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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-09-18 Drainage and Flooding Committee Meeting minutes JAY MARTIN Chairman "``" C DANNY EARP DANNY EARP - m Member Vice-Chairman _ VACANT CHUCK ENGELKEN `‘24Alternate Member Member '� MINUTES OF DRAINAGE AND FLOODING COMMITTEE MEETING HELD JULY 9, 2018 The Drainage and Flooding Committee of the City of La Porte met on Monday, July 9, 2018, at the City Hall Council Chambers, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, at 5:00 p.m. to consider the following items of business: 1. Call to Order Vice-Chairman Danny Earp called the meeting to order at 5:03 p.m. The following members of the Drainage and Flooding Committee were present: Committee Member Chuck Engelken. Absent: Chairman Jay Martin. Councilmember Zemanek was also in attendance at the meeting. Staff Present: Corby Alexander, Don Pennell, Lorenzo Wingate and Patrice Fogarty. 2. Authorizations (a) Consider approval or other action regarding minutes of the Drainage and Flooding Committee Meeting held on June 11, 2018— P. Fogarty Committee Member Engelken moved to approve the minutes of the Drainage and Flooding Committee Meeting held on June 11, 2018, as presented. Vice-Chairman Earp seconded. MOTION PASSED 2/0. Chairman Jay Martin was absent. 3. Staff Reports (a) Receive report from Harris County Flood Control District and Harris County Precinct 2 regarding current and future plans relating to flooding in the City of La Porte — D. Pennell Public Works Director Don Pennell opened staffs presentation and had those in attendance from Harris County Precinct 2 and Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) introduce themselves: Layne Yeager, Property Management for Harris County Precinct 2; Jeremy Ratcliff, Precinct Coordinator for HCFCD, liaison between HCFCD and Harris County Precinct 2; Alan Black, Director of Engineering, HCFCD; and Jeremy Phillips, Senior Director of Infrastructure, Commissioner Jack Morman's Office. Senior Director of Infrastructure Jeremy Phillips spoke and informed the committee of an August 25, 2018, Bond Election for $2.5 billion for flood control improvements. Mr. Phillips advised he has met with Corby Alexander, Don Pennell and Lorenzo Wingate to go over specifics on issues La Porte has faced in the past, as well as from Hurricane Harvey. Part of his job is to ensure the east side is well represented in the upcoming bond package and address La Porte's concerns. He stated that ditching work will begin in August on re-grading/desilting H, L, & P Streets in Lomax. All three of these streets are funded [Item 3(h) on staff reports]. Chuck Engelken asked out of the $2.5 billion, how much is slated for projects in La Porte. Mr. Phillips stated he doesn't have that exact information, but the numbers will change going forward because of these meetings. Page 1 of 4 July 9,2018 Drainage and Flooding Committee Minutes Vice-Chairman Earp brought up an issue when it was raining really hard a few days ago, he checked on the area of the detention pond on Sens Road. He stated the house on the north side of that intersection —the one like a bed and breakfast 2-story house—their whole yard was completely under water. However, the detention pond probably wasn't at 50 percent capacity. He said it is like the bottom of the detention pond is higher than the ditches. Even 216, that flows under right there, had capacity still available, too. He asked if elevation can be shot at the detention pond to see if there's an elevation issue. Mr. Phillips responded he will talk to the survey crew, and that a crew should be able to shoot the elevation, probably, in a couple of weeks. Vice-Chairman Earp stated that this Committee will continue to meet frequently, but had not met since 2015, but that many of the items on the list from 2015 have still never been addressed, and the Committee wants to nail down dates as much as possible. Councilman Zemanek asked if he could ask a question even though he is not on the committee, and it was allowed. He stated that 112 runs through Brookglen and the issue he sees is you have all that water moving south through Deer Park through this subdivision, and you've got a concrete bayou that meets it at a 90-degree angle going west in this neighborhood. Brookglen's water cannot get out until Deer Park's water comes through, and that's what floods it. What can be done to change that angle of intersection so Brookglen can get some relief and get water out of the neighborhood? Mr. Phillips stated he can't speak on the specifics of it; but in terms of the projects identified along B112, they've identified a project north of La Porte, and "now we have a new project we are proposing in Brookglen Subdivision area, as well as looking southward down at the detention pond, as well, on 8112. These guys (motioning to those also in attendance) can show you a little bit more detail on that. But it's going to have to take a combination of those projects in order to alleviate some of that. Some of that's going to have to be conveyance improvements. Some of it's probably going to have to be detention and mitigation for what's been done upstream." "Also, and what we talked about this morning when I was on the phone with Matt Zeve, the operations director for Flood Control, is that we want to make sure we are looking at the holistic approach to the issue there, specifically at Brookglen...it's been one that's gone back and forth [since the 70's], and we've got buyouts in there as well. And we've got spots that haven't been bought out." He went on to say they need to make sure if there's local projects that have to be happening inside the storm drain system there to help facilitate and complement what goes on in the channel, we need to keep that on the table, as well, and make sure they're looking at it through a holistic perspective. Councilmember Zemanek asked if he was correct in his ascertation that when you've got head pressure coming a certain direction moving at a much more rapid pace and water trying to meet it at a 90-degree angle, without any head pressure, it isn't getting in, is it? Councilmember Engelken stated he was out video-taping it on July 4. Councilmember Zemanek stated he didn't know this would be brought up tonight, and Mr. Phillips stated he knew it would be brought up tonight because Councilmember Engelken's input is one of the reasons why they are here to today to talk about some of the things they are going to add to the bond list. Councilmember Zemanek replied, "Great; thank you." Vice-Chairman Earp stated he had one more question on 216, between Sens Road and the railroad tracks, he believes he's reading that it is on the fourth quarter 2018, first quarter 2019 to get that thing cleaned out. Layne Yeager replied it is still on track, but if there any delay, they will let Lorenzo Wingate know so he can pass along the information. Mr. Phillips stated they would like to utilize this Committee as their medium for conversation and staying on track with projects. Vice-Chairman Earp indicated the Committee agrees this is a good idea. Page 2 of 4 July 9,2018 Drainage and Flooding Committee Minutes Precinct Coordinator Jeremy Ratliff, with HCFCD, spoke and informed the committee of maintenance projects and presented a handout and a PowerPoint. He went over a brief history of the maintenance they have going on and some of the bond projects. Director of Engineering Alan Black, with HCFCD, spoke and advised many of the projects will need to be well chosen if the Bond Election passes, to get a prioritized list of projects needing to be done in La Porte. Vice-Chairman Earp commented the Committee will work with HCFCD and Harris County Precinct 2 in order to get a list of projects prioritized. Mr. Black suggested the City provide a list and meet to discuss the projects before the August Bond Election. Councilmember Zemanek asked whether it is feasible to get a pump station at Lomax F101-03-00 in order to get through the Pipeline Corridor. Mr. Black responded pump stations are the last resort due to pump stations having to be powered by electricity and when lines go down, they need a back-up generator; and there is also the factor of having to conduct routine maintenance of pump stations to assure they are pumping properly and not flooding downstream. Mr. Black provided information on funding sources for the City of La Porte. Councilmember Engelken commented he heard there may be a subdivision built at Fairmont and Red Buff that will increase blocked drainage in the Brookglen subdivision and asked what restrictions will the City of Pasadena have for detention facilities for the new subdivision. Mr. Black responded developments have to mitigate the increase flow in the form of storm water detention basins. Vice-Chairman Earp thanked everyone for attending the meeting to discuss flooding issues, and looks forward to meeting with them again. Vice-Chairman Earp address Don Pennell and Corby Alexander regarding what was requested at the last meeting, and that is to provide dates and costs on each of the items listed on the agenda, and where we are on each item. We need the dates, targets, approximate cost, so we can start figuring out funding and timing, and we want to look at it at every meeting from here on out. (b) Brookglen Subdivision— L. Wingate/D. Pennell (c) Bob's Gully— L. Wingate/D. Pennell (d) Lomax F101-03-00 Drainage Channel Feasibility Study— L. Wingate/D. Pennell (e) Little Cedar Bayou F216 Phase II Improvements — L. Wingate/D. Pennell (f) Battleground Estates Improvements — L. Wingate/D. Pennell (g) North P Street Culvert Improvement— L. Wingate/D. Pennell (h) Re-grading/Desilting H., L., & P., Streets —L. Wingate/D. Pennell (i) Bayside Terrace— L. Wingate/D. Pennell Page 3 of 4 July 9,2018 Drainage and Flooding Committee Minutes a) Southside Neighborhood Storm Water Conveyance Improvements — L. Wingate/D. Pennell (k) 6th Street from Madison to W. Main Drainage Analysis — L. Wingate/D. Pennell (I) Grant Funding Options— L. Wingate/D. Pennell (m)Completed Drainage Reports —L. Wingate/D. Pennell 4. Set date for next Drainage and Flooding Committee Meeting There was no date set for the next meeting. 5. Committee Comments There were no Committee comments. 6. ADJOURN There being no further time to conduct business because the council meeting was about to start, Committee Member Engelken made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 5:59 p.m. Vice-Chairman Earp seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY 2/0. Chairman Jay Martin was absent.Qb ectfully submitted, u,Ze - / Patrice Fogarty, reSecre re Passed and approved on this /. '-=day of/. .//018. Chair n, Jay Martin Page 4 of 4 July 9,2018 Drainage and Flooding Committee Minutes