03-11-03 Town Hall Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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tit e Minutes of the Town Meeting - March 11, 2003 - Page 3 Grants; tax increment financing; municipal management district; Main Street programs; some Federal programs are available, but the Economic Development Administration has a grant match for Public Works if approved, specifically for infrastructure projects. However, the City needs to have its funding before applying. Lastly, there are foreign trade zones, which are also a Federal program. Mr. Meismer introduced Assistant City Manager John Joerns, who spoke on infrastructure planning, past, present and future. He presented an overview ofthe City's positioning to put itself in a position where we can promote, obtain and accommodate future growth in La Porte. Topics covered were potable water system, wastewater treatment system, watershed planning and development, thoroughfare planning and development, solid waste disposal and the Tax Incentive Reinvestment Zone. He announced that the City of La Porte has received a rating of Superior Water System, which is the highest rating you can achieve in the State of Texas. Mr. Joerns presented graphs on each topic, and explained what each meant. Elevated storage capacity showed that there is enough capacity, if growth holds to two percent each year, to last to the year 2020. Water use projections show that, with the increased capacity purchased from the Ellington plant, and with a growth of five percent, which would include business growth, the water supply is good to the year 2032 and beyond. Wastewater Treatment System - Gulf Coast Waste Disposal is still handling part of the waste. The contract was re-negotiated several ye"ars ago, at a very favorable rate, for the City. It allows the City to take sewage from the southern portion of the City, ship it and treat it at a very inexpensive rate. The service area was increased from McCabe Road to Wharton Weems Boulevard. A combined service area takes us to the southern city limits. Allowable flows from Gulf Coast increased from 100,000 gallons a day to a half million gallons a day, at a cost of $.20 per thousand gallons treated. If the half million gallons a day is exceeded, there is a surcharge on the $.20 per thousand gallons treated. The term of the contract is 40 years. Little Cedar Bayou Wastewater Treatment Plant will be improved, thanks to a recent bond election. The improvements will provide treatment capacity for 7.5 million gallons per day based on present regulatory guidelines. We also participate in oversizing projects for development in the city. According to current regulatory guidelines, we should be good until 2038. Watershed Planning Development - The longest commitment in terms of time and resources is the Lomax Watershed (FI01); some is completed, but the project will continue. Little Cedar Bayou Watershed - the Master Watershed Plan has been updated, by working with Harris County and Harris County Flood Control. Land is being bought between Spencer Highway and SH 146 to accommodate a proposed regional detention facility. Once this is done, areas developing between these points will not take up land for detention. There will have to be channel improvements from Sens Road to this point, and improvements to Sens Road will be made by the County. Bay Area Boulevard is being constructed and there will be a center channel down Bay Area Boulevard, and an east-west channel that will deliver flows to a system on this side of the railroad track. These channel improvements will only accommodate the existing runoff that is in place in that watershed, plus the increased amount that will come with the roadway improvements. This means there are vacant areas to develop, there will have to be further accommodation, and that would be a combination of channel improvements and downstream storage, or intercept the flows in a regional detention facility. It is hoped that future