Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine October 2018

Steve Paterson President & CEO League City Regional Chamber Water, Water Everywhere The recent onslaught of tropical downpours in the month of September has brought back memories of last year, especially those hard-hit communities like Bay Ridge. All the ponds are full. The ground is saturated throughout League City. Bay Ridge and other residents have voiced their concerns at city council meetings this month. They are asking for assistance as Gum Bayou rose and minimal flooding in the low areas appeared. Fears arose that the temporary pump would not be able to keep up with the constant rains. Several major rain events in the past three years have demonstrated a fundamental shift in rain patterns for our area. The city has undertaken several drainage studies on the most effected subdivisions to find out what needs to be done to mitigate flooding and what the cost will be. So far, the costs associated with the corrections needed is moving north of eighty-million dollars. As aptly pointed out in the Galveston County Daily News Sunday edition on September 23rd, none of the mainland cities can afford to fix the problem individually. So, what is the solution? The County of Galveston does not have a drainage district like Harris County. Friendswood does and there is the Clear Creek Watershed and the Dickinson Bayou Watershed and a couple more independent drainage districts all run independently within the county. A lot of the county has nothing in place for those areas to be able to problem solve in those areas. The solution is a regional one to be sure, but how to get there is another question. It probably also includes a partnership with Brazoria and Harris counties, since we know all waters flow from there to here and to the bay. That will take a lot of time and as they say politicking. What can happen now is for League City to be proactive and address the problems we have here that have been identified, while openly communicating clearly with the other entities on making sure our solutions fit our neighbor’s plans both upstream and downstream. The best way to start is to have the city institute a drainage mitigation fee, much like the ones we have for utilities and trash removal. We should also make sure all future construction and development projects have sufficient drainage and retention as part of their plans to meet the FEMA 500-year flood zone needs. The new fees would help support clearing brush and other debris as well as silt from existing waterways on a regular maintenance schedule, so the designed maximum outflow from these estuaries would push the water from our communities. These are two easy ways to start the process to helping us avoid another flooding event or if there is one to lessen its impact. A regional solution and a county wide drainage district would be one which would let us be in a better position to capture the necessary funding needed as Harris County has been able to do this past year. Commissioner Joe Justi is suggesting a plan to do so. He is looking to set up a workshop to start investigating the possibility of a county drainage district. We hope the County pursues this objective and implements a managed and controlled operation to oversee the safe and swift removal of water from the next event, whether it is falling from the sky or is a storm surge from the bay. We can only control what we can and by putting in a fee-based program to keep what we have clear so it flows best is a great start. Steve Paterson 2018 Board of Directors Chair, Rebecca Lilley Memorial Hermann Treasurer, C.B. “Bix” Rathburn, Ph.D. Moody Bank Secretary, Gloria Greene EliteCare 24 Hour ER Past Chair, Ray Soto Soto Financial & Insurance 2019 Incoming Chair, Bill Provenzano Hometown Bank of League City Elga Boeker Houston Methodist St. John Hospital James Brockway Brockway Realty / Commercial Dr. Laura Dupont CCISD Matthew Mathias Clear Lake Regional Medical Center Dr. Warren Nichols College of the Mainland Kalpesh Patel Hampton Inn & Suites/Candlewood Suites Chris Premont Ron Carter Cadillac Hyundai Genesis Dan Seal BAHEP Debbie Simmons Anchor Point Becky Trout-Unbehagen UTMB Health Rolando Villareal Hilltop Securities Peter Wuenschel CIS - Bay Area John Baumgartner Ex-Officio, City of League City Amanda Fenwick Ex-Officio, City of Clear Lake Shores Lisa Howard Ex-Officio, HOT Tax Board Peggy Zahler Ex-Officio, HOA Alliance of League City

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