Announcements Expected at October 9 Town Hall on Additional Dredging, Detention and Floodgates
Houston City Council Member Dave Martin will host a town hall meeting, Tuesday, October 9 at 6:30 p.m., at the Kingwood Community Center, 4102 Rustic Woods, Kingwood, TX 77345. At this meeting, announcement is expected on whether FEMA and the Army Corps will include the mouth bar in the current West Fork dredging project.
The community is invited to attend and hear from city and community representatives about this and a variety of other ongoing projects related to the Kingwood and Lake Houston areas of District E.
Flood Mitigation Update from Costello and Odum
Residents will hear from Stephen Costello, City of Houston Chief Resiliency Officer and Marvin Odum, Chief Recovery Officer, on the progress made to rebuild the City post-Harvey. A spokesperson for Council Member Martin’s office stated that Costello intends to address issues crucial to the Lake Houston area, including additional dredging, upstream detention and floodgates. As part of his discussion, the spokesperson said that Costello will update the community on the status of removal of mouth bar.
The “Mouth Bar,” a giant sand bar that blocks the West Fork of the San Jacinto, backing the river up into Kingwood and Humble. The mouth bar is within the scope of the current Army Corps dredging project, but officials have been trying to get FEMA and the Corps to include it. Water depth is generally 1-3 feet around this bar. Max channel depth in places is just 5 feet.
Experts believe that this giant sand bar at the mouth of Lake Houston is creating a backwater effect that contributes to flooding in the highly populated Humble/Kingwood/West Fork corridor. The bar grew exponentially during Harvey, but is not within scope of the current U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Emergency West Fork Dredging Project.
If an expansion of scope or follow-on project cannot be arranged before contractors for the current project leave the river, taxpayers’ $17 million investment in mobilization would be lost. Any future projects would need to re-incur those costs all over again, adding to the total cost of dredging.
Martin has had a series of meetings recently with Governor Abbott, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, FEMA, Senator Cruz, Senator Cornyn and Congressman Poe. However, everyone is tight-lipped about the progress of negotiations. It’s still not clear whether the bar will be removed, and if so, who would remove it, or how it would be paid for.
Turner to Address Ballot Referendums on November 6
This fall’s town hall meeting will also include a presentation from Mayor Sylvester Turner who will speak on the Rebuild Houston and fire salary referendums that will appear on the November 6 ballot. All registered voters within the boundaries of the City are urged to attend.
Other Speakers
Stan Sarman, the Chair of the TIRZ 10 board will provide information on a variety of projects including the Northpark Drive Mobility Improvement Project, and the status of area intersection improvements. There will be an update on the Lake Houston Debris Removal Project provided by a member of the City of Houston Solid Waste Department Team. State Representative Dan Huberty is confirmed to provide insight on the upcoming legislative session.
Doors Open at 5:30 for Info Tables on Other Projects
For those who arrive early, there will be information tables available starting at 5:30 p.m. staffed by:
- Harris County Precinct 4 to discuss their upcoming projects in Forest Cove
- Texas Department of Transportation to educate residents on the expansion of TX Loop 494
- Houston Parks Board to provide information on the upcoming San Jacinto Greenway Project
- Houston Department of Neighborhoods
- Houston Police Department’s Kingwood Division
For More Information
Please contact Council Member Martin’s office at (832) 393-3008 or via email at districte@houstontx.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on October 6, 2018
403 Days since Hurricane Harvey