Southeast Victoria residents dealing with flooding
Lola Hedricks winces as she thinks about having to remodel her home again, after rising water flooded her home a second time, since May. Her home on Linda Street had new carpet and tile installed, bathrooms remodeled and new kitchen cabinets, all of which have to be replaced once again.
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Did you know?Public Works Director Lynn Short said it could cost between $6 million and $7 million to fix a flooding problem in a southeast Victoria neighborhood.
Lola Hedrick is as mad as a wet hen right now.
Her house at 3309 Linda Drive in Victoria has been flooded twice this year, causing a total of $50,000 in damage.
"Honey, I don't know what I'm going to do," she said. "It's terrible. It ruined everything we had."
Just when she got the $30,000 in damage from the May flood repaired, the house flooded again in August and caused another $20,000 in damage.
Hedrick said had she not had flood insurance, she'd probably have to give the house away.
Council Member Gabriel Soliz, whose district includes that area, said her complaint about flooding is not the only one he's received. He said the flooding has encompassed an area east of Lova Drive on Swan, Gayle and Linda drives.
He called a town hall meeting of residents in the area to gather information about the problem. He said residents told him the problem started about three years ago and has been getting worse.
Soliz said three years ago is about the time the streets there were resurfaced and when the city built the Swan Crossing subdivision.
Flooding is one thing, Soliz said. But he added that the floodwaters become polluted by household trash from garbage containers that tip over and by raw sewage.
"To me, it became a health issue when you had trash floating away," he said.
Soliz said he and representatives of the residents met with city staff after the town hall meeting in search of the cause of the problem and a solution. "Now that we're aware of this, we can't just walk away from it."
Public Works Director Lynn Short blamed the problem on the torrential rains Victoria has had this year.
"It's the heavy, heavy rains that far exceed the design of the storm sewers there," he said. "I think that's the bulk of the problem."
Short said there is a low spot in that area east of Lova where the flooding has occurred. When the storm sewer exceeds capacity during heavy rains, the overflow naturally goes to the low spot, he said.
He said when the subdivision was built, the storm sewer standards were not as stringent as they are today. He also said the required elevation for houses above the street was lower then.
Raw sewage in the floodwater is not unusual in situations like that, coming from both public and private sewer lines, he said.
The city's system could have cracks or holes that allow the sewage to leak out. But he said private sewer lines could also be a problem if people have gutter drains tied into them or if the clean-outs are missing caps.
Short said the staff will discuss the problem with the city council Tuesday when the council reviews a list of possible capital improvements. He said a fix for the flooding won't be cheap.
"If you increase the storm sewer there substantially, you probably need to increase the capacity of the Jim Branch Outfall, which is where that drains to," he said. "If you do all that work, you're probably talking somewhere between $6 million and $7 million."
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Holein1 ...
Laurent St is not completed. Downtown Main St. sewer/water & paving is not completed. Sam Houston project has not even begun. This tax has been collected for fourteen (14) years! The only (completed) major street renovation I can think of is Lone Tree Rd.
Some of the money from this tax was used to purchase water rights, which I think was a wise use. However there are many, many items that these tax dollars are spent on that I would consider, pure 'fluff' ... especially when we are still driving down horrible streets and people are still getting flooded out of their homes.
Obviously, there is only so much money to spend, (this tax alone currently produced 1/2 million a month, in round numbers). When the money is spent, it is spent. The campaign to pass this tax said ... 'the money was going to be used to fix the streets, to fix the drainage, to improve the deteriorating infrastructure of the city'. It is strictly a matter of priority. The priority for the money generated by this tax should be:
* Fix the terrible streets in this town
* Fix the leaking water & sewer lines under the streets
* Fix the drainage
All, as promised, during the campaign to pass this tax.
The S.T.D.Corp thinks this money is "discretionary." They, think that they, have their, position so they, can determine how this money is used. I say that is baloney (harshest term I can use in this forum)! The people voted to tax themselves so they could have decent streets in this town. The only decision the S.T.D.Corp has to make is which street to fix first.
If we are going to have a 1/2% "slush fund" tax, then let's repeal the tax we have now, and have another election. We'll see how many people vote in favor.
October 2, 2010 at 10:22 a.m.i guess the laurent project, downtown infrastructure projects, future sam houston project, main street repaving project, etc. doesn't count.
when you have record amounts of rain fall, then you can reasonably expect some high water in some areas. especially if those areas are already low lying in the flood plain.
October 2, 2010 at 9:21 a.m.Amen, its about time people started remembering why the late Wayne Watkins initiated this 1/2 cent tax. I agree with all of the comments regarding this town's elected, so called, politicians.
October 2, 2010 at 8:49 a.m.HookEm1
"This money is used for hike & bike trails (that are closed), skate parks, soft ball fields, overpasses, and all the other 'currently fashionable' causes of the day. These items are NOT what the campaign to pass this tax promised."
I wonder if any of these monies was used top pay for criminal defense lawyers hired by certain city officals and employees
October 2, 2010 at 7:13 a.m.I apologize for the spelling in my previous post. I get so steamed up about this issue, that I don't take my time and proof read.
Victoria already has the mechanism in place to remedy situations like this. The citizens actually voted to increase their own taxes to fix the streets and the drainage and the water problems. Yet the politicians will not do what the citizens want. They think they know best what the city needs and the people that live here don't matter. It is extremely frustrating to me.
Maybe the problem is that nobody gets their picture in the paper when a new sewer goes in, or a new drainage pipe is installed or a street is repaired.
Is it possible to repeal this tax? We are all paying it with every single purchase we make inside the city limits. If the politicians are not going to use the money to repair the city, as promised ... let's just give it back to the citizens. We could all use the money to buy new shock absorbers and to buy flood insurance.
October 2, 2010 at 6:53 a.m.If you live within or near the 100 year flood plain, as I do, then you can expect to be flooded sooner or later. Get flood insurance and live with it or move.
October 2, 2010 at 5:35 a.m.It is as simple as that. Sorry some people are being flooded and lost most of their stuff. But when you live in a low area, that is to be expected. (flooding)
Yes, Southerngal, it is sad.
In 1995 the citizens voted a 1/2% sales tax increase on themselves to fix drainage, deteriorating streets and other infrastructure problems. This tax has been collected for 14 years, and still we see stories like this ... and still we bounce along our rutted streets.
This money is used for hike & bike trails (that are closed), skate parks, soft ball fields, overpasses, and all the other 'currently fashionable' causes of the day. These items are NOT what the campaign to pass this tax promised.
Mr. Soliz is a member of the Sales Tax Development Corp. This group dicides how to spend the money that this tax brings in. If he is concerned, he has a better opportunity to do something than most.
Use the money as intended. Use the money as promised. It may not be glamorous to the current politicians, but the people voted to tax themselves to fix these problems. Now, just do it!
October 2, 2010 at 5:16 a.m.How sad, no one should have to go through this.
October 1, 2010 at 11:54 p.m.