Nearly a year after catastrophic flooding throughout much of the region, the bill came due for St. Peters to make some costly repairs.

The St. Peters Board of Aldermen approved a bill on Dec. 15 to enter a contract to repair the Dardenne Creek embankment along portions of the St. Peters Golf Course, located just south of the Hwy. 79 and I-70 interchange.

The city agreed to accept a bid from Gershenson Construction Co. of Eureka of $773,978 for stabilizing the creek’s banks. Gershenson’s bid was the lowest of six submitted and funding to pay for the work will come out of the city’s local parks and storm water fund in the city budget.

Floodwaters from the creek damaged and eroded the embankment near two holes – Hole 5 on the south side of the course and Hole 8 on the northern part of the course – in December 2015.

Burt Benesek, the city’s manager of transportation and development services, told the board the work involved using large rocks and planting vegetation along embankment near the two golf holes.

Flood waters left eroded banks of largely soft dirt that threatened to continue to erode. The work is designed to “armor” the creek banks to prevent erosion in future flooding, Benesek said.

He said the contractor hoped to begin work immediately or soon after the first of the year, with much of the work finished by spring.

Between eight and 12 inches of rain fell starting Dec. 26, 2015, causing creeks and rivers throughout the St. Louis area to surge out of their banks. Rising water on Dardenne Creek, which flows through Cottleville, Dardenne Prairie and St. Peters, covered roads and damaged some homes. Briefly, those flood waters inundated the eastbound lanes of I-70 at Dardenne Creek.