Magnolia City Council members discussed flood mitigation measures Tuesday night in addition to approving the purchase of a vehicle for the police department and scheduling a public meeting to further discuss water and sewer rate changes. Here are a few things to know from the Dec. 12 meeting.


1. Public meeting about water, sewer rates set for Tuesday, Jan. 9
Magnolia City Council members agreed to meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9, to further discuss water and sewer rate categories and adjusted rate prices. Council members will meet before January's regularly scheduled meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m.

"For the institutional and commercial [users], it should be instituted next month," Mayor Todd Kana said. "We still need to discuss the residential [rates], but I don't think we're a month or two or three or four or five [months] away from changing that."

The city of Magnolia is working to adjust water and sewer rates for the first time since 2005 to keep pace with the rising cost of water production and treatment, officials said previously.





2. Building elevation requirements amended
Council members approved an ordinance Tuesday amending the slab elevation requirement for structures to assist in flood mitigation. According to the ordinance, structures must be built 18 inches above base flood elevation or the crest of the road. The new ordinance applies to new construction, officials said.





3. Police department to purchase new vehicle
Council members approved the purchase of a new Chevrolet Tahoe vehicle for the Magnolia Police Department on Tuesday. The MPD is working to replace an aging vehicle with nearly 180,000 miles. The new vehicle is estimated to cost $32,000, and equipment from the old vehicle will be transferred over to the new Tahoe to ensure cost savings, Police Chief Terry Enloe said.

"I'm not looking to make a fleet here, I'm just looking to make it safer," he said.





4. Unity Park dam repair underway
Bob Schmidt of O'Malley Strand Associates presented a plan to repair a dam at Unity Park to the council on Tuesday. The company is working with the city to repair the former dam to mitigate flooding in the area. Schmidt said the dam will be reconstructed as an earthen berm reinforced by concrete.

The project, which will be partially funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other flood mitigation funding from agencies, is expected to go out for a construction bid in early 2018 and be completed by October.