The cost of a proposed Marietta levee system would be a lot higher than previously discussed. However, there is no guarantee the structure would protect the borough from another tropical storm like Agnes.

After more than 12 years of discussions, those were the two main issues residents learned at Tuesday's borough council meeting.

Council president Mim Fletcher said borough officials learned the project could cost about $12 million. At a November 2006 council meeting, former council member Harold Kulman had said the project could cost more than $5 million.

While the state would foot most of the bill, Fletcher said on Tuesday the borough would have to spend $200,000 to $300,000 primarily to secure easements, and she said it would have to pay an undisclosed annual license fee "which could be $100 to $100,000."

Fletcher added that the borough also would be required to create an $80,000 escrow account to be held in perpetuity in case the levee system is damaged.

Despite the large amounts of money discussed, it was the size of a wall that drew the most attention.

Fletcher said her main concern was with the proposed 3-foot wall that would stretch above the levee to hold back high water levels.

During Tropical Storm Agnes in June 1972, she said, water reached 6 feet above the high line.

"If Agnes is a 100-year storm, what happens next time? The state just can't give us that assurance," she said. "So even with the levee, people living in the flood plain would still have to carry flood insurance, though at a reduced rate."

Marietta Mayor Oliver Overlander made it clear what his main concern was.

"That was the No. 1 question I had in our recent meeting with the state," Overlander said, referring to a recent meeting he and Fletcher had with state representatives in Harrisburg. "Would this levee protect us from another Agnes? And they said that they could not guarantee us that it would.

"This is the plan that was presented to us," Overlander said. "And if we don't agree to it … there is a chance it wouldn't get built, though it could go back to the drawing board."

Once the borough signs off on the plan, Fletcher said, it could take as long as six years for the state to develop the design and secure all necessary easements and permits before construction on the project could even begin.

Fletcher said state representatives would like to hold a town-hall-style meeting on the project, which would probably take place in July. She said borough officials would decide then whether to sign off on the project.

She also indicated the borough will not rush to make a decision.

"It's taken 12 years to get this far, so I have no issue with taking two to three months to think about the impact that this levee would have on our town," Fletcher said.

She also said she would like to have the borough engineer look over the plans and act as a consultant on the project.

"When (the state representatives) finished the (Harrisburg) meeting, I looked at them and said, 'Gentlemen, we are a small community of 2,300 souls, with no industry, many of whose residents are on a fixed income,' " Fletcher said. "So, obviously, we're going to have to talk about what impact this will have and only have a vote … after the town meeting."

The state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Waterways Engineering is heading the project.