Leah Manlove Howard of John Manlove Marketing and Communications and Michelle Hundley of Stratus Consulting gave a 14-minute presentation on the Romerica high-rise project today to members of the Lake Houston Chamber. For those who attended Romerica’s 2-hour public meeting at the Kingwood Community Center in March, there wasn’t much new. However, the spokespeople did discuss project phasing this time.
The three areas labeled “project area” would be developed from top to bottom. See below.
Phases of Development: North to South
Ms. Howard indicated that there would be three phases of development – in this order.
Northern section containing condos
Middle section containing retail
Southern section containing high-rise commercial development, condos, hotel, and marina.
Responding to Public Comments is Next Step
Developing all three areas could take years. Regarding immediate next steps, Ms. Howard said the developer’s team expects to receive public comments by Friday, April 5. They must be answered and returned by April 27. She predicted the Corps will hold a public hearing approximately four months after that. Ms. Hundley said that it could be two years before a permit could be issued. She also said it might be ten years before development started.
Emphasizing Importance of “Fixing River”
Throughout the meeting, Ms. Howard reiterated Gabriel Haddad’s main themes from the community center meeting in March:
Conceptual thinking on the project began years before Harvey
Concerns raised by community members and planning for an event like Harvey would ultimately improve the project
Any development remains contingent on making the river and lake navigable again, because the centerpiece of the project is a resort marina/hotel.
The tax revenue generated by the project could help fund long-term maintenance dredging of the river that keeps it navigable.
Meeting in Austin Next Week
The Romerica team will meet legislators in Austin next week to discuss funding for “fixing” the lake and river. They will be meeting with “leaders that can make something happen.” Later when asked to clarify who they would meet, Ms Howard elaborated. According to Bill Fowler, one of the leaders of the Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative, she said “Huberty, Creighton, and committee heads in charge of appropriations.”
Core Questions Not Really Addressed
Ms. Howard began her presentation by saying Romerica’s condos would be “different.” By that, she meant “built on stilts”. After the presentation, I asked her where all the fill was going if everything would be built on stilts. Like the CivilTech engineer at the earlier meeting, she did not provide an answer. Neither did she answer Bill Fowler’s question about the previous experience of the developers.
Both Fowler and I then requested a small meeting with the developers and their team of experts to discuss answers to such questions. They include:
How developers intend to get around deed restrictions
How they hope to evacuate thousands of people living in the floodway during floods.
To her credit, Ms. Howard at least acknowledged that Romerica needed to answer the last question. However, she didn’t have a firm plan yet. She said they still hope Hamblen Road can be connected with Woodland Hills and implied that could help with evacuation efforts. However, she did not address raising Hamblen or how that could affect flooding of nearby properties. No meeting has been set at this point to discuss any of these issues.
For several weeks, I have been posting about why Senate Bill 7 (SB7) deserves our support. I focused mainly on the flood mitigation dollars it would provide and how it could accelerate projects that actually reduce flood risk.
Senator Creighton’s office provided this link to an interview that Austin television station KXAN did with him. It focuses heavily on another aspect of the bill: the development of a statewide flood plan.
The House is currently considering a bill that would do some of the same things: HB13. The Natural Resources Committee reported favorably on it, but the Calendars Committee has not yet scheduled it for debate in the House.
The low numbers on both of these bills indicate that they are high priorities within their respective chambers. I suspect at some point in the near future a conference committee will try to reconcile the best aspects of both bills.
In the meantime, Senator Creighton’s bill is out of the gate faster and farther down the road. It deserves all the support we can give it.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/4/2019
583 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Creighton.jpg?fit=1500%2C1201&ssl=112011500adminadmin2019-04-03 21:23:492019-04-03 21:24:29Statewide Flood Plan: Another Reason to Support Creighton’s SB7
Since last September, the Army Corps of Engineers has had two contractors, each with approximately 30 people, working 24/7 on the the West Fork of the San Jacinto.
Moving 1.9 Million Cubic Yards of Earth
Together, they’re removing approximately 1.9 million cubic yards of sediment left behind by Hurricane Harvey that is blocking the conveyance of the river. It’s hard to move that much sand and silt without getting your hands dirty, as these pictures by the Army Corps clearly demonstrate.
One crew started at River Grove and is working downstream toward the mid-point of a 2.1 mile stretch of the West Fork. The other started at the mid-point and is working downstream toward where Ben’s Branch enters the river, just past Kings Harbor.
The Corps uses approximately 10 miles of 22- and 24-inch pipeline weighing more than 5 million pounds to pump sediment from the river back upstream to two placement areas. One is south of Kingwood College off Sorters Road, shown below. The other is off Townsend in Humble.The pipe floating in the foreground is rubber and designed to float. This gives the dredge room to maneuver. The pipe in the background with the orange flotation collars is rubber and bends a little. The steel pipe above does not bend.Farm Boy is helping to anchor the dredge while a service boat transfers crew.Looking toward the rear of the dredge. The blue part is the pump. The red containers in the background house electric motors. Cables tie the dredge to a CenterPoint substation in Forest Cove. Before dredging, this giant dune almost completely blocked the West Fork about a half mile downstream from River Grove Park. The Great Lakes Dredge and Dock crew is still working to remove it. While it looks like all sand from the air, beneath the surface, crews are encountering dead trees and roots that get caught in cutter baskets on the dredge. (Photo by Bob Rehak)When that happens, productivity slows and crews must manually pick the material from the chisels on the dredge.Note the pile of roots and sticks growing the men.Here you get a better idea of how the roots and vines can clog the intakes on the cutter head. Dredging needs to stop many times each day to remove this material.The “chisels” on the cutter head break up sand which the “cutter basket” then sweeps up. Pumps inside the steel cage suck the sand into the pipe and pump it back upstream to placement areas. Once the dredge starts pumping again, the flow must be calibrated with three booster pumps attached to each line. At least one crew member mans each booster pump to coordinate with the others. They must avoid over- or under-pressure situations. This shows a close up of one of the three booster pumps used by Great Lakes, the Army Corps’ lead contractor on the job. Callan Marine is a subcontractor to Great Lakes and also has three booster pumps.This shot gives you an idea of how massive these pipelines are……and how much sediment they can pump per minute. There’s enough sediment moving here to fill up a dump truck in less than a minute.The Eagle Sorters Mine is dredging this pit even as Army Corp contractors fill it up. Sand and silt recovered from the river may wind up in roadbeds or be used for mortar in the construction trades.
1.4 Million Cubic Yards Recovered to Date
Corps Engineers said that since Sept. 20, 2018, approximately 1.4 million cubic yards of Hurricane Harvey silt and debris have been pumped into the two placement areas. Ultimately, they expect to pump approximately 1.8 -1.9 million cubic yards to meet FEMA requirements, restore the river to pre-Harvey conditions, and to reduce flood risks.
Safety Warning
These images illustrate why boaters should stay away from the West Fork for now. It’s not safe. The FEMA funded emergency flood action should complete in early May, 2019.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/3/2019 with images courtesy of the Army Corps of Engineers
582 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ECU-Burly-Guy.jpg?fit=1500%2C2250&ssl=122501500adminadmin2019-04-03 16:30:352019-04-03 18:02:48A Dirty Job, But Someone Has To Do It: Life of a Dredger on the West Fork
Romerica Spokespeople Address High-Rise Project Phasing at Lake-Houston-Area-Chamber BizCom Event
Leah Manlove Howard of John Manlove Marketing and Communications and Michelle Hundley of Stratus Consulting gave a 14-minute presentation on the Romerica high-rise project today to members of the Lake Houston Chamber. For those who attended Romerica’s 2-hour public meeting at the Kingwood Community Center in March, there wasn’t much new. However, the spokespeople did discuss project phasing this time.
Phases of Development: North to South
Ms. Howard indicated that there would be three phases of development – in this order.
Responding to Public Comments is Next Step
Developing all three areas could take years. Regarding immediate next steps, Ms. Howard said the developer’s team expects to receive public comments by Friday, April 5. They must be answered and returned by April 27. She predicted the Corps will hold a public hearing approximately four months after that. Ms. Hundley said that it could be two years before a permit could be issued. She also said it might be ten years before development started.
Emphasizing Importance of “Fixing River”
Throughout the meeting, Ms. Howard reiterated Gabriel Haddad’s main themes from the community center meeting in March:
Meeting in Austin Next Week
The Romerica team will meet legislators in Austin next week to discuss funding for “fixing” the lake and river. They will be meeting with “leaders that can make something happen.” Later when asked to clarify who they would meet, Ms Howard elaborated. According to Bill Fowler, one of the leaders of the Lake Houston Area Grass Roots Flood Prevention Initiative, she said “Huberty, Creighton, and committee heads in charge of appropriations.”
Core Questions Not Really Addressed
Ms. Howard began her presentation by saying Romerica’s condos would be “different.” By that, she meant “built on stilts”. After the presentation, I asked her where all the fill was going if everything would be built on stilts. Like the CivilTech engineer at the earlier meeting, she did not provide an answer. Neither did she answer Bill Fowler’s question about the previous experience of the developers.
Both Fowler and I then requested a small meeting with the developers and their team of experts to discuss answers to such questions. They include:
To her credit, Ms. Howard at least acknowledged that Romerica needed to answer the last question. However, she didn’t have a firm plan yet. She said they still hope Hamblen Road can be connected with Woodland Hills and implied that could help with evacuation efforts. However, she did not address raising Hamblen or how that could affect flooding of nearby properties. No meeting has been set at this point to discuss any of these issues.
Posted by Bob Rehak on April 4, 2019
583 Days after Hurricane Harvey
Statewide Flood Plan: Another Reason to Support Creighton’s SB7
For several weeks, I have been posting about why Senate Bill 7 (SB7) deserves our support. I focused mainly on the flood mitigation dollars it would provide and how it could accelerate projects that actually reduce flood risk.
Senator Creighton’s office provided this link to an interview that Austin television station KXAN did with him. It focuses heavily on another aspect of the bill: the development of a statewide flood plan.
SB7 passed the Senate unanimously and was referred to the House Natural Resources Committee on March 28.
The House is currently considering a bill that would do some of the same things: HB13. The Natural Resources Committee reported favorably on it, but the Calendars Committee has not yet scheduled it for debate in the House.
The low numbers on both of these bills indicate that they are high priorities within their respective chambers. I suspect at some point in the near future a conference committee will try to reconcile the best aspects of both bills.
In the meantime, Senator Creighton’s bill is out of the gate faster and farther down the road. It deserves all the support we can give it.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/4/2019
583 Days since Hurricane Harvey
A Dirty Job, But Someone Has To Do It: Life of a Dredger on the West Fork
Since last September, the Army Corps of Engineers has had two contractors, each with approximately 30 people, working 24/7 on the the West Fork of the San Jacinto.
Moving 1.9 Million Cubic Yards of Earth
Together, they’re removing approximately 1.9 million cubic yards of sediment left behind by Hurricane Harvey that is blocking the conveyance of the river. It’s hard to move that much sand and silt without getting your hands dirty, as these pictures by the Army Corps clearly demonstrate.
One crew started at River Grove and is working downstream toward the mid-point of a 2.1 mile stretch of the West Fork. The other started at the mid-point and is working downstream toward where Ben’s Branch enters the river, just past Kings Harbor.
1.4 Million Cubic Yards Recovered to Date
Corps Engineers said that since Sept. 20, 2018, approximately 1.4 million cubic yards of Hurricane Harvey silt and debris have been pumped into the two placement areas. Ultimately, they expect to pump approximately 1.8 -1.9 million cubic yards to meet FEMA requirements, restore the river to pre-Harvey conditions, and to reduce flood risks.
Safety Warning
These images illustrate why boaters should stay away from the West Fork for now. It’s not safe. The FEMA funded emergency flood action should complete in early May, 2019.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 4/3/2019 with images courtesy of the Army Corps of Engineers
582 Days since Hurricane Harvey