Design of infrastructure projects to improve flood resiliency in the city of San Marcos could begin this year, after the City Council provided direction to staff to move forward with the five projects recommended by the city’s disaster recovery consultant, AECOM, Monday night. The council will have to formally adopt an amendment to its action plan, a document required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which provided a $25.08 million disaster recovery grant to the city last year. Once the amended action plan is accepted by HUD, design work can begin. AECOM ranked the various projects using a matrix that took into account project cost, the number of structures benefited and permitting requirements. The details, including cost and schedule, for the top five projects are as follows:

Midtown/Aquarena Springs

This project would improve ditches from the intersection of I-35 and Aquarena Springs Drive south to Davis Lane. The intersection of Aquarena and I-35 is especially prone to flooding, and because of the proximity of a nursing home, which must be evacuated during flood events, improving flood resiliency in the area is a high priority, city officials said. The project would benefit 82 structures, according to the consultant’s analysis. The improvements would accommodate the 25-year flood (see sidebar). Timeline: Design starts in 2017, construction would begin and end in 2018 Cost: $850,000 ($650,000 disaster recovery funds, $200,000 city funds)

Blanco Gardens

The project would construct a new storm sewer through the Blanco Gardens neighborhood near I-35 and River Road. The storm sewer would be built along part of Barbara and Conway drives. The project would benefit 420 structures, according to the consultant’s analysis. The storm sewer would be able to accommodate the 25-year flood. The Woods Apartments, located just south of Blanco Gardens, was shown to have increased flooding in some nearby homes, according to a 2016 engineering report. The apartment's ownership has committed $500,000 to the city to assist in drainage projects in Blanco Gardens. Timeline: Design starts 2018, construction would last 2019-21 Cost: $5 million ($4.45 million disaster recovery funds, $550,000 city funds)

Clarewood/Barbara Drive

The project would add a storm sewer on a portion of Bugg Lane and Clarewood Drive near the Blanco Gardens neighborhood and would include regrading of Barbara Drive. The project would benefit 76 structures, according to AECOM’s analysis. The project would accommodate the 25-year flood. Timeline: Design would begin 2018, construction would last 2019-21 Cost: $2.5 million ($2.3 million disaster recovery funds, $200,000 city funds)

Bank and trail improvements

AECOM Senior Project Manager Daniel Zell said he was excited to present this flood mitigation project to the council. The project would construct a 2,300-foot-long overflow channel east of the Blanco River near Martindale Road and would create an elevated hike and bike trail between River Road and the Blanco River that would act as an embankment, protecting the nearby Blanco Gardens neighborhood during heavy flooding. The city has existing plans to construct a hike and bike trail near AECOM’s proposed new path, and the consultant said the two paths could be connected at a future date. The project would accommodate a 37-year flood. Timeline: Design would begin 2017, construction would last 2020-21 Cost: $11.5 million ($4 million disaster recovery funds, $1,961,821 Texas Water Development Board funds, $5.55 million city funds)

Uhland Road

The project would regrade the existing roadway on County and Uhland roads, just north of Aquarena Springs Drive. The project would benefit 166 structures and would accommodate the 25-year flood. Timeline: Design would begin 2017, construction would last 2019-21, Cost: $4.2 million ($1.1 million disaster recovery funds, $3.1 million city funds) AECOM Senior Project Manager Daniel Zell identified two types of flooding that have affected the city: "riverine flooding," or when the Blanco River tops its banks and begins to spill into neighborhoods, and "local flooding," which is when infrastructure like storm sewers are overwhelmed by rainfall. “Our findings are not surprising and not unique to San Marcos,” Zell said. “You can’t handle the 100-year flood from the riverine [flooding] with local solutions. It demands a much larger regional solution. But what you can handle and what other cities can handle is the local flooding.” Zell said the rainfall event the city experienced April 9 is a good example of flooding that could be alleviated through local projects similar to what was proposed Monday night. “You can do things to make that [flood resiliency] better,” he said. “[April 9] was a very big event, but with improved infrastructure, you’re going to see much less impact.” The council has committed $12.5 million of its disaster recovery grant to infrastructure projects, $7.5 million to housing projects, $3.75 million on planning projects and $1.25 million on grant administration. Council Member Lisa Prewitt floated the idea of reallocating some funds from housing to infrastructure, but Assistant City Manager Collette Jamison said the city may have to wait to take such an action. “Right now I think it’s very important … for us to find out and see who is eligible for the housing,” Jamison said. “We know there is still a need [for housing] out there, but we’re not sure who is going to qualify. HUD … wants to see us move forward on housing. We don’t think it’s appropriate right now to do a reallocation. Let us get into the housing and see how much of the funds are going to be used.” At the end of the meeting, some city residents questioned whether the projects would do enough. Sharon Smith, who said she lives near Hwy. 123 and I-35, said she has been trapped in her neighborhood during previous floods. She said the city needs to improve entry points to the city. “My main concern is in [the ’98 flood], we couldn’t get out,” Smith said. “In [the May 2015 flood], my son couldn’t get out. What else is going to be done to help us get out? One way in and one way out is not enough. It’s been going on and on since ’98. Instead of getting better, I’ve seen it get worse.” AECOM also studied projects that would address flooding issues in the Fairlawn neighborhood, which has been repeatedly affected by flooding, as well as an area near Rio Vista Park, and River Ridge Parkway. Although those projects did not score in the top five based on AECOM's matrix, the city may still fund those projects as funds become available. Prewitt requested the engineering department strongly consider the Rio Vista project, which would cost $662,000. That project was ranked sixth on AECOM's matrix. Mayor John Thomaides said he wants the council to have "a serious conversation" in the coming months about the city's drainage utility fund and drainage issues. The city anticipates a tight fiscal year 2017-18 budget, and Thomaides called the drainage issues "a big problem we have that we're going to solve with a very small fund." The city applied to HUD for a grant that would have funded buyouts within the Fairlawn neighborhood, but that grant was not approved, officials said. The total cost of buyouts for the 35 homes in the neighborhood would have been about $2.1 million.