What we reported Jersey Village City Council adopted a long-term flood recovery plan in August that included several recommendations for how the city can mitigate damage in future heavy rainfall events. One proposal involves building a berm around the Jersey Meadow Golf Course with a peak elevation of 108 feet that would hold approximately 49.7 million gallons of water. In a 100-year storm, the berm would prevent an estimated seven houses from flooding. The city included funding in its 2017-18 budget to construct the berm, which was originally estimated to cost $733,000.

The latest City staff approached Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation to get a cost estimate for engineering and construction last fall. In October, the council opted to look into other options based on a recommendation from city staff that the cost estimate from Dannenbaum—about $1 million—was too high.

What’s next At a Dec. 18 workshop, the council authorized survey work to be done on the golf course to confirm elevations, which would help create a better idea of what the berm should look like and the exact path it should take, City Manager Austin Bleess said. After the survey work is finished, Bleess said the council will discuss possibly bringing on engineering firm Brooks and Sparks—which conducted a golf course berm study in 2003—to produce a cost estimate and engineering proposal. Construction could begin in late 2018 or early 2019.

This story is one update from The January Issue. View the full list of Top 10 stories to follow in 2018 here.