1975-01-20 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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i • There are no national parks or forests, or wildlife refuges in the project area. Although there are no public or private fishing clubs in or around La Porte, fishing is a recreation practiced by a large majority of the general public. Harris County maintains a park with a public pier and boat ramp within the city limits on Galveston Bay. The city owns five public park sites which are developed to varying degrees, the existing facilities including two swimming pools, tennis courts, playground equipment, a minibike track, and picnic areas. The project area lies in a region of the industrialized Gulf Coast which has experienced the phenomenon of extreme land subsidence. From all indications the sinking is continuing and the related problems will become greater. The most likely and accepted theory explaining the cause of the subsidence is that the large amounts of ground water withdrawn by industrial deep wells in the area is allowing compaction of the subsurface aquifers which in turn causes shifting in the overburden and eventual dropping of the ground level. With the acceptance of this theory, one of the needs of the project area which naturally emerges is the development of a surface water supply so that the depletion of ground water may cease. Another problem of the project area which is of concern to all Gulf Coast communities is the everpresent threat from hurricanes. In this particular locale the problem has been compounded by subsidence of an already low area. Consequently a much needed project is the construction of a hurri- cane protection levee. • Although not related to the other problems of the project area, a program of improved housing would be a great enhancement to the community. Partly due to the age of some of the sewage collection system and partly due to the shifting from subsidence, a problem of excessive infiltra- tion/inflow has been found to exist, apparently from bad joints in the piping. This leads to the inevitable problem of flooded and backing up sewer lines in times of extreme wet weather. A program to repair or other- wise relieve these sewer lines is badly needed. Within the last two years the City of La Porte has received federal aid through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to develop three parks. Work has started now for a grant request for development of a sports complex including four ball fields and a set of two tennis courts. A grant request is under review at this time by the FFA for the purpose of improving the La Porte Municipal Airport. If favorable action occurs, the grant and construction will take place in the second half of 1975. The La Porte Police Department has recently completed an upgrading of their communica- tions system with aid from the Criminal Justice Commission. As a result of negotiations between the City and the Southern Pacific Railroad, an elevated roadway is being designed to route vehicle traffic over the multi- track crossing on Sperlcer,H.i hway just west of the downtown area.- The cost of the project wild be borne by the railroad. The overpass will solve along time traffic problem which has been increased in recent years