Print
E-mail
Comment
Board postpones detention pond decision
By KOSAKU NARIOKA
The Deer Park Independent School District school board postponed consideration of the proposed interlocal agreement that would allow the city of Deer Park to deepen the storm water detention pond at the Deer Park High School south campus on West San Augustine.
The school board is expected to vote on the matter at the next scheduled meeting on Dec. 15. Trustee Lynn Kirkpatrick, who is also a city employee, abstained from the decision-making.
Before giving the permission to the city, the Deer Park ISD trustees need a plat of the pond after the expansion to use as a standard for future maintenance and a clarification from the city staff on the function of the lift station the city was going to install at the pond. It appeared from discussion that the plat would be incorporated into the contract as an exhibit once final dimensions become available. The proposed agreement the Deer Park City Council approved earlier this month didn’t indicate how deep the city is planning to deepen the pond.
Trustee Tom Knouse said detention ponds erode over the years unless they have concrete surface and that the specific measurements have to be in the contract as a reference of future maintenance.
“I’m just saying there ought to be a plat with specific measurements of this facility,” Knouse said.
Don Dean, deputy superintendent of administration for the district who discussed issues with the city staff to draft the agreement, said an engineering study is on-going and the city staff believe they can dig another 4 to 6 feet, but, “until we get in there and actually start excavating dirt out of that area, we don’t know exactly ... how deep the pond is going to be.”
The deputy superintendent added there is going to be more to this project than the initial interlocal agreement and that it is the district staffs who are going to approve the actual construction with specifications.
Although Dean said the lift station would pump water from low-lying areas into the pond so it drains by gravity into the city’s drainage system on West San Augustine, some trustees said the contract text says the lift station would pump water “out of the pond.”
About five months ago, the city staff presented a few options to the city council, including one to deepen the high school detention pond, to mitigate the risk of flooding along the West San Augustine and neighboring areas in response to concerns raised by area residents.
Nader Naderi, public works director for the city, said at the July 1 workshop, if they deepen the detention pond by 6 feet, it could hold another 203,000 cubic feet of water, or about 1.5 million gallons, in addition to the capacity of the existing 4 foot-deep pond with about 176,000 cubic feet of water or about 1.3 million gallons. He noted they might run into “wet sand” if they dig some parts of the pond 5-6 foot deep and also said they would have to install a pump station to pump water since water below the drainage pipe, which is presently located at the bottom of the pond, would stay in the pond. The public works director said the project would cost anywhere from $225,000-250,000, not including any engineering cost.
The city would cover any costs of construction, installation and maintenance associated with the project to deepen the detention pond and build a lift station whether or not specifically outlined in the agreement, the proposed but failed agreement read.
School board discussion (audio)
Proposed agreement
Part of the PowerPoint presentation from the city council workshop on July 1
The school board is expected to vote on the matter at the next scheduled meeting on Dec. 15. Trustee Lynn Kirkpatrick, who is also a city employee, abstained from the decision-making.
Before giving the permission to the city, the Deer Park ISD trustees need a plat of the pond after the expansion to use as a standard for future maintenance and a clarification from the city staff on the function of the lift station the city was going to install at the pond. It appeared from discussion that the plat would be incorporated into the contract as an exhibit once final dimensions become available. The proposed agreement the Deer Park City Council approved earlier this month didn’t indicate how deep the city is planning to deepen the pond.
Trustee Tom Knouse said detention ponds erode over the years unless they have concrete surface and that the specific measurements have to be in the contract as a reference of future maintenance.
“I’m just saying there ought to be a plat with specific measurements of this facility,” Knouse said.
Don Dean, deputy superintendent of administration for the district who discussed issues with the city staff to draft the agreement, said an engineering study is on-going and the city staff believe they can dig another 4 to 6 feet, but, “until we get in there and actually start excavating dirt out of that area, we don’t know exactly ... how deep the pond is going to be.”
The deputy superintendent added there is going to be more to this project than the initial interlocal agreement and that it is the district staffs who are going to approve the actual construction with specifications.
Although Dean said the lift station would pump water from low-lying areas into the pond so it drains by gravity into the city’s drainage system on West San Augustine, some trustees said the contract text says the lift station would pump water “out of the pond.”
About five months ago, the city staff presented a few options to the city council, including one to deepen the high school detention pond, to mitigate the risk of flooding along the West San Augustine and neighboring areas in response to concerns raised by area residents.
Nader Naderi, public works director for the city, said at the July 1 workshop, if they deepen the detention pond by 6 feet, it could hold another 203,000 cubic feet of water, or about 1.5 million gallons, in addition to the capacity of the existing 4 foot-deep pond with about 176,000 cubic feet of water or about 1.3 million gallons. He noted they might run into “wet sand” if they dig some parts of the pond 5-6 foot deep and also said they would have to install a pump station to pump water since water below the drainage pipe, which is presently located at the bottom of the pond, would stay in the pond. The public works director said the project would cost anywhere from $225,000-250,000, not including any engineering cost.
The city would cover any costs of construction, installation and maintenance associated with the project to deepen the detention pond and build a lift station whether or not specifically outlined in the agreement, the proposed but failed agreement read.
School board discussion (audio)
Proposed agreement
Part of the PowerPoint presentation from the city council workshop on July 1
Submit a Comment
|
You must be logged in to post a comment.
|
Not yet a registered member?
Click here to become one. Comments to stories and articles on the Web site are not edited or pre-approved before appearing online. Readers posting comments are solely responsible for those comments. Comments must be germane to the story to which they apply. Online comments that are libelous, profane or personally attack another site participant can be reported as abuse using the link provided on each comment. Comments reported as abusive will be reviewed and may be removed from view, as will off-topic comments. BE CIVIL. Individuals continually posting abusive comments to the site may have their registrations revoked. |
