HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-08-19 Drainage and Flooding Committee Meeting Minutes F
JAY MARTIN J(1`AO CHUCK ENGELKEN
Chairman U 4"� Member
/ �[ m
DANNY EARP JOHN ZEMANEK
Vice-Chairman • \ i — Alternate Member
MINUTES OF DRAINAGE AND FLOODING COMMITTEE
MEETING HELD APRIL 8, 2019
The Drainage and Flooding Committee of the City of La Porte met on Monday, April 8, 2019, 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:
Committee Members present: Danny Earp, Chuck Engelken, John Zemanek
Committee Members absent: Jay Martin
Council-appointed officers present: Corby Alexander, City Manager; Lee Woodward, City Secretary
1. Call to Order—Vice Chairman Earp called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
2. Consent Agenda (Approval of Consent Agenda items authorizes each to be implemented in accordance with
staff recommendations provided.An item may be removed from the consent agenda and added to the Statutory
Agenda for full discussion upon request by a member of the Committee present at this meeting.)
(a) Approve the minutes of the meeting held on February 25, 2019. [Lee Woodward, City
Secretary]
Committee member Engelken moved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on February 25, 2019;
the motion was unanimously adopted, 3-0.
Without objection, Billy Green was permitted to offer public comment, asking that drainage issues in the
Lomax area be addressed.
3. Staff Reports
(a) Receive report from Harris County Flood Control District regarding current and future plans relating
to flooding in the City of La Porte. [Lorenzo Wingate, City Engineer and Don Pennell, Public Works
Director]
City Engineer Lorenzo Wingate informed the Committee that Harris County Flood Control District(HCFCD)
was not able to attend but had emailed him updates, including that they had analyzed their review of the
Brookglen area and that they would meet with staff on April 16. Mr. Wingate said HCFCD had had HDR
review the 8112/Lomax area and that they would consider it internally before the next phase. Mr.Alexander
asked Mr.Wingate to forward the email correspondence to the committee on Tuesday. Committee member
Engelken said he was very disappointed that HCFCD had not attended yet again and noted he would reach
out to the Harris County Commissioner to address these issues, citing destruction at Brookglen, current
construction projects, and the loss of a related revenue stream. Mr. Alexander agreed to reach out to the
Harris County Judge's office on the issues as well.
(b) Receive a report regarding the status of the Texas GLO CDBG-DR 2015 Floods and Storms (DR-
4223 and DR-4245) Allocation. [Lorenzo Wingate, City Engineer and Don Pennell, Public Works
Director]
Mr. Wingate said the project had been placed under contract, with scope communicated in order to move
ahead.
(c) Discussion regarding Harris County's Method of Distribution (MOD) for the Community
Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDGB-DR) Round 1 Funds for Hurricane Harvey.
[Lorenzo Wingate, City Engineer and Don Pennell, Public Works Director]
April 8,2019-Drainage and Flooding Committee Minutes
Mr. Wingate said the City has a grant administrator working on this item, noting that the City currently has
an allocation of approximately$325,000 for the initial phase of a proposed drainage improvement project
and that the $3.2 million is anticipated to be utilized for the continuation of planned subsequent phases.
Although the timeline includes milestones to be completed by November 2018, the City has met these
milestones, but is now awaiting Harris County review. Mr. Wingate shared has not received an updated
timeline from Harris County yet for what was to be completed last November.
(d) Discussion regarding Texas Department of Emergency Management(TDEM) Hurricane Harvey DR-
4332 Section 404 Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Funding. [Lorenzo Wingate, City
Engineer and Don Pennell, Public Works Director]
Mr.Wingate said the City had submitted three generator projects and five drainage projects and then TDEM
was forwarding the generator items to FEMA. Mr.Alexander confirmed an additional project was not eligible
and two additional projects did not fit the cost-benefit analysis.
(e) Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding the status of current drainage projects.
[Lorenzo Wingate, City Engineer and Don Pennell, Public Works Director]
Mr. Wingate asked the committee's preference on funding allocations for projects versus waiting to hear
about grant awards, following which reimbursement or use as a match might become possible. Without
objection, the committee agreed to Mr. Alexander's suggestion that staff be allowed to clarify with TDEM
and GrantWorks, Inc. as to whether upfront design and engineering costs will count as match. Vice
Chairman Earp asked for a report on how the funds had been allocated for each project at this time.
(f) Presentation, discussion, and possible action regarding additional drainage concerns and
providing staff with direction. [Lorenzo Wingate, City Engineer and Don Pennell, Public Works
Director]
Committee member Zemanek asked that someone check on the area Mr. Green had discussed in his public
comment.Vice Chairman Earp inquired as to why Lomax water could not be drained into a dry pond at the
airport and Mr. Wingate said he believed they were two separate watersheds and the current inlet didn't
have capacity for additional runoff. Vice Chairman Earp asked if inline detention could be considered.
4. Set date for next Drainage and Flooding Committee Meeting. [Lorenzo Wingate,City Engineer and Don
Pennell, Public Works Director]
The next meeting date was set for May 13 at 5:00 p.m.
5. Committee Comments
No comments were offered.
6. IAD OJR J—The meetin• wa -•.ourned without objection at 5:39 p.m.
1►•
Lee •odward,qty - -
April 8,2019-Drainage and Flooding Committee Minutes