The City of Williamsport, in partnership with the SEDA-Council of Governments (SEDA-COG), has released two professional services solicitations associated with the city’s Federal Emergency Management Agency-funded levee rehabilitation project.

The city has put out a request for qualifications for engineering and design services and a request for proposals for construction engineering oversight and inspection services. There is $8 million of federal funding for the continuing projects to correct deficiencies and for construction on jobs such as the crosspipes and other improvements.

Statements of qualifications are due electronically 4 p.m. Feb. 18. Cost proposals are not requested at this stage.

The city is seeking proposals from qualified engineering firms to provide construction administration, management, and inspection services for improvements at the Arch Street, Spring Run, and Mill Race Levee pump stations.

This project is funded through the FEMA Legislative Pre-Disaster Mitigation (LPDM) Program and includes electrical upgrades, standby power improvements, and related construction activities critical to the city’s flood protection system.

The project is a continuing effort to get the levee recertified and accredited and prevent people, businesses and nonprofits that are protected by it from having to pay for flood insurance.

The levee protects portions of the city, Old Lycoming and Loyalsock townships, and South Williamsport borough. On the top of the levee is the Susquehanna Riverwalk.

The amount of funding, along with the cooperation between the parties, gave the City Council a reason to celebrate as there are expected to be shovels in the ground this year.

The levee was built in the mid-1950s by the Army Corps of Engineers. It protected the city and its neighbors during Hurricane Agnes in June 1972 and other storms over the years.

When the levee system failed to protect the cities along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the system was re-evaluated and the Federal Emergency Management Agency required strong and longer lasting certified levee systems.

Without the recertification and accreditation process those protected by the flood levee system would be required to pay for flood insurance.

The project is being coordinated between the county, city, Loyalsock and Old Lycoming townships and South Williamsport borough.