Photo by Eric Ayres Engineering services are being eyed to repair this major hillside slip above McColloch Street in Wheeling. This slide and a number of other road slips in town are expected to be repaired in the coming months, with the costs of certain projects eyed for reimbursement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

WHEELING — The city of Wheeling is utilizing a variety of funding sources to tackle several road slips and landslides that have occurred in neighborhoods throughout town.

Six significant slips are currently being eyed for repair, and the estimated costs to stabilize the hillsides vary in range, with the most costly slip estimated to approach $1 million to cover the total cost of project design and repair.

During the last Wheeling City Council meeting of the calendar year, City Manager Robert Herron provided a hand-out to members of council to provide an overview of the major roadside slips in the city that are slated to be addressed.

Because of the hilly terrain in areas throughout the city, landslides and slips are usually unpredictable events that, unfortunately, occur on a regular basis, officials noted.

“This is one of the areas that we’ve been wrestling with for several years and have made some progress on,” Herron said. “But when you get a major rain event or something that occurs over a period of time, you do usually end up with some additional road slips.”

When city council several years ago approved the City Service Fee or User Fee to help fund the new city fire and police headquarters, half of the funds generated by the new fee — $2 per week for everyone who works in the city — was designated to go toward a prioritized list of infrastructure projects. Road slip repairs have been among those projects.

Herron explained that different funding sources are available to help address the various slips in town, some of which took place as a result of the heavy rains and flooding events that took place in the area back in April of this year. Because a federal disaster declaration was issued for this area in the wake of the extreme weather events this past spring, costs associated with repairs to damaged infrastructure from these heavy rains are expected to be eligible for reimbursement from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A number of slips are targeted for this disaster reimbursement, the city manager explained.

The city recently received a proposal for engineering services for a major hillside slip above McColloch Street, which is a project that is expected to be covered by FEMA. Another FEMA project is a repair to a slip on Evelyn Avenue in Elm Grove. A proposal for engineering services has also been received for this work.

On Glenwood Road north of Forney Drive, another slip covered by FEMA, like a number of others in town, is being managed by Belomar Regional Council. On Park View Road, a FEMA project is being eyed — although only part of the slip is in the city limits.

“The main item there is that there was a water line or sewer line of ours that was damaged as a result of the slip,” Herron explained.

Another significant slip repair in the city is expected to be funded with Community Development Block Grant funds.

“A major one is being funded by a CDBG,” Herron said, noting that a slip on Grandview Street overlooking the Ohio River is targeted for $572,000 in CDBG money that has been earmarked for design work on the project and repair to the hillside and road. A geotechnical report on the Grandview Street slip has been performed, and Belomar Regional Council has advertised for engineering services for this project.

The most costly slip — on another section of Glenwood Road at the area of Stackyard Road — is targeted for City Service Fee funds and is currently out for engineering.

“Unfortunately, it is the most expensive one,” Herron said.

As the city administration moves through steps to address these road slips and landslides, additional updates are expected to be made available, the city manager noted.