and our city’s preparation for potential flooding.

Covey Center 15-year Anniversary

On a very happy note, Provo City’s Covey Center for the Arts recently marked its 15-year anniversary with a gala performance. Performers included folk singer/songwriter Marvin Payne (who also served as emcee), The Osmond Chapman Orchestra with David Osmond and Caleb Chapman, Broadway singers Mindy Smoot Robbins and Dallyn Vail Bayles, The Utah Metropolitan Ballet, The Utah Valley Symphony, The Cougarettes and Glory Thomas, our current Miss Provo. It is amazing that we don’t have to go outside our community to find such exceptional talent. Many VIPs were in the audience, which we appreciated very much.

We will never be able to repay the Coveys and the others who helped launch this regional community asset. It is an anchor to our downtown, providing evening visitors who support the vibe of downtown and often become customers at our restaurants and other venues. But its worth goes far behind being an economic driver. It is a gem in many other ways, including as a symbol of Provo’s love for the arts.

Through the years, headliners have ranged from the Beach Boys to the Oakridge Boys, and from Kenny Logins to Styx and Air Supply. But it has also fostered local talent, hosting countless local performers in dance companies, theater companies and more. The work of visual artists is always on display there, too. If it has been a while, or if you have never been, please stop by — or at least do a Google search — and learn more about all that is offered at the Covey Center for the Arts.

I may have been at the last show at the center that Sandra Covey attended. It is hard to believe that she and Stephen are no longer here to enjoy performances with us. But I am deeply proud that Provo holds this cherished piece of their monumental worldwide legacy.

Flooding Preparedness

Mario Ruiz, Daily Herald file photo

As most readers know, we have experienced a record-breaking winter. The recorded snowpack in some areas in our back mountains has never been higher. In past high-snow-volume years, most notably 1983, we have sometimes seen flooding in parts of our city and the surrounding valley.

For months, my Public Works Director, Dave Decker, has been saying that a critical factor in whether we experience dangerous levels of runoff this year will be the weather in spring: if it warms quickly and temperatures then stay high, the risk will be increased.

The good news is that Provo has been preparing for potential flooding for a long time. Over the last few decades, major infrastructure improvements have been put into place to help reduce flood risk. The large grassy bowl at Rock Canyon Park is a detention basin designed to hold excess runoff from Rock Canyon. Smaller detention basins have been built elsewhere around the community, including below Slate Canyon. If you know what to look for (generally a flat lower area surrounded by a berm), you’ll start seeing that many Provo City parks have areas that serve as detention basins. These basins collect excess run off when the storm drain system might otherwise be overwhelmed.

This year, Provo City has been working for weeks to clear out the Provo River, removing debris that could cause stoppages. Additionally, we have purchased over 200,000 sandbags and made them available to Provo residents at no charge. Residents are asked to bring their own shovel to our Public Works Department at 1377 S. 350 E., Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., where they can load and take up to 25 bags. If you are willing to fill bags for others, you may sign up for a shift at http://provocity.info/sandbagvolunteers. Our goal is to have 100,000 sandbags filled by May 1. At the time of this writing, approximately 45,000 have been filled.

Provo City also has plans for diverting excess water into diversionary channels on selected roads, if needed. We plan to publicize maps showing the routes of these diversionary channels in coming days. If implementation of any of these channels becomes necessary, additional volunteers will be needed. We are already working with major volunteer organizations, to be ready to mobilize them if the need arises.

Courtesy Provo city

You can stay up to date on any need for volunteers by following Provo City on social media. Another way to stay informed is by signing up for the Everbridge alert system at http://alerts.utahcounty.gov, where you can select which type of alerts you would like to receive.

One warning: in past high runoff years, we have lost lives in the Provo River. The river is extremely fast and powerful when carrying higher levels of water flow. Officials advise keeping a safe distance from the river in seasons like this.

What else can you do now? One of the best ways to help is by walking your nearby streets and clearing any leaves or other debris out of gutters and storm-drain grates. A clogged gutter or storm-drain grate could easily lead to water heading places we don’t want it.

Thank you to everyone who has been helping — or will help — as we navigate this challenge with an eye on safety for everyone in the city. In addition to all the incredible volunteers, I particularly thank the great members of our Public Works Department for their invaluable work on this important project.

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