Tag Archive for: detention pond

Perry Homes Fails to Meet Own First Deadline For Additional Woodridge Village Detention

At the Kingwood Town Hall meeting on October 17th, 2019, Mayor Sylvester Turner read a letter from lawyer J. Carey Gray who represents Perry Homes and its subsidiaries against hundreds of flooded Elm Grove homeowners. The letter laid out a timetable – extending more than 2 years into the future – for completion of the detention ponds on the troubled Woodridge Village subdivision. The first step: finish the S2 pond, which was already substantially complete. Perry Homes gave itself 30-45 days for that task. As nonsensical as that sounded on October 17, they managed to miss the deadline … by not showing up … until after the deadline. 

Deadline Expired Yesterday With No Improvements to Pond

Yesterday marked 45 days since Lawyer Gray delivered his letter to the Houston City Attorney. Since then crews have worked several days on adding a concrete lining to a small portion of Taylor Gully. They also replaced some eroded dirt along the northern edge of S2. Still incomplete, however are: 

  • Excavation of the remaining dirt
  • Grass to stabilize the soil on the banks
  • A perimeter road required by the Montgomery County Drainage Criteria Manual
  • Lining for a severely eroded spillway between Taylor Gully and S2
  • Drainage of the detention pond
  • Backslope interceptor swales

Photos Demonstrate Lack of Progress

Here’s how the pond looked in September, two days after Imelda.

Status of S2 Pond on September 21, 2019, two days after Imelda
Status of S2 Pond on November 4, 2019, two and a half weeks after J. Carey Gray’s letter to City Attorney.

Here’s what it looks like today, 46 days after J. Carey Gray’s letter to the City Attorney. They had made some progress on lining the Taylor Gully channel behind the pond. But as far as the pond itself went, there was a lone excavator moving dirt that had eroded into the pond back up on the banks. That’s because they failed to establish grass there.

One day after the deadline for completing the S2 detention pond, Perry Homes had a lone excavator pushing eroded dirt back up onto the banks. Photo taken 12/3/2019.
Photo taken 12/3/2019. Hardly a bustling construction site with contractors racing to meet deadlines.

Only 735 more days before all the detention ponds are complete … assuming they can meet any of their own deadlines.

Questions Raised by Lack of Performance

The failure to meet this first deadline raises questions:

  • Is Perry Homes sincere? Can they ever be trusted for anything ever again?
  • Has Perry Homes lost its ability to deliver? Is the company financially crippled beyond repair?
  • Did Sylvester Turner extract terms from Perry Homes designed to get him through the general election?
  • Or did Perry Homes play Sylvester Turner to torpedo his chances in a runoff election?
  • Did Kathy Perry Britton, CEO of Perry Homes, think no one would remember?
  • Is Perry Homes holding the threat of future flooding over Elm Grove residents to force a settlement of their lawsuits?

If it’s the latter and there’s another flood – with this record of foot dragging – they’ve nuked themselves. It’s a Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School case study that will go down in the Annals of Corporate Stupidity. 

What can explain this level of ineptitude?

This has to be a huge embarrassment for the City of Houston and Montgomery County. It’s also a PR debacle for Sylvester Turner … in the middle of a hotly contested runoff election. Turner can’t do anything about that now except to tell the City Attorney to sharpen his spurs.

But if I were MoCo, I would claim Perry Homes’ performance bond and finish the work myself. 

Posted by Bob Rehak on 12/3/2019

826 Days after Hurricane Harvey and 75 since Imelda

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

MoCo Commissioners Leave Loophole Open that Lets Developers Avoid Detention Pond Requirements

Three weeks ago, I posted about a loophole in Montgomery County regulations that lets developers substitute a flood routing study for detention pond requirements. Basically, if developers can show, using outdated and inaccurate information that runoff from their properties can “beat the peak” of a flood, they can avoid detention pond requirements. Fourteen developments currently underway in Montgomery County have used this loophole, according to Montgomery County Engineer Jeff Johnson.

Northpark Woods development in flood plain in Montgomery County

Yesterday, commissioners voted to leave the loophole open…at least until they receive the results of two studies…which have little to do with the loophole.

Here’s a link to a video of the discussion. Click on item 21.

Community Impact Flips Meaning of Testimony

For those short on time, Community Impact summarized the meeting. However, please note, the author of the story misquoted Kingwood resident Jeff Miller. The misquote made it appear as though he spoke AGAINST closing the loophole when he spoke FOR.

Specifically, the article quotes him as saying, “I’ve come to the conclusion lack of retention REDUCES flooding.” He actually said, if you refer to the video, that, “…lack of retention CONTRIBUTES to flooding.” See 5:40 into the video. That one misquote changes the impression you would get of the meeting if you watched the entire video.

She also quotes an engineer as speaking against the loophole when he was actually noncommittal.

Commissioner Claims No Flooding Problem in MoCo

If you watch the entire video, you will see that one commissioner claims Montgomery County doesn’t have a flooding problem.

Toward the end of the 35-minute discussion, the talk turned to where the idea to close the loophole came from. Someone mentions Harris County. At that point, the discussion turned openly hostile.

The Judge and several commissioners felt that Harris County and the City of Houston could have solved their own problems had they added more gates to the Lake Houston Dam and started dredging after the 1994 flood.

One even blamed the lack of action downstream backed water up into Montgomery County.

New Studies Likely Won’t Affect Loophole

Both the County Engineer and the Montgomery County Flood Plain Administrator, Diane Cooper, pointed out that waiting on the results of the two studies would not likely alter the recommendation to close the loophole. For one thing, storm patterns, not just drainage characteristics, affect when peak flows hit an area. Drainage studies do not predict storms.

Commissioners Vote to Wait on Studies

In the end, the commissioners decided to wait for the results of the studies and leave the loophole open. The prevailing sentiment: that closing it now could affect investments in new developments.

Sometimes postponing a decision is a way of affirming the status quo. This was one of those times. I wouldn’t expect any action on closing this loophole for a long time. Maybe until spit freezes in August.

At a minimum, the San Jacinto River Basin Study will take another year. By then, this item will be long forgotten and MoCo developers will be counting their change.

Posted by Bob Rehak on August 28, 2019

729 Days since Hurricane Harvey

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

Critical Woodridge S2 Detention Pond Approaching Final Dimensions

When Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest flooded on May 7, the Woodridge Village contractor had cleared most of the 268 acres of land north and west of them. The contractor also had sloped the drainage toward those subdivisions without first installing a critical 50 acre-foot detention pond to intercept runoff. Tonight after months of delays, and the flooding of almost 200 homes, work on that pond is almost complete.

S2 Pond Finally Connected to Drainage Ditch Today

Regular readers may remember plans call for a 15-foot deep detention pond shaped somewhat like a hockey stick (see below). The area circled in red is the channel that will connect the pond to the drainage ditch that runs down the east side of the property. Today, some workers excavated that channel while others deepened the pond.

Circled in red: the channel excavated today that will connect the drainage ditch with the detention pond.

Not Much Excavated on May 9

Back on May 9, about a month ago, very little of the pond was excavated when local videographer, Jim Zura, captured this image from his drone. Only a small ditch connected a pond north of Sherwood Trails to the box culvert seen below. The white outline indicates how much of the pond had yet to be excavated.

Almost nothing had been excavated shortly after the May 7 flood. White outline shows the approximate intended dimension of the pond.

Despite the heavy rains in early May and early June, the contractor now has most of the pond excavated. See the video that Jeff Miller shot this afternoon.

Click here to see Jeff Miller Video of S2 as of 6.14.19

Since the flood, the pond has been widened and deepened. Rebel Contractors is now approaching the pond’s final dimensions and target depth of 15 feet, according to Miller. However, Miller was even more excited about the excavation of the channel connecting the drainage ditch running down the east side of the property to the detention pond. “I’ll be able to sleep with both eyes closed tonight,” he said.

In the future, when runoff drains from the northern part of the property to the southern, it will overflow from the ditch into the pond, rather than into neighbors’ houses.

Recent Excavation Despite Heavy Rains Last Week

The next two shots show what the connecting channel looks like from the ground.

Previously, water in the ditch had to funnel down into the 3′ black culvert (bottom left). This caused the ditch to overflow into surrounding neighborhoods when the ditch got full.
Now, however, this channel connects ditch (foreground) and pond (upper left). It will allow runoff to overflow into pond instead of neighbors’ homes.

Bill King Visits Elm Grove Again, Meets Texas Monthly Writer

But that wasn’t the only good news, today. Houston mayoral candidate Bill King visited Elm Grove for the third time in a month and toured the area with Mark Dent, who is covering the story for Texas Monthly.

Bill King (left) and Mark Dent talk about flood mitigation strategies with Taylor Gulley in the background.

King emphasized several needs to Dent. They included:

  • Greater clarity and accuracy of flood maps, so that people can realistically assess their flood risk
  • Safer construction practices that better protect downstream residents
  • Preservation of natural wetlands, buffers and drainage features like those that previously existed on the Woodridge site, and that had protected Elm Grove since it was built.

King emphasized that preserving such natural areas and the wetlands on them can provide both recreation and protection against flooding. Finally, he advocated using buyouts to build more and bigger detention ponds, and also to create more green space.

It’s good to know that King is taking Kingwood issues seriously. He’s making them a centerpiece of his campaign and using them to shine a spotlight on development practices that need improvement in my opinion.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 6/14/2019 with help from Jeff Miller

654 Days since Hurricane Harvey, 5 weeks since the Elm Grove Flood, and 4 Months Until the Election

Thoughts expressed in this post represent my opinions on matters of public interest and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the great State of Texas.

Better Late Than Never: Large Detention Pond Taking Shape North of Area that Flooded

Elm Grove resident Jeff Miller reported tonight that Rebel Contractors was busy widening and deepening a crucial detention pond near homes that flooded in Elm Grove and North Kingwood Forest. According to Miller, “The pond is starting to assume its final shape with the sloping of the edges.”

Here’s the plan for the pond.

S2 (the second detention pond in the south section of Woodridge Village.

May 8

For comparison, the “pond” looked like this after the storm on May 7…non-existent. For comparison purposes, consider this the BEFORE SHOT.

Photo taken shortly after the flood on May 7 shows the area where S2 detention pond should be had not yet been excavated. Nor was silt fence in place.

May 30

Here’s what it looked like on the afternoon of 5/30/19. This Woodridge Village detention pond should ultimately hold about 50 acre feet of runoff. Had it been excavated before the May 7th rains, many homes might not have flooded. It could have reduced the height of the flood by one whole foot across a 50-acre area.

Photo of S2 taken by Jeff Miller on 5/30/19

Said Miller, “Better late than never.” The video below lets you get a better look at the expansiveness of the pond.

Video by Elm Grove resident Jeff Miller showing S2 pond in Woodridge Village taking shape.

Dirt from this pond and others will build up the rest of the subdivision.

Posted by Bob Rehak on May 30, 2019, with photos and reporting from Jeff Miller

639 Days since Hurricane Harvey