City officials: Thousands of dollars estimated for parks repairs

McKinney received nearly 23 inches of rain from Sept. 1-Oct. 30. This is nearly 8 inches more than the average rainfall in a typical September and October, according to the National Weather Service. The heavy rain caused park damage throughout McKinney, road closures and building damage. Parks affected by the rain are those located near Wilson Creek. Damaged parks include Bonnie Wenk Park, the Al Ruschhaupt Soccer Complex, and the Grady Littlejohn Softball & Baseball Complex. “This storm we had was different from previous events in the fact that we had about 9-11 inches [of water] within a day and a half in certain areas of the parks, which meant that Wilson Creek just didn’t rise up, it had flow to it,” Director of Parks and Recreation Michael Kowski said during an October McKinney Community Development Corp. meeting. “So [the creek] was picking stuff up and moving stuff around. … That had a major impact on our parks infrastructure.” Park damages are estimated to total “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Kowski said in an email to Community Impact Newspaper. “Regarding the final dollar number, we still don’t have a final tally,” Kowski said in the email Oct. 30. “… In addition, over 700 man-hours of cleanup work took place the week after the flooding, and our parks maintenance team is still working every day on various areas.” The rain also caused road closures and city and McKinney ISD buildings to leak. According to the city of McKinney, some city buildings will require minor roof repairs. These repairs are included in the city’s budget and are considered routine maintenance. Water damage also took place at McKinney North High School near the auditorium, which McKinney ISD officials said will be repaired by the district and has been addressed. Damage was also seen at MISD’s Caldwell Elementary School where a retaining wall on the east side of the playground collapsed after excessive rain. MISD will pay $310,000 to repair the damage. Various road closures also took place in mid-October due to flooding. CR 124 from CR 123 to Wilmeth Road is expected to remain closed until Jan. 1 while crews replace the open drain, or culvert, under the bridge. Repairs will cost $113,860 with funds used from the public works drainage budget, according to the city. The following map details damage and flooding that took place at various locations in McKinney.