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Patrick Bayou detention basin project making progress, slowly
By KOSAKU NARIOKA
The property acquisition efforts to construct a detention basin in the Patrick Bayou watershed are making less progress than previously projected. The acquisition of 42.7 acre tract south of Texas State Highway 225, a joint project between the city and Harris County Flood Control District, would initiate the Patrick Bayou detention basin project to mitigate the threat of flooding within the city.
The city and the flood control district both agreed to contribute a maximum of $1.5 million each for the acquisition process.
City Manager Ronald V. Crabtree said at the Nov. 4 workshop that it appears that the appraisal process would be completed by mid-December and that the city and the flood control district could start discussion as to how to proceed with an acquisition offer to the property owners sometime late December to January.
“This is a little bit longer period of time than we had hoped for,” the city manager said.
The city has already paid the $1.5 million for the project to the county, he said.
The city manager said the property owners would not allow the engineers to access the property to conduct an environmental assessment by boring 10-15 foot-depth holes to sample soil, which is part of the preliminary work of the acquisition.
Asked by councilman Bill Patterson what the repercussion would be if they don’t do the environmental assessment, the city manager said Mike Talbot, director of HCFCD, told him there is “not a great deal of concern.”
“Apparently sometime back in the history of the utilization of adjacent sites, there has been possibly some material on the site that would be a concern, and it may be the case that some of that could have migrated onto the property that we are attempting to purchase,” Crabtree said. “Having said all that, there is not a great deal of concern if that's the case.”
He said, yet, the flood control district conducts the assessment if it’s possible so that they are not going to end up being responsible for mitigating or for removing the contaminated soil.
The city manager said the initial plan was to wait for the results of the environmental assessment to complete the appraisal, but they will now proceed, “assuming there is no negative result” from the assessment on the property.
The city has been offering the county to conduct engineering work of the detention basin project and hopefully it will hear the answer from the county later this month, he said.
The city and the flood control district both agreed to contribute a maximum of $1.5 million each for the acquisition process.
City Manager Ronald V. Crabtree said at the Nov. 4 workshop that it appears that the appraisal process would be completed by mid-December and that the city and the flood control district could start discussion as to how to proceed with an acquisition offer to the property owners sometime late December to January.
“This is a little bit longer period of time than we had hoped for,” the city manager said.
The city has already paid the $1.5 million for the project to the county, he said.
The city manager said the property owners would not allow the engineers to access the property to conduct an environmental assessment by boring 10-15 foot-depth holes to sample soil, which is part of the preliminary work of the acquisition.
Asked by councilman Bill Patterson what the repercussion would be if they don’t do the environmental assessment, the city manager said Mike Talbot, director of HCFCD, told him there is “not a great deal of concern.”
“Apparently sometime back in the history of the utilization of adjacent sites, there has been possibly some material on the site that would be a concern, and it may be the case that some of that could have migrated onto the property that we are attempting to purchase,” Crabtree said. “Having said all that, there is not a great deal of concern if that's the case.”
He said, yet, the flood control district conducts the assessment if it’s possible so that they are not going to end up being responsible for mitigating or for removing the contaminated soil.
The city manager said the initial plan was to wait for the results of the environmental assessment to complete the appraisal, but they will now proceed, “assuming there is no negative result” from the assessment on the property.
The city has been offering the county to conduct engineering work of the detention basin project and hopefully it will hear the answer from the county later this month, he said.
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