The Magnolia City Council will hold a workshop 6:30 p.m. June 29 to discuss plans for detention ponds on the east and west sides of the city to retain water runoff. At its June 14 meeting, the council agreed to talk about what can be done in the city to avoid another round of flooding problems. “What has happened in the recent past is not going to be the only time—and with more concrete getting poured, it’s probably going to be more than we want to see,” Councilmember Jonny Williams said. “We need to do some planning for [adding detention areas], and we need to also discuss things that we can do better.” Williams said the watershed in Magnolia is located on the east and west side of the city, split by the railroad tracks that run parallel to FM 1774. The council will consult experts about the placement of detention in the city and the most affordable fix to the flooding problems, city administrator Paul Mendes said. “You can’t just put detention [areas] anywhere,” he said. Magnolia resident Steven Osgood addressed the council regarding his home damage from this spring’s floods. “We have tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage, which is a lot less than a lot of folks in the community,” Osgood said. “But still, I don’t know how we’re going to rebuild.” Osgood said he and his wife have more than $20,000 just in plumbing damage because of shifting soil and moving water under their home on Connie Street (also known as Connie Avenue) in Magnolia. “This was partly because of the flood, but that’s not where it came from,” he said. “We would not have suffered as we did had something been done about the drainage.” Osgood and other Connie Street residents said the culverts, or drains, on the street are neither as wide nor as deep as they were a few years ago, causing the water to flow outward instead of downstream to Nichols Sawmill Road. Though residents called on the city council to restore the width and depth of the culverts, Mendes said many of the culverts in Magnolia are not owned by the city. “One of the problems we have with Connie Street is there are a number of culverts that are the wrong size. These culverts belong to homeowners, they’re not the city’s culverts,” Mendes said. “It’s not the city’s business to move a private culvert. If we did that, we’d be doing it all over because unfortunately, so much of the city was built without any standards.” Mendes said Connie Street residents followed the city’s minimum requirements for the size of the pipe—18 inches—but with added development and larger pipe sizes upstream, the water now flows over instead of through the culvert in heavy rainfall. Also during the meeting, the council also approved the decision to apply for a 10-year, $700,000 loan through the TxDOT Infrastructure Fund for the relocation of utility pipes that conflict with the FM 1774 overpass. Relocation of the utilities is expected to begin in August so construction can continue, pending the approval of the loan. The city agreed to ask the 4B Community Development Corporation to share the cost of the loan. If approved, each party would pay $30,000-$35,000 each year for 10 years. The water, sewer, phone and fiber optics lines must be relocated for the flyover construction to continue, Mendes said. “We move the pipes or it may put the job in jeopardy,” he said. “It may put the flyover off until the way underneath is clear.” For more on flooding effects in Magnolia and Montgomery County, be sure to read the July issue of Community Impact.