New Caney ISD’s West Fork High School Blocked Out; Access Being Enhanced

Although much finish work remains, contractors have finished blocking out New Caney ISD’s new West Fork High School. Walls, structural steel and roofs are up. Some windows are in. Now they are widening Sorters-McClellan Road. They are also building another access route through woods that will connect to Kingwood Place Drive, the street immediately west of the HCA Kingwood Medical Center.

Photos Taken 11/6/2021

I took all of the shots below on November 6, 2021, with the exception of the last one from November a year ago.

New Caney ISD West Fork High School Construction as of 11/6/2021. Looking NE from over Sorters-McClellan Road toward HCA Kingwood Medical Center and Insperity in top center.
Looking south from over Sorters-McClellan Road, which is apparently being widened in front of the high school and then some. Note the wetlands and cypress trees in the upper right.
Looking north from over detention pond at south end of campus. I-69 in upper right.
Fieldhouse, track and football field.
New access road through woods will connect with Kingwood Place Drive
Looking south. Note windows being installed in center.
Looking SE. Much sitework remains.
From a higher altitude, you can see the proximity to the San Jacinto West Fork. From the upper left, it curves around the large pond then becomes visible again to the left of the sand mine in the upper right.

Wetlands Gone Forever

From US Fish and Wildlife Service Wetlands Mapper. Green areas are/were freshwater forested/shrub wetlands. Blue/gray areas are freshwater ponds. High school site is in center of frame. Image taken shortly after clearing. Note large area of former wetlands where athletic fields will be.

I’m sorry to see the wetlands go, but now that they’re gone, I want to see them complete the drainage for this campus ASAP to make sure everything gets channeled into the detention pond. That will minimize the chance of flooding neighbors.

Progress in One Year

New Caney ISD has posted an update on construction that indicates the percentage of completion for each of the project components as of October 29.

It was just a year ago, that this site was virtually nothing but dirt. Contractors had just started pouring concrete for the first parking pad.

From Nov. 13, 2020.

New Caney ISD expects to finish construction by the summer of 2022.

General plan for New Caney High School #3

Posted by Bob Rehak on November 8, 2021

1532 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Amazon Transportation Facility at Valley Ranch as of 11/6/2021

Amazon Transportation Center at Valley Ranch Nears Completion

In the four months since I last posted about the new Amazon Transportation Center at Valley Ranch on I-69 and White Oak Creek, just south of the Grand Parkway, the facility has come a long way. I can’t see inside, of course, but exterior construction looks complete.

In March, Community Impact reported the facility would open this year, but did not specify a date. Amazon said it was one of four such facilities opening in the Houston area this year. “The station will bring in about 300 full-time jobs paying $15 as a starting hourly wage,” said Community Impact.

Amazon Transportation Facility at Valley Ranch as of 11/6/2021. Looking NNW from the SE corner. I-69 intersects Grand Parkway in upper right.

According to Amazon’s plans, those brownish grassy areas between the parking lots are wetlands they are trying to preserve.

Looking SW from over White Oak Creek from NE corner of property.

The site has two large detention ponds on the left and in the foreground to help slow down all that runoff from the acres of concrete.

Looking S from over I-69 (right).

Proximity to Bush Intercontinental Airport, US59 and the Grand Parkway make this location an ideal transportation hub.

Looking NE. I-69 in lower left.

Development in this area is exploding. While photographing this site today, I noticed three other sites on the west side of I-69 clearing ground. Developers are excavating detention ponds and building has just begun. More on those soon.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/7/2021

1531 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Mistakes in supporting document for RV permit application

Multiple Mistakes Found in Supporting Doc for RV Park Permit App. What Lurks in Others?

In a Declaration of Support for a building permit application, an agent for the owners of the Laurel Springs RV park made four crucial mistakes. They included the wrong:

  • Survey
  • Street address
  • City
  • Owner

Then the agent signed it under the words, “I UNDERSTAND AND AGREE that if any fact stated in this Declaration is false, the City may void any permit(s) issued by the City for the Project, and the City may order the Owner or its successor to remove all or part of the Project at my or our own expense. I declare under penalty of perjury the foregoing is true and correct.”

Serious Lack of Attention to Detail for Legal Doc

See the signed document below with red highlights added to help focus on the mistakes.

Mistakes in owners’ declaration of support. Red emphasis added.

So what should the right entries have been?

  • The Plat, HCAD and Deed all say “W Massey” not “S Massey.”
  • Address is Laurel Springs Lane, not Road.
  • Laurel Springs Lane is in Kingwood, not Huffman.
  • 77339 is a zip code, not the name of the owner.
Detail from approved plat. Note name of original survey in red highlighted area.

Symptomatic of Other Mistakes?

You would have to be in a particularly uncharitable frame of mind to impose sanctions based on the careless mistakes above. But they show a distinct lack of attention to detail that raises more serious questions about all of the plans and potential mistakes in other documents.

This does not inspire confidence. But it should inspire an investigation into the details of all the plans and how they got approved.

Two Site Plans Show 24% Difference in Number of RV Spots

For instance, even a cursory reading revealed that the developer submitted one site plan calling for 182 RV spots, and another at a later date calling for 226.

That’s a 24% increase in the amount of impervious cover. And that could seriously affect drainage calculations. But the permit still calls for 182.

The drainage mitigation plans do not specify how many spots the drainage calculations are based on. What’s the final number?

This could be one of the reasons why the developer and contractor refuse to meet with neighbors to discuss their plans. Do they know of flaws in other docs, too?

Cavalier Attitude to Penalties of Perjury

Geez! This developer does not pay much attention to detail under possible penalties of perjury, project cancellation and personal financial ruin. I wonder how many mistakes other documents contain that don’t carry those penalties.

The person who filed the Declaration of Support for the permit is Leslie B. Mickelis. Mickelis lists her address as 12320 Barker Cypress, Suite 600. That’s a PostNet store. According to the Secretary of State, Mickelis operated a company called Texas State Permits LLC, which lost its right to do business in Texas due to a tax forfeiture in 2009.

From Texas SOS Direct
From Texas SOS Direct

All of this raises serious questions of public safety and concern.

We need Houston Public Works – or a neutral third-party engineer – to review the plans from beginning to end for consistency and accuracy.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/6/2021 and updated with additional information about Mickelis on 11/7/2021 thanks to a tip from Daryl Lombard

1530 Days since Hurricane Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.