City could invest more than $140,000 for the creation of a drainage master plan

After torrential rains in October created erosion and flooding problems in West Lake Hills, City Council members have been discussing potential improvements to alleviate problem areas. Mayor Pro Tem Stan Graham and Councilman David Moore were selected for a subcommittee in late 2013 to look at potential solutions.

At the Jan. 22 council meeting, Rick Myrick, senior project manager at Baker-Aicklen & Associates Inc. engineering firm, spoke to council about the creation of a drainage master plan and the potential cost to the city.

"The purpose of [a master plan] is really to do two things," Myrick told council. "It analyzes the drainage in the city, determines problems and presents a list of projects. It also reviews current policies to see if there are things that need to change to help mitigate draining problems."

Myrick said the master plan could help the city create a capital improvement projects list specifically for drainage. This would allow the city to identify major projects over a period of time and determine how the plan could be implemented and funded.

The city could create a drainage utility and implement a drainage utility fee or issue bonds to finance the projects, he said.

The city currently has a list of potential drainage projects, but Mayor Dave Claunch said the list was complaint-driven. The master plan would be a comprehensive study and could augment that current project list.

Myrick said the creation of the master plan would cost about $141,000 and would also include analysis of the flood plains in the city.

"There is a question of the accuracy of the city flood maps, at least in our minds, so we would analyze those to make sure they are correct," Myrick said.

The city could also just focus on one watershed—Little Bee Creek—for $77,000 or have the entire city analyzed for $141,000, Moore said.

Claunch said the cost to complete the current list of complaint-driven projects would cost the city about

$2 million. Completing a master plan would add more items to the list and increase the price tag.

"I know it is a lot of money, but there is value in the report and could help us citywide," Moore told council. "It is something that if we don't have the money for it now, we should look to add it in the budget for next year."

Graham said he thinks the study is worth investing in and that the city is under no obligation to follow through with the results.

Claunch said he fears the council would spend the money for the study and then ignore the results because of the high cost of completing all the projects listed.

"We don't have to do it all at once," Moore said. "We can go back to [the study] over time. I think it has value and is something we need to consider."

Myrick said that when there is a drainage complaint, the engineers go out and fix the complaint, but repairs are done on an individual basis. The problems aren't being looked at holistically, and the spot repairs could be alleviated by fixing problems upstream.

Claunch said if the council decides to pursue the plan and decides to create a drainage utility to fund the projects, it would essentially be adding a tax on West Lake Hills residents.

Council took no action but decided to revisit the idea at an upcoming meeting.