Around noon today, I received news that the City of Houston Solid Waste Department had cleaned up two parking lots filled with trash on Marina Drive in Forest Cove. The lots were between three rows of townhomes opposite the Forest Cove Community Room and Pool. The cleanup is a huge boon to the Forest Cove community. It was the last area in this part of Houston to have trash removed from Harvey and was featured in a FEMA video.

The two lots in question contained – by far – the worst piles of debris.

Before Cleanup

After Clean Up

Here’s what the parking lots look like now – a huge improvement. Houston Police have said they are stepping up patrols in the area to help stop illegal dumping.

Still Work Yet to Do

The uncollected trash made the area a prime target for vandals, looters, graffiti, squatters and illegal dumping. Our thanks for work so far go out to City of H0uston Solid Waste Department, Council Member Dave Martin and his chief of staff Jessica Beemer for work to date.

A quick check of the area, however, shows that much trash remains. Hopefully, the cleanup will continue.

Long-Term Plans For This Area

Gary Bezemek, Harris County Precinct 4 Coordinator, says that the County is in the process of buying out these townhomes. When buyouts are complete, the County will tear them down tear out the parking lots, and even tear out the streets. It’s not clear yet whether the county intends to let the land revert to nature or turn it into part of their new Edgewater Park which begins at Hamblen and U.S. 59.

Bezemek says that another option is to build soccer and baseball fields on the land if the community desires them. “The beauty of such facilities for land in the floodway like this is that when the floodwaters go down, there’s very little cleanup to do.”

Posted by Bob Rehak on October 31, 2018

428 Days since Hurricane Harvey