Seventy supporters and critics of the St. Helena’s flood control project showed up at a public hearing last week to tell state officials whether the project should get a $3.1 million state grant.

City officials say the grant is the last piece of the financial puzzle; if the state awards it, as it has tentatively agreed to do, the project can be built in 2009.

If it doesn’t, many supporters warned, the project will be delayed, and construction costs will increase significantly.

Most of the familiar arguments for and against the project cropped up at the meeting. One new voice was that of Monsignor John Brenkle, a five-year resident of Vineyard Valley Mobile Home Park, who joined the chorus of project supporters.

“I do not have flood insurance, and God is getting tired of my prayers,” Brenkle said, adding he recalled the suffering of park residents who saw their homes and possessions ruined by previous floods.

“Those who are questioning, at this eleventh hour, the expenditure of this grant … would seem to be very short-sighted,” he said.

The state’s Department of Water Resources will make the final decision on whether to award the money, and whether to attach any conditions. According to the DWR’s Earl Nelson, a funding agreement — if approved — would likely be executed after the first of the year.

Susan Tiedemann was one of several residents of Fulton Lane who expressed fears that the project could increase the chance of flooding on neighboring properties. She suggested that the state award the money on the condition that the city use some of it to provide flood control for Fulton Lane residents.

She said those people were told years ago that they would get flood protection too, not just residents of Vineyard Valley and Hunt’s Grove Apartments.

The dispute between Fulton Lane residents and the city revolves around flood maps that show that after the project is built, the flood plain will widen to encompass several Fulton Lane properties.

Local residents chalk that up to a floodwall built by Vineyard Valley in 1987 without environmental review. City officials say the adjustment in the flood plain is due to more precise surveying data than was used to calculate the old flood plain. They insist the project will actually result in a slight improvement for Fulton Lane residents.

Longtime project critic Sampson Bowers also challenged the assertions of the city’s engineers that the project won’t harm neighbors. He questioned whether the state would ever come through with the grant money given its budget woes.

He drew a round of jeers from project supporters when he said he “want(s) to see the project built,” just not in a way that puts neighbors at risk.

As many Vineyard Valley residents saw it, engineers have already settled that matter, and the only issue left in question is whether seniors will be flooded again.

Thelma Stratton told of how she and her husband escaped from the 1995 flood “with the clothes on our backs, and that was all.” Joanne Otteson recalled bulldozers clearing away waterlogged personal belongings.

The city plans to put the project out to bid by the end of this year, and award a contract early next year.