City Council Member Dave Martin will host a Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Town Hall meeting Thursday, March 21, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. , at the Kingwood Community Center, 4102 Rustic Woods Drive, Kingwood, Texas, 77345.
Costello Will Update Community on Flood Mitigation
Post-Harvey updates will be provided from Flood Czar Stephen Costello. Expect Costello to address additional flood gates for the Lake Houston Dam and dredging of the mouth bar.
Capital Improvement Projects also on Agenda
During this meeting, residents will also hear from Mayor Sylvester Turner, and other city and community representatives about ongoing and future capital improvement projects, local issues and community news related to the Kingwood and Lake Houston areas of District E.
Congressman Dan Crenshaw will be in attendance to meet with community members.
Harvey Aid Specialists in Attendance
The District E office has arranged for Hurricane Harvey intake specialists to host an information table at the meeting for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey and interested in learning more about the resources available to them. If you are seeking Harvey aid, before attending the meeting, please make sure to take the Harvey Recovery Survey online or by calling 832-393-0550 (Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).
For more information, please contac t Council Member Martin’s office by calling (832) 393-3008 or via email at districte@houstontx.gov .
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/21/2019
569 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Turner.jpg?fit=1500%2C1125&ssl=111251500adminadmin2019-03-20 23:12:442019-03-20 23:13:14Reminder: Townhall Meeting Thursday Night at Kingwood Community Center, 6:30 PM
Jason Krahn of the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) revealed plans tonight to begin restoring the conveyance of Bens Branch, one of the largest drainage channels in Kingwood. Bens Branch runs diagonally through the center of Kingwood from the new St. Martha Catholic Church to east of Kings Harbor where it joins the San Jacinto West Fork.
Harris County Flood Control will soon begin removing more than 8000 truckloads of sediment clogging Ben’s Branch.
Welcome Relief
News of the project will bring welcome relief to those who live near the creek and who flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Among them are residents of North Woodland Hills, Kings Forest, Bear Branch, Town Center, the Enclave, Kingwood Village Estates, and Kings Harbor.
Restoring Conveyance to 1990 Level
The objective of the project: to restore the conveyance that existed in 1990 when the creek was last widened and improved. Large portions of the creek have severe silting.
Krahn says Flood Control plans to excavate 1.3 miles of the ditch from near Kingwood Drive to past the YMCA – a total of 6,851 linear feet. The project will stop approximately 1,800 feet from Lake Houston. From that area, they plan to excavate 77,365 cubic yards of sediment that have built up since 1990. That equals about 8,600 dump-truck loads.
Flood Control also plans to bring in rock to shore up areas that have severely eroded.
Project Phasing and Timeline
The design phase of the project has completed and bidding will begin within two weeks, says Krahn, the project manager.
To access the areas to be excavated, Flood Control will use a combination of roads and adjacent property owners. They include Kingwood County Club, Harris County Precinct 4 Library, the YMCA, and the Kings Crossing Trail Association.
Expect the following phases:
Establishing access
Erection of construction fencing
Mobilization of equipment such as amphibious trackhoes and shallow-draft barges
Excavating material and storing it along the edges of the creek
Waiting two weeks for it to drain and dry
Hauling it away
Krahn expects to haul off 40 truck loads per day. He says the project should take a total of 250 calendar days. Thus, they should complete the project by next January.
Some trees may have to go, but Krahn vows to make every effort to keep as many trees as he can. He says he understands how much Kingwood values trees. He also points out that any trees on the banks did not exist when the ditch was last excavated; they have grown up since.
Procurement, bidding, and planning will run from April through June. Expect to see boots on the ground no later than July 1.
$2.1 Million Cost Expected
Total cost of the project is projected at about $2.1 million out of a $17 million total maintenance budget for all of Harris County. This money does not come out of the flood bond. It comes from the normal HCFCD maintenance and operations budget.
Soil Already Tested; Non-Hazardous
The county has already sampled and tested the soil that it will remove. It received a Class 2 Non-Hazardous Rating. That means it is not contaminated and can be stored anywhere. Krahn says that the winning contractor will propose disposal sites. Sometimes the fill will be used in road beds, to elevate property, or returned to old sand pits.
Warn Kids to Stay Away
Many people fish and play in the creek and job on its banks. Krahn requested residents to keep their children away from the construction zone once heavy equipment starts moving in. Operators will have their eyes on the job and not people jogging or fishing.
Thanks to Barbara Hilburn
A shout-out to Barbara Hilburn of Kingwood Lakes who has doggedly led the charge on internal drainage improvements since Harvey. Hilburn emphasized the need for a Kingwood-wide study of internal drainage to restore the entire system to its original capacity. She hopes that will work hand-in-hand with other improvements being made to the San Jacinto and the Lake Houston dam to reduce flood risk.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/20/2019
568 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BensBranch-copy.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=17681024adminadmin2019-03-20 22:43:072019-03-20 23:29:16Harris County Flood Control to Begin Restoring Conveyance of Bens Branch In April
A standing-room-only crowd of 800-plus people packed the Kingwood Community Center last night for a high-rise meeting. They were there to hear for the first time from Romerica and the people who hope to build high rises in an area deed restricted to single-family residential.
Gabriel M. Haddad, one of Romerica’s partners, seemed decent and sincere. He answered questions directly with a few exceptions, and remained cool in the face of hostile questioning. His main point: he wanted to solve the flooding and sedimentation problems on the river and in Lake Houston to make his project viable.
Haddad even admitted that the property where he wanted to build most of the high rises was deed restricted to single-family residential. He said that his plan was to get a permit and THEN get Friendswood to change the deed restrictions.
No Details, No Plan
However, neither Haddad nor the other speakers provided specific details about the project. Several people commented that the speakers from SWCA and Civil Tech seemed unprofessional, unprepared, not responsive to questions.
Several posters scattered around the room made grandiose claims without any support. For instance, they claim:
The high-rise project would generate $135 million of property tax revenue for the City.
Up to 70% of the property is planned to be preserved.
They will preserve wetlands (while filling them in).
Few Chances for Followup Questions
Upon questioning, Haddad confessed that it might take 30 years to reach property tax revenues of $135 million. That would translate to almost $5 billion in appraised value. That’s more than all the appraised value of all commercial properties in the entire Humble ISD including Deerbrook Mall! But then the meeting format didn’t allow for follow up questions.
Weasel Words
Regarding the “up to” in front of 70%: that includes a lot of territory starting with 1%.
That’s a pretty neat trick with the wetlands. Oops, they forgot to mention the wetlands will be preserved somewhere else.
Omissions, Insufficient Explanations, and Public Meetings for Dummies
I was very concerned about evacuation plans, so I asked. Guess what. There is none. “We’ll have people shelter in place.”
No evacuation plan? I guess someone forgot to consider heart attacks, sewers that back up in floods, and power outages that would leave people sweltering in their vertical footprints for days in August. No evacuation plan needed for high-rises in what soon will become the floodway of the San Jacinto! Seriously?
They also hoped to address traffic problems with a bridge and a Hamblen-Road extension that voters already rejected, thus showing a total lack of understanding of local history and values.
A Civil Tech employee couldn’t tell me where more than 150,000 cubic yards of fill was coming from or going to.
Mr. Haddad felt that his condos were no longer in the Kingwood Lakes Homeowner Association. (They are.)
Mr. Haddad claimed that they were no longer soliciting investments through EB-5 visas because the project had “outgrown” them. (However, they still operate an EB-5 regional center and website.)
Financing for a supposed $5 billion project was never addressed.
They invitation said they would talk about phasing and they didn’t.
Sizzle No Substitute for Substance
The posters seemed to revolve around buzzwords, such as conservation, preservation, sustainability, mobility, and resiliency. However, they used the same support points over and over again for each…without ever explaining how they supported the buzzwords.
For instance, they supported sustainability with “natural water systems, promoting alternative modes of transportation, vertical development and preserving forests.”
To mix it up a little bit, they promote resiliency with “natural water systems, preserving forests, a compact development footprint, and alternative modes of transportation.”
You get the idea. You’ve heard it all before. And that, I think, pretty much sums up the takeaway for most of the people that I talked to. “No substance. No specifics. No plan. No answers. No way.”
Not Buying It
During the Q&A at the end of the meeting, one of the questioners asked people in the audience who were still against the development to stand up. Almost everyone stood.
People standing to show their opposition. Photo and video courtersy of Jim Zura, Zura Productions.
Now that was one message that was clear and unambiguous.
Reinforcing Worst-Nightmare Scenario
At one point, Mr. Haddad said, “We’ll start slowly, and if we see it’s uneconomic, we’ll do something else.” This confirmed the worst fears of many in the audience who saw the developers disturbing the environment and then abandoning the job half finished.
They never did address the vast majority of the questions I posted on Friday. Had they done so, they might have changed some minds. But by ignoring them, many people felt the developers had something to hide or that Kingwood people were easily bluffed.
Little wonder that Manlove chose not to have a public meeting while the Army Corps’ public comment period was still open.
As always, the thoughts herein represent my opinions on matters of public interest. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP laws of the great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 19, 2019
567 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/IMG_0136.jpg?fit=960%2C1280&ssl=11280960adminadmin2019-03-19 21:56:572019-03-20 12:48:29High-Rise Meeting Doesn’t Change Many Minds and Raises Big Concern
Reminder: Townhall Meeting Thursday Night at Kingwood Community Center, 6:30 PM
City Council Member Dave Martin will host a Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Town Hall meeting Thursday, March 21, 2019, at 6:30 p.m. , at the Kingwood Community Center, 4102 Rustic Woods Drive, Kingwood, Texas, 77345.
Costello Will Update Community on Flood Mitigation
Post-Harvey updates will be provided from Flood Czar Stephen Costello. Expect Costello to address additional flood gates for the Lake Houston Dam and dredging of the mouth bar.
Capital Improvement Projects also on Agenda
During this meeting, residents will also hear from Mayor Sylvester Turner, and other city and community representatives about ongoing and future capital improvement projects, local issues and community news related to the Kingwood and Lake Houston areas of District E.
Congressman Dan Crenshaw will be in attendance to meet with community members.
Harvey Aid Specialists in Attendance
The District E office has arranged for Hurricane Harvey intake specialists to host an information table at the meeting for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey and interested in learning more about the resources available to them. If you are seeking Harvey aid, before attending the meeting, please make sure to take the Harvey Recovery Survey online or by calling 832-393-0550 (Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).
For more information, please contac t Council Member Martin’s office by calling (832) 393-3008 or via email at districte@houstontx.gov .
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/21/2019
569 Days since Hurricane Harvey
Harris County Flood Control to Begin Restoring Conveyance of Bens Branch In April
Jason Krahn of the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) revealed plans tonight to begin restoring the conveyance of Bens Branch, one of the largest drainage channels in Kingwood. Bens Branch runs diagonally through the center of Kingwood from the new St. Martha Catholic Church to east of Kings Harbor where it joins the San Jacinto West Fork.
8000 truckloads of sediment clogging Ben’s Branch.
Welcome Relief
News of the project will bring welcome relief to those who live near the creek and who flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Among them are residents of North Woodland Hills, Kings Forest, Bear Branch, Town Center, the Enclave, Kingwood Village Estates, and Kings Harbor.
Restoring Conveyance to 1990 Level
The objective of the project: to restore the conveyance that existed in 1990 when the creek was last widened and improved. Large portions of the creek have severe silting.
Krahn says Flood Control plans to excavate 1.3 miles of the ditch from near Kingwood Drive to past the YMCA – a total of 6,851 linear feet. The project will stop approximately 1,800 feet from Lake Houston. From that area, they plan to excavate 77,365 cubic yards of sediment that have built up since 1990. That equals about 8,600 dump-truck loads.
Flood Control also plans to bring in rock to shore up areas that have severely eroded.
Project Phasing and Timeline
The design phase of the project has completed and bidding will begin within two weeks, says Krahn, the project manager.
To access the areas to be excavated, Flood Control will use a combination of roads and adjacent property owners. They include Kingwood County Club, Harris County Precinct 4 Library, the YMCA, and the Kings Crossing Trail Association.
Expect the following phases:
Krahn expects to haul off 40 truck loads per day. He says the project should take a total of 250 calendar days. Thus, they should complete the project by next January.
Some trees may have to go, but Krahn vows to make every effort to keep as many trees as he can. He says he understands how much Kingwood values trees. He also points out that any trees on the banks did not exist when the ditch was last excavated; they have grown up since.
Procurement, bidding, and planning will run from April through June. Expect to see boots on the ground no later than July 1.
$2.1 Million Cost Expected
Total cost of the project is projected at about $2.1 million out of a $17 million total maintenance budget for all of Harris County. This money does not come out of the flood bond. It comes from the normal HCFCD maintenance and operations budget.
Soil Already Tested; Non-Hazardous
The county has already sampled and tested the soil that it will remove. It received a Class 2 Non-Hazardous Rating. That means it is not contaminated and can be stored anywhere. Krahn says that the winning contractor will propose disposal sites. Sometimes the fill will be used in road beds, to elevate property, or returned to old sand pits.
Warn Kids to Stay Away
Many people fish and play in the creek and job on its banks. Krahn requested residents to keep their children away from the construction zone once heavy equipment starts moving in. Operators will have their eyes on the job and not people jogging or fishing.
Thanks to Barbara Hilburn
A shout-out to Barbara Hilburn of Kingwood Lakes who has doggedly led the charge on internal drainage improvements since Harvey. Hilburn emphasized the need for a Kingwood-wide study of internal drainage to restore the entire system to its original capacity. She hopes that will work hand-in-hand with other improvements being made to the San Jacinto and the Lake Houston dam to reduce flood risk.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/20/2019
568 Days since Hurricane Harvey
High-Rise Meeting Doesn’t Change Many Minds and Raises Big Concern
A standing-room-only crowd of 800-plus people packed the Kingwood Community Center last night for a high-rise meeting. They were there to hear for the first time from Romerica and the people who hope to build high rises in an area deed restricted to single-family residential.
Gabriel M. Haddad, one of Romerica’s partners, seemed decent and sincere. He answered questions directly with a few exceptions, and remained cool in the face of hostile questioning. His main point: he wanted to solve the flooding and sedimentation problems on the river and in Lake Houston to make his project viable.
Haddad even admitted that the property where he wanted to build most of the high rises was deed restricted to single-family residential. He said that his plan was to get a permit and THEN get Friendswood to change the deed restrictions.
No Details, No Plan
However, neither Haddad nor the other speakers provided specific details about the project. Several people commented that the speakers from SWCA and Civil Tech seemed unprofessional, unprepared, not responsive to questions.
Several posters scattered around the room made grandiose claims without any support. For instance, they claim:
Few Chances for Followup Questions
Upon questioning, Haddad confessed that it might take 30 years to reach property tax revenues of $135 million. That would translate to almost $5 billion in appraised value. That’s more than all the appraised value of all commercial properties in the entire Humble ISD including Deerbrook Mall! But then the meeting format didn’t allow for follow up questions.
Weasel Words
Regarding the “up to” in front of 70%: that includes a lot of territory starting with 1%.
That’s a pretty neat trick with the wetlands. Oops, they forgot to mention the wetlands will be preserved somewhere else.
Omissions, Insufficient Explanations, and Public Meetings for Dummies
I was very concerned about evacuation plans, so I asked. Guess what. There is none. “We’ll have people shelter in place.”
No evacuation plan? I guess someone forgot to consider heart attacks, sewers that back up in floods, and power outages that would leave people sweltering in their vertical footprints for days in August. No evacuation plan needed for high-rises in what soon will become the floodway of the San Jacinto! Seriously?
They also hoped to address traffic problems with a bridge and a Hamblen-Road extension that voters already rejected, thus showing a total lack of understanding of local history and values.
A Civil Tech employee couldn’t tell me where more than 150,000 cubic yards of fill was coming from or going to.
Mr. Haddad felt that his condos were no longer in the Kingwood Lakes Homeowner Association. (They are.)
Mr. Haddad claimed that they were no longer soliciting investments through EB-5 visas because the project had “outgrown” them. (However, they still operate an EB-5 regional center and website.)
Financing for a supposed $5 billion project was never addressed.
They invitation said they would talk about phasing and they didn’t.
Sizzle No Substitute for Substance
The posters seemed to revolve around buzzwords, such as conservation, preservation, sustainability, mobility, and resiliency. However, they used the same support points over and over again for each…without ever explaining how they supported the buzzwords.
For instance, they supported sustainability with “natural water systems, promoting alternative modes of transportation, vertical development and preserving forests.”
To mix it up a little bit, they promote resiliency with “natural water systems, preserving forests, a compact development footprint, and alternative modes of transportation.”
You get the idea. You’ve heard it all before. And that, I think, pretty much sums up the takeaway for most of the people that I talked to. “No substance. No specifics. No plan. No answers. No way.”
Not Buying It
During the Q&A at the end of the meeting, one of the questioners asked people in the audience who were still against the development to stand up. Almost everyone stood.
Now that was one message that was clear and unambiguous.
Reinforcing Worst-Nightmare Scenario
At one point, Mr. Haddad said, “We’ll start slowly, and if we see it’s uneconomic, we’ll do something else.” This confirmed the worst fears of many in the audience who saw the developers disturbing the environment and then abandoning the job half finished.
They never did address the vast majority of the questions I posted on Friday. Had they done so, they might have changed some minds. But by ignoring them, many people felt the developers had something to hide or that Kingwood people were easily bluffed.
Little wonder that Manlove chose not to have a public meeting while the Army Corps’ public comment period was still open.
As always, the thoughts herein represent my opinions on matters of public interest. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP laws of the great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on March 19, 2019
567 Days since Hurricane Harvey