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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-18-08 Drainage and Flooding Committee Minutes 2 MINUTES OF THE DRAINAGE AND FLOODING COMMITTEE February 18, 2008 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Chairman Mike Mosteit at 5:30 p.m. Committee Members Present: Council Members: Chairman Mike Mosteit, Vice Chairman Mike Clausen and Committee Member Tommy Moser Committee Members Absent: Chuck Engelken and Howard Ebow Members of City Employees Present: Assistant City Secretary Sharon Harris, City Manager Ron Bottoms, Assistant City Manager John Joerns, Economic Development Coordinator Gretchen Black, Main Street Coordinator Debra Dye, and City Engineer Rodney Slaton. Others present: Mayor Alton Porter, Gary Struzick of Klotz and Associates, Adam Yanelli, John Handy, John Randolph, Doug Bryant, Richard Smith, Roxana Mouton, Margaret Compton, Charles Nute, Lisa McPhail, Joe Rodriquez, Bubba Holloway, Frank Jenson, Jack E. Peters, Virginia Sabadosa, Alexander Sabadosa, George Houth, Donald and Chae Catlin, Mike Prasek, Rebecca Jewkes, Cheryl, Westermoreland, Patricia and Leon Clark, Earl Harris, Richard Winn, Phillip Hoot and other citizens. 2. Consider approval of Minutes of Drainage and Flooding Committee held February 11, 2008. Motion was made by Vice Chairman Clausen to approve the minutes as presented. A second by Committee Member Moser. The motion carried. Ayes: Tommy Moser, Mike Mosteit, and Mike Clausen Nays: None Abstain: None Absent: Chuck Engelken and Howard Ebow 3. Petitions, Remonstrance's, communications, and citizens and taxpayers wishing to address the Flooding and Drainage Committee. Vice Chairman Clausen made a motion to provide City Manager Ron Bottoms and Assistant City Manager John Joerns an opportunity to offer clarification on the hotel development and drainage issues at the intersection of Fairmont Parkway and Driftwood before proceeding to Petitions, Remonstrance's, communications, and citizens and taxpayer wishing to address the Flooding and Drainage Committee. Second by Committee Member Tommy Moser. Mr. Bottoms discussed the Planning and Zoning Meeting held in April 2006 and addressed the communication between staff and the community. Mr. Bottoms reported the change after the meeting and not communicated to the public was restricted outflow from the detention area onto Driftwood. Gary Struzick of Klotz and Associates discussed the site prior to development, the existing design of the hotel development and the impact of the detention drainage onto Driftwood. Mr. Struzick informed the committee the detention pond was not causing any harm to the citizens or the hotel development. Doug Bryant - 10908 Spruce Drive South, La Porte, Texas 77571 - addressed the committee with concerns of drainage in the Fairmont Park East Subdivision due to the hotel development on Fairmont Parkway and Driftwood. Mr. Bryant requested the committee consider presenting a moratorium on all construction (until Drainage issues are resolved) in the City of La Porte to the attention of the full City Council. Charles Rothmund - 10832 E. Linwood - La Porte, Texas 77571 - addressed the committee with flooding concerns on Driftwood due to the hotel development and also requested the committee consider presenting a moratorium on construction (until Drainage issues are resolved) in the City of La Porte to the attention of the full City Council. Patricia Clark - 3817 Ashwood Circle - La Porte, Texas 77571 - addressed the committee with concerns of flooding in the City of La Porte. Charles Nute - 10836 Spruce Drive South - La Porte, Texas 77571 - addressed the committee with a request for a moratorium on construction in the City of La Porte. Lisa Mc Phail - 10934 Thornwood La Porte, Texas 77571 - addressed the committee with concerns of flooding and drainage in her Fairmont Park East Subdivision. Chae S.Catlin - 10935 Birch Drive La Porte, Texas 77571 - addressed the committee with concerns of flooding and drainage in her Fairmont Park East Subdivision Don Catlin - 10935 Birch Drive La Porte, Texas 77571 - also addressed the committee with concerns of flooding and drainage in the Fairmont Park East Subdivision. 4. The Drainage and Flooding Committee discussed the hotel development and the shopping center at the intersection of Fairmont Parkway and Driftwood. Maintenance of the detention pond was also discussed. Vice Chairman Clausen made a motion to bring to full the City Council to require developers of both the hotel and shopping center to place a pumping system on the detention pond that would drain water onto Fairmont Parkway. Second by Committee member Moser Ayes: Tommy Moser, Mike Mosteit, and Mike Clausen Nays: None Abstain: None Absent: Chuck Engelken and Howard Ebow 5. Administrative Reports Administrative Reports were provided above in item 3. 6. Set date for next meeting The Drainage and Flooding Committee confirmed the next meeting date for March 10, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. 7. Committee Comments. The committee had comments expressing concerns with the drainage and flooding issues in the City of La Porte. The committee also commented they have the citizens of the community at their best interest. 8. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 7:07 p.m. Respectfully submitted, . Y11.. Milt \!JiM Ud; Sharon Harris, TRMC Assistant City Secretary Approved this 1 O. ~a; 0.1 f M M~arc 2 21008. ~ Chairperson Mike Mosteit MEETING HANDOUT 10836 Spruce Dr. South La Porte, TX 77571 July ~, Dear Mr. J oems: /) o-le fl; ~ cia--Ie 0' f' f I; e jJ ef,l-/ol'} Clnd 1h<,:-d ~c: 0/1 '-f4e i. f> etre:r -I-rO/J;h i-/; r!!? C,of- y~ ~~ John Joems City Manager City of La Porte 604 W. Fairmont Parkway La Porte, TX 77571 We have a severe flooding problem in F airmont East subdivision. Twice in the last 7 months we have had flood waters enter garages, and we have lost at least 5 cars to flooding that were parked on our street during rains. The flooding has only worsened as out subdivision and adjoining subdivisions filled in with homes. It is not a matter of if but only when flood waters will enter our homes. We cannot tolerate the continuing flooding, and we appeal to your assistance in eliminating this problem. On numerous occasions City Public Works has inspected our storm sewers and found no blockages. City Engineer Rodney Slayton inspected our street on July 11, 2007, and stated that the flooding problems are probably caused by poor structural design that should never have been approved by the City of La Porte. We request that a surveying crew investigate the causes of our flooding. Also, we expect a definite action plan from the City of La Porte to redress our flooding problem. Finally, we ask that the city action plan be implemented in a timely fashion. We anxiously await your reply. Thank you. Sincerely, CITY OF LA PORTE PLANNING DEPARTMENT 604 W. Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, TX 77571 www.iaportetx.gov Phone: (281) 471-5020 I Fax (281) 470-5005 July 31, 2007 RE: Drainage in Fairmont Park East Subdivision Dear Resident: This letter is in response to the concerns of the residents living in the Fairmont Park East subdivision about recent drainage issues. During the week of July 23, 2007, through July 27, 2007; and most notably during the rains on Thursday morning of that week, the Staffs of the Planning and Engineering Department and the Public Works Department went through your subdivision to assess the functioning of the drainage system. I, along with the City Engineer and the Public Infrastructure Coordinator noted the high water levels in many of the cul-de-sacs and intersections throughout the neighborhoods. We later met with several members of Public Works on site to compare ideas. STORM SEWER DESIGN In order to fully understand the issue, some background information is needed. Your storm sewer system is designed for what is known as a 3-year storm event. Ratings are based basically on two parameters, storm intensity (the amount of rainfall in a given time) and the total duration/volume of water conveyed by the system (measured in cubic feet per second or cft). As such; as-year, 10-year, 25-year, or 100-year storm system would be larger because those storms are expected to occur at those intervals and are of greater intensity and volume. It is common for the Houston region to design on the 3-year storm event. The inlets for your system are designed on the 3-year criteria. The capacity of these inlets, used for design purposes, is 5 cfs per inlet. If the drainage area discharging to anyone inlet is greater than its capacity, then a 5' (extension can be added to allow more water to get into the stann sewer system. Also, inlet spacing is very) important in roadway design. Most municipalities require an inlet spacing of less than } ,000 feet with La Porte now requiring an inlet spacing of 800' for resid~n1ial.2treets. Flooding in streets at the inlet fac~js allowed as,~ng as traffic can safely pass. ~..,. If the storm surpasses the 3-year event, streets are designed to convey water to the detention pond which is designed for the 1 DO-year event. The storm on Thursday of the week in question surpassed the 3-year event in the intensity (the amount of rainfall in a given time) and the storm surge backed up into the streets and intersections. Once the rain stopped, the drainage had a chance to catch up and most intersections were clear within 10 to 20 minutes. Unfortunately many cars were parked and not moved from the streets. Residents, knowing the function of the street in a storm event over the 3-year intensity, must make preparations to move cars from the street onto driveways. As far as I could tell, the cars in the driveways faired well. 2 WHAT IS NOT THE CAUSE There has been some concern over the completion of Phase I of the Pond to Park project within the detention pond servicing the F airmont Park East subdivision. \Vhen the City of La Porte reviewed the design and supervised the construction for the pond, we ensured that no fill was added. In fact, when the previously non-functioning pond was cleaned, re-graded and deepened at the outfall end adjacent to Driftwood, the volume of the pond was increased. The pond during the recent storms was not at capacity and while the recently completed railing and walkway were under water, the pond exhibited plenty of "freeboard" (level of the pond not under water). The downstream ditch that serves as the "outfall" for the pond was moving at a rapid pace but clearly swollen as downstream water accumulated. As a side note, that ditch was recently maintained and re-graded by the Harris County Flood Control District. As water is combined with other sources and bayous downstream, however, the pressure generated by the volume will cause the upstream sources to back up. At some point, given the total accumulation of water during the many storms over the past few weeks, the water will have no place to go. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS Based upon the observations of the Planning Department and the actions ofthe Public Works Department, here are some contributing factors that the City Staff are exploring: );. A Public Works crew removed grass and minor debris from the sewer system. Debris such as this causes friction and a loss of velocity of the water en route to the detention pond. ,., It was noted that the inlets at key intersections had whirlpool-like activity as water attempted to enter the system. Indications were that the storm sewer still had available capacity for storage of water but given the short duration/high intensity of the rainfall, the water had little chance to enter the inlets. Public Works crews have already replaced some solid manhole covers with grated covers at key inlet locations which will allow more water to enter the system in less time. );. Public Works has inspected critical locations and specifically the junction box located between the detention pond and the outfall to the downstream ditch. Engineering will analyze the size of the box in comparison with the system design. Upsizing of the box, if applicable, may be helpful. );. Staff noted some turbulence at the outfall of the detention pond as water was trying to enter the downstream ditch. Once water recedes, the Engineering Division will assess the outfall pipes to insure the absence of any blockage and/or any re-sizing that may be applicable. Keep in mind that the pond is metered to only release the amount of water at a rate that is able to be accommodated by the receiving ditch. In this way, just as upstream developments are regulated to prevent draining water from impacting Fairmont Park East, the design and outfall rate of your detention pond is relegated to a rate that will avoid any downstream flooding. );. Engineering is considering a modification to the curb cut on Driftwood that was made during the construction of the improvements to the detention facility to allow ponding water on Driftwood to sheet- flow into the pond. The cut may have to be altered to avoid the discharge of water onto Driftwood. I .--.... Given what we observed over the past few weeks, we understand your concerns about the drainage within Fairmont Park East. The City Staffwill continue to analyze the storm sewer system within your subdivision. As information becomes available, we will keep you informed of any additional modifications that mal' be needed and what steps the city is able to take to improve the conditions. Cc: John Joerns Steve Gillett Rodney Slaton Department File