February 13, 2009
Groundwater Flooding & Sump Pump Issues - Follow Up
Dear Single Family Village Residents,
Last year, Traci Tapani (a Victor Gardens resident) conducted an informal study of homeowners determining how many properties experienced groundwater flooding issues. These problems included basement flooding, continuous sump pump operation, slippery sidewalks (because of sump discharge), etc.
At our Single Family Village's Annual Association Meeting last April, Bryan Bear, (the City of Hugo's Development Director) met with residents and explained that the City and the Rice Creek Watershed District were willing to research the groundwater-related problems further, then report back to residents.
Today, Mr. Bear followed up with me on the progress of a groundwater study conducted by a watershed engineering firm, Houston Engineering. They've been working with the City of Hugo and the Rice Creek Watershed District to study what the problems were, and how they might be fixed.
Mr. Bear asked me to enlist the participation of a few residents/owners to discuss the issue further with the City. Please email me (mark@victorgardensnews.org) ASAP if you are interested.
Normally, I would suggest discussing this at a scheduled Board Meeting, but I believe the City would like to know the level of resident/owner interest by early next week. The Mayor and City Council will be discussing this preliminarily on Tuesday's City Council Meeting. Please see Mr. Bear's email below.
I'd like to get back to Mr. Bear on Monday of owners/residents who would like to be included in a proposed upcoming meeting with the City.
I have included below a copy of the email that I received from Bryan Bear today. You can view/download/print a copy of the Engineer's Memo provided to me at the following link on our website: http://www.victorgardensnews.org/files/groundwater/houston_memo_10_08.pdf
-Mark Vlker
On Feb 13, 2009, at 10:13 AM, Bryan Bear wrote:
Mark –
Take a look at this report from the Rice Creek Watershed District. The City and RCWD have been working on this issue. We believe that we have preliminary support from RCWD to grant up to $50,000 toward this project. The Hugo City Council will discuss this topic at their meeting on Tuesday night. The Council may also choose to commit some funds toward this project. I’m expecting that the Council will then schedule a meeting with whatever key residents the HOA believes should be involved in this discussion and whether there is continuing interest from residents in pursuing this further….
If you wouldn’t mind – could you please pass this information on?
I know there will be lots of questions about this. We won’t be able to answer them on Tuesday night, but we will invite the right people to the follow-up meeting for detailed discussion. The report is only a recommendation from the watershed engineer. No decisions have been made by the City or RCWD to construct the project. We expect that decision will be made by the residents.
I can be reached at 651-762-6320 if you need anything…
Bryan Bear
Community Development Director
City of Hugo
