9/18/2024 – Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger will host a town hall meeting on Thursday 9/19/24 at the Kingwood Community Center. Doors open at 6PM. The program starts at 6:30.
Houston District E City Council Member Fred Flickinger
The event will feature a series of informational presentations at tables where residents can talk to representatives of various city departments. It will also feature several presentations, followed by Q&A.
Even though the program will be hosted in Kingwood, all residents of the Lake Houston Area including Huffman are welcome to the town hall and will find something of value. The agenda includes topics that apply to everyone, such as status of the Lake Houston Dam Gates Project.
Time, Date, Place
Thursday, September 19th
Program: 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Kingwood Community Center
4102 Rustic Woods Drive
Kingwood, Texas 77345
Featured Speakers
Speakers will address issues crucial to the safety and success of the Lake Houston Area. They include:
State Representative Charles Cunningham will kick off the meeting. He will discuss his priorities going into the next legislative session.
Houston At-Large City Council Member Twila Carter will also talk about her priorities.
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey hopes to make the meeting, but will be coming from budget meetings downtown and may not make it if they run over.
New Coastal Water Authority Board Director Dan Huberty will give an update on the project to add more flood gates to the Lake Houston Dam.
Ekaterina Fitos, Houston’s Water Planning Director, will discuss the status of dredging and sand traps, designed to reduce sedimentation and flood risk.
Mark Wilfalk, Houston’s Director of Solid Waste Management, will go over storm debris pickup following Hurricane Beryl. He will cover lessons learned and what they will do differently in the next disaster.
Sergeant Rajesh Sawlani, also with HPD, will talk about crime suppression tactics and strategies being implemented in other parts of the City. He will also cover the growing homeless population in Kingwood.
Booths around the perimeter of the room will feature Houston:
Public Works (water, infrastructure, transportation, drainage, Lake Houston Gates)
The ambitious town hall agenda covers a lot of territory. So, come early. Mingle with neighbors. And ask your questions at the tables if you can. It’s been a year since we last had a town hall meeting with Dave Martin.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/18/2024
2577 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240916-DSC_0438-1.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=17331100adminadmin2024-09-18 18:20:542024-09-19 10:42:46Don’t Miss Town Hall Meeting Thursday Evening
9/17/24 – Yesterday, five leaders who represent the Lake Houston Area met to discuss the status of local flood-mitigation projects. The representatives included:
U.S. Congressman Dan Crenshaw (TX-02)
State Representative Charles Cunningham (TX HD-127)
Harris County Commissioner Tom Ramsey, P.E. (Precinct 3)
Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger (District E)
Dr. Tina Petersen, P.E., Executive Director, Harris County Flood Control District
The combination of leaders from all levels of government underscored the cooperative nature of local flood-mitigation projects. Such projects usually involve federal funding which local sources use to actually build the projects.
Left to Right: Ramsey, Crenshaw, Petersen, Flickinger and Cunningham
Woodridge Village/Taylor Gully History
As the site for their press conference, they chose Woodridge Village in Montgomery County. Woodridge was the failed Perry Homes development that flooded hundreds of homes in Elm Grove twice in 2019. The City of Houston and Harris County eventually purchased the site in 2021 to build a flood-mitigation project on it. The project would help reduce flood risk along Taylor Gully, which drains the site.
Later in 2021, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) signed an excavation and removal (E&R) contract with Sprint Sand and Clay. The contract let Sprint remove up to 500,000 cubic yards of dirt and sell it at market rates. If all 500,000 cubic yards had been removed, it would have doubled the stormwater detention capacity on the site. However, after excavating 156,478 cubic yards, HCFCD terminated the contract in 2023.
The termination coincided with applications for funding to the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to mitigate both Woodridge and Taylor Gully.
The E&R contract termination was mandatory under HUD rules. Why? Simple. A project cannot change while it is being estimated and evaluated.
Hosts of the press conference pose for a drone shot in front of the area in Woodridge Village to be excavated. It actually includes more than what you see. Much is out of frame.
Woodridge/Taylor Gully Project Today
The combined Taylor Gully/Woodridge Village project involves funding from multiple sources:
U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw secured federal funding for Taylor Gully improvements in March 2022.
The Texas Water Development Board approved additional state funding.
According to Dr. Tina Petersen, the Flood Control District “should hear soon” about the status of the District’s Woodridge and Taylor Gully applications.
A department spokesperson added, “As of now, we’re looking at combining Taylor Gully and Woodridge to move them forward more quickly. We’re working with the General Land Office on the schedule for this project. And the biggest driver of that schedule is environmental due diligence and permitting work.”
Expand a portion of Taylor Gully and lining it with concrete.
Build yet another stormwater detention basin on Woodridge Village holding 412 acre-feet.
Replace the culverts at Rustling Elms with a clear-span bridge.
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey PE stated that the combined projects will cost $55 million to complete.
Crenshaw-Related Projects
Congressman Dan Crenshaw has a hand in almost all local flood-mitigation projects. He kicked off his part of the program citing some startling statistics. Recently, more than 763,000 Harris County households have requested FEMA assistance totaling $460 million in relief. Among them were the hundreds of homes along Taylor Gully.
US Representative Dan Crenshaw kicked off the press conference.
Crenshaw also alluded to other local flood-mitigation projects:
$222 million used to dredge the San Jacinto River
A new dredging project (see below).
$8 million used to reinforce the existing Lake Houston dam structure
Eight community project funding grants
An early flood-warning system, including a cellular communication program funded by FEMA
News tools to increase more precise calculation of flood risks
Buyouts and home elevations, such as those in Forest Cove.
Crenshaw concluded, “These projects are exactly what the appropriations process and government funding should be supporting: serious, targeted projects that will help communities recover from past storms and protect them from future storms.”
He added, “These projects actually save taxpayer money because we’re avoiding more costly recovery efforts in the future by mitigating the damage before it happens.”
Ramsey and Importance of Maintenance
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Ramsey, an engineer by trade, explained the flood-mitigation process. He thanked Crenshaw for funding the studies that are allowing many projects, including the Kingwood Diversion Ditch, to move forward. It, too, is pending final construction funding.
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Ramsey addressed county’s role in Kingwood projects and need for more maintenance funding.
Ramsey also provided an overview of Edgewater Park development. After Harvey, the county purchased land next to the West Fork east of US59. The county is turning it into a recreational facility, complete with a boat launch, hiking trails and a dog park. Ramsey said, “It is in final design now. We will be moving to construction. The money has been identified. So that’s an enhancement that we can look forward to.”
Finally, Ramsey underscored the importance of providing more maintenance funding for HCFCD to help remove debris from streams and ditches, such as Bens Branch. He urged voters to approve more maintenance money for HCFCD in the November election. As the amount of land HCFCD must maintain has increased, the money to maintain it has decreased.
State Rep. Charles Cunningham highlighted state funding for more floodgateswhich qualified for matching funds.
“I was pleased to get $50 million for the flood gates in the last session,” he said. That allowed us to get an additional $50 million from FEMA. So, that was $100 million total.”
He also referred to the importance of the first Texas state flood plan. “There are 30 million Texans in the state and the flood plan is addressing the needs of 5.5 million flood-prone people.”
City of Houston District E Council Member Fred Flickinger
The City and its partners have already dredged 4 million cubic yards of sediment since Hurricane Harvey, he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that it is the removal of that sediment that actually kept Kingwood from flooding during this last flood event in May.”
Flickinger said another 800,000 to 1,000,000 cubic yards will soon be removed – once Beryl recovery efforts are out of the way. He said the next dredging program should start in December.
He also expressed hope that the addition of former State Representative Dan Huberty to the Coastal Water Authority Board will help accelerate the addition of more floodgates to the Lake Houston Dam.
Flickinger provided a list of 58 drainage improvement projects totaling $55.8 million since Harvey. They ranged from under $20,000 to more than $30 million. While most have been completed, two are still ongoing. Frankly, most of these flew beneath my radar. But I did cover many of them, such as repairs to the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Petersen: Capital Projects Require More Maintenance Dollars
HCFCD executive director Dr. Tina Petersen alluded to the Woodridge/Taylor Gully Project where the press conference took place. She underscored how the project would increase stormwater detention and channel capacity.
“They (the combined projects) represent substantial investment in the Kingwood area and will reduce the risk of flooding for hundreds of structures in this area,” she said.
Dr. Tina Petersen, executive director of HCFCD
But, she also reminded people that, “Adding storage like this project (Woodridge), will require maintenance work to make sure that our storm systems are functioning as intended.” It was another allusion to the upcoming HCFCD ballot item.
GLO Perspective
HUD funding through the GLO is necessary to finance the Woodridge/Taylor Gully projects. The decision on grant applications has not yet been made. However, a GLO spokesperson emphasized how much better their relationship is with Houston these days under Mayor John Whitmire. “And HCFCD is fantastic to work with,” she added.
But she also emphasized the importance of getting the environmental assessment right for the Woodridge/Taylor Gully project. “We don’t want to fix one problem only to create another downstream. Also, if we do discover a problem during the assessment, we can correct it before it goes into bidding and construction when it would require change orders and new funding approvals.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/17/2024
2576 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240916-DSC_0386.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=17331100adminadmin2024-09-17 19:47:382024-09-17 20:47:57Leaders Share Status of Local Flood-Mitigation Projects
9/16/24 – As promised, contractors began the first Northpark concrete pour for a major stretch of the road expansion project this morning. They scheduled the pour for 3 AM to 1 PM. And by 9:30 AM they appeared on schedule to finish the first 1,000 feet within the allotted time. See the pics below, all taken on 9/16/24.
Looking west toward area already complete on the south side of Northpark.Looking west. Concrete begins to cure at the entrance to Kings Mill.Looking east.Four concrete trucks were lined up to deliver their loads in assembly-line fashion.Looking East.Workers attacked the concrete like a well-oiled machine. One man guided the trough that delivered the mix, while others spread the concrete, and smoothed it out.Reverse angle shows the team in action as a truck unloads.Closeup of the coordinated team work.
After this first Northpark concrete pour, we should see three more by October 1. See the plan here.
More Visible Progress, Next Stages
According to project manager Ralph De Leon, the underground drainage and utility work is the hardest and slowest part of the project. “So, residents will see much faster progress now,” he said.
Northpark expansion will accommodate population growth and speed up traffic. But it will also create an all-weather evacuation route for 78,000 Kingwood residents.
The center ditch that used to go down Northpark has now been totally replaced with box culverts. Now contractors are paving over the culverts.
The old lanes will be demolished and replaced by new concrete also.
After Northpark is paved from Russell Palmer Road to Loop 494, the focus will shift to repaving a portion of 494 and then the commercial strip between 494 and the entry ponds at US59.
To help the public plan around construction, the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority constantly updates its project page with a three-week “look-ahead” schedule.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/20240916-DJI_20240916093550_0897_D.jpg?fit=1100%2C619&ssl=16191100adminadmin2024-09-16 13:56:142024-09-16 13:56:15Pictures of First Northpark Concrete Pour
Don’t Miss Town Hall Meeting Thursday Evening
9/18/2024 – Houston City Council Member Fred Flickinger will host a town hall meeting on Thursday 9/19/24 at the Kingwood Community Center. Doors open at 6PM. The program starts at 6:30.
The event will feature a series of informational presentations at tables where residents can talk to representatives of various city departments. It will also feature several presentations, followed by Q&A.
Even though the program will be hosted in Kingwood, all residents of the Lake Houston Area including Huffman are welcome to the town hall and will find something of value. The agenda includes topics that apply to everyone, such as status of the Lake Houston Dam Gates Project.
Time, Date, Place
Featured Speakers
Speakers will address issues crucial to the safety and success of the Lake Houston Area. They include:
Booths around the perimeter of the room will feature Houston:
The ambitious town hall agenda covers a lot of territory. So, come early. Mingle with neighbors. And ask your questions at the tables if you can. It’s been a year since we last had a town hall meeting with Dave Martin.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/18/2024
2577 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Leaders Share Status of Local Flood-Mitigation Projects
9/17/24 – Yesterday, five leaders who represent the Lake Houston Area met to discuss the status of local flood-mitigation projects. The representatives included:
The combination of leaders from all levels of government underscored the cooperative nature of local flood-mitigation projects. Such projects usually involve federal funding which local sources use to actually build the projects.
Woodridge Village/Taylor Gully History
As the site for their press conference, they chose Woodridge Village in Montgomery County. Woodridge was the failed Perry Homes development that flooded hundreds of homes in Elm Grove twice in 2019. The City of Houston and Harris County eventually purchased the site in 2021 to build a flood-mitigation project on it. The project would help reduce flood risk along Taylor Gully, which drains the site.
Later in 2021, Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) signed an excavation and removal (E&R) contract with Sprint Sand and Clay. The contract let Sprint remove up to 500,000 cubic yards of dirt and sell it at market rates. If all 500,000 cubic yards had been removed, it would have doubled the stormwater detention capacity on the site. However, after excavating 156,478 cubic yards, HCFCD terminated the contract in 2023.
The termination coincided with applications for funding to the Texas General Land Office (GLO) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to mitigate both Woodridge and Taylor Gully.
The E&R contract termination was mandatory under HUD rules. Why? Simple. A project cannot change while it is being estimated and evaluated.
Woodridge/Taylor Gully Project Today
The combined Taylor Gully/Woodridge Village project involves funding from multiple sources:
According to Dr. Tina Petersen, the Flood Control District “should hear soon” about the status of the District’s Woodridge and Taylor Gully applications.
A department spokesperson added, “As of now, we’re looking at combining Taylor Gully and Woodridge to move them forward more quickly. We’re working with the General Land Office on the schedule for this project. And the biggest driver of that schedule is environmental due diligence and permitting work.”
HCFCD applied for grants to:
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey PE stated that the combined projects will cost $55 million to complete.
Crenshaw-Related Projects
Congressman Dan Crenshaw has a hand in almost all local flood-mitigation projects. He kicked off his part of the program citing some startling statistics. Recently, more than 763,000 Harris County households have requested FEMA assistance totaling $460 million in relief. Among them were the hundreds of homes along Taylor Gully.
Crenshaw also alluded to other local flood-mitigation projects:
Crenshaw concluded, “These projects are exactly what the appropriations process and government funding should be supporting: serious, targeted projects that will help communities recover from past storms and protect them from future storms.”
He added, “These projects actually save taxpayer money because we’re avoiding more costly recovery efforts in the future by mitigating the damage before it happens.”
Ramsey and Importance of Maintenance
Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Ramsey, an engineer by trade, explained the flood-mitigation process. He thanked Crenshaw for funding the studies that are allowing many projects, including the Kingwood Diversion Ditch, to move forward. It, too, is pending final construction funding.
Ramsey also provided an overview of Edgewater Park development. After Harvey, the county purchased land next to the West Fork east of US59. The county is turning it into a recreational facility, complete with a boat launch, hiking trails and a dog park. Ramsey said, “It is in final design now. We will be moving to construction. The money has been identified. So that’s an enhancement that we can look forward to.”
Finally, Ramsey underscored the importance of providing more maintenance funding for HCFCD to help remove debris from streams and ditches, such as Bens Branch. He urged voters to approve more maintenance money for HCFCD in the November election. As the amount of land HCFCD must maintain has increased, the money to maintain it has decreased.
Cunningham and the Big Picture
State Representative Charles Cunningham also emphasized the value of cooperation among different levels of government.
“I was pleased to get $50 million for the flood gates in the last session,” he said. That allowed us to get an additional $50 million from FEMA. So, that was $100 million total.”
He also referred to the importance of the first Texas state flood plan. “There are 30 million Texans in the state and the flood plan is addressing the needs of 5.5 million flood-prone people.”
Flickinger Leads with Gates and Dredging
Among the local flood-mitigation projects that District E City Councilman Fred Flickinger discussed:
The City and its partners have already dredged 4 million cubic yards of sediment since Hurricane Harvey, he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that it is the removal of that sediment that actually kept Kingwood from flooding during this last flood event in May.”
Flickinger said another 800,000 to 1,000,000 cubic yards will soon be removed – once Beryl recovery efforts are out of the way. He said the next dredging program should start in December.
He also expressed hope that the addition of former State Representative Dan Huberty to the Coastal Water Authority Board will help accelerate the addition of more floodgates to the Lake Houston Dam.
Flickinger provided a list of 58 drainage improvement projects totaling $55.8 million since Harvey. They ranged from under $20,000 to more than $30 million. While most have been completed, two are still ongoing. Frankly, most of these flew beneath my radar. But I did cover many of them, such as repairs to the West Lake Houston Parkway Bridge.
Petersen: Capital Projects Require More Maintenance Dollars
HCFCD executive director Dr. Tina Petersen alluded to the Woodridge/Taylor Gully Project where the press conference took place. She underscored how the project would increase stormwater detention and channel capacity.
“They (the combined projects) represent substantial investment in the Kingwood area and will reduce the risk of flooding for hundreds of structures in this area,” she said.
But, she also reminded people that, “Adding storage like this project (Woodridge), will require maintenance work to make sure that our storm systems are functioning as intended.” It was another allusion to the upcoming HCFCD ballot item.
GLO Perspective
HUD funding through the GLO is necessary to finance the Woodridge/Taylor Gully projects. The decision on grant applications has not yet been made. However, a GLO spokesperson emphasized how much better their relationship is with Houston these days under Mayor John Whitmire. “And HCFCD is fantastic to work with,” she added.
But she also emphasized the importance of getting the environmental assessment right for the Woodridge/Taylor Gully project. “We don’t want to fix one problem only to create another downstream. Also, if we do discover a problem during the assessment, we can correct it before it goes into bidding and construction when it would require change orders and new funding approvals.”
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/17/2024
2576 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Pictures of First Northpark Concrete Pour
9/16/24 – As promised, contractors began the first Northpark concrete pour for a major stretch of the road expansion project this morning. They scheduled the pour for 3 AM to 1 PM. And by 9:30 AM they appeared on schedule to finish the first 1,000 feet within the allotted time. See the pics below, all taken on 9/16/24.
After this first Northpark concrete pour, we should see three more by October 1. See the plan here.
More Visible Progress, Next Stages
According to project manager Ralph De Leon, the underground drainage and utility work is the hardest and slowest part of the project. “So, residents will see much faster progress now,” he said.
Northpark expansion will accommodate population growth and speed up traffic. But it will also create an all-weather evacuation route for 78,000 Kingwood residents.
The center ditch that used to go down Northpark has now been totally replaced with box culverts. Now contractors are paving over the culverts.
The old lanes will be demolished and replaced by new concrete also.
After Northpark is paved from Russell Palmer Road to Loop 494, the focus will shift to repaving a portion of 494 and then the commercial strip between 494 and the entry ponds at US59.
To help the public plan around construction, the Lake Houston Redevelopment Authority constantly updates its project page with a three-week “look-ahead” schedule.
For More Information
The posts below contain a history of the project.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/13/24
2572 Days since Hurricane Harvey