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Bay Harbor Improvement Association Bay Harbor, Bahia Azul, Bahia Azul Orner, BeeGee Bay, Route 4, Box 190 B26, Galveston, TX 77554 |
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Sewer Committee The Sewer Committee
has a mission of facilitating the building of sewer service for the Bay
Harbor area with the City of Galveston. Sewer Status November 2011 –
Bay Harbor Sewer Update
This is a copy of an email exchange between Mayor Joe Jawarski and
Eric Wilson from City of Galveston:
West of Jamaica Beach the areas between Jamaica Beach and
Silver Leaf, and Bay Harbor are the only areas without sanitary sewer service
(Far West, & Near West Unserved Areas Projects). There are
three projects associated with these two areas; the two sanitary sewer
projects and the expansion of the Terramar wastewater treatment plant.
Pricing for the two areas is estimated in the $10 Million per area, with an
additional $4 Million for the wastewater treatment plant expansion.
Total west of JB approximately $24 Million. East of Jamaica Beach the Ostermeyer/9 Mile Rd, Sportsman Rd,
Sunny Beach and parts of Harborside Dr do not have sanitary sewer
service. The total estimated cost for all of these projects combined is
in the $8 to 10 Million range. As previously stated the projects west of JB have been
included in the 5 year Capital Improvement Program and will require Council
approval of rate increases and bond issuances. If there is any other information I can provide please let me
know. Eric From: Joseph Jaworski
[mailto:JoeJaws@jaworskilawfirm.com] Eric – I had a great meeting with Bay Harbo9r folks last
weekend. We discussed sewer in the 5 year CIP. Questions: What west end
communities are presently without sewer? Can you estimate cost of each
community’s install costs – and therefore what a total sum would be? We all
agreed that a resolution from the Home Owners Association would be
appropriate. They may want to work with other west end
communities/neighborhoods in similar boat to leverage the political will to
bring west end online and therefore incentivize new homes, home improvements
to exisiting homes and better water quality. Thanks for your good work!! I am
copying Bay Harbor rep. Gail Choate hereto. Thanks! Joe Joe Jaworski Jaworski Law Firm 305 21st Street, Suite 222 Galveston, TX 77550 (409) 763-0700 (409) 763-6352/fax (409) 771-7139/cell joejaws@jaworskilawfirm.com This is a copy of an email exchange between John Halsey and Eric
Wilson from City of Galveston (Note John’s questions and Eric’s answers after
the questions: From: JOHN
HALSEY [mailto:jthalsey@sbcglobal.net] Hi Eric and Dianna, I haven't heard anything re the sewers since our
meeting with Eric in the end of June. 1. What is the status of obtaining federal
funding for the project? I know that the schedule for applying for
funding is still down the road, but has anything been done to put together
the case that water quality has deteriorated around Bay Harbor due to septic
system damage from Ike? Septic Sewer
Elimination Project is still one of the items on our preliminary draft list
of CDBG-DR Round 2 Projects, that is available on the City’s website.
However, If you haven’t read in the paper yet, there was a settlement between
the State of Texas and two Housing advocacy groups, Texas Appleseed and Texas Low Income Housing Information Services.
This settlement, commonly known as the Conciliation Agreement, has changed
the eligibility requirements for non-housing projects. At this point in
the game we do not know if this project will be eligible for CDBG-DR funding
or not. Also Eric mentioned that there is a possibility
that the 6 million in funds originally allocated to this project might be
made available again once the city's fiscal status stablized. Is there
any progress in this direction? This path will be several years out. Basically
once all other projects have closed out, maybe 2014-15 this could become an
option. If the economy turns around and we can issue debt again it
might come a little quicker. 2. Easements - what, if any,
additional rights of way along the streets of Bay Harbor does the city need? Has Eric been in touch with Brandon to understand
the legal basis he found for the city already having the right of way it
needs to implement this project. Have any discussions been held with
the legal department on this issue? Not yet. 3. What is the status of obtaining a location
for the lift station? Did anything come of Eric's recommendation to
council to go ahead and authorize the funding to purchase the property on
second street. It still appears to be on the market. Another item
that may be of interest - Edwin Greiner's property, the site
which was originally planned for the lift station, is now on the market. We have made an offer that has been accepted by the
owner of the vacant lot on the west side of 2nd street that you
brought to us. We have conducted a survey and a phase one environmental
review. Currently legal is drafting a purchase contract which I will be
bringing to Council somewhere in the next several weeks. I'd appreciate hearing back from both of you.
If there has been no progress as yet, perhaps we could have an idea of when
there might be some progress. Regards John Halsey On Tuesday February 2nd, 2010 John Halsey and Bill Hand met with Eric Wilson
and Karen Mahoney to discuss the status of the Bay Harbor Sewer Project. Bill
explained that our septic tank situation was getting worse and that a lot of
people are having problems flushing toilets and in some cases that raw sewage
is running into people’s yards. Eric seems to think that the City will get
enough funds in the second round of CDBG funding to complete the sewer
projects on the West End and other areas. The original funding that we
thought was there is no longer available for a number of reasons. We again
reviewed the master plan for Bay Harbor which was completed in 2006. Eric
plans to move forward with the acquisition (purchase) of land for a lift
station. There are no plans to move the original location of the lift station
because that would delay the project and add additional costs. We explained
that the BHIA would not be involved with individual property owners during
this acquisition process. We did agree to provide whatever contact
information that we had available as an HOA. The bottom line is that the best case scenario would be that we may
see construction start during the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2011. As most of you
know, this is just another date of many that we have seen over the past six
or seven years. We are trying to stay as positive as we can but we will know
that our sewer project has arrived when we see heavy equipment in Bay Harbor
digging holes in the ground. I do feel that we have a good working
relationship with Eric. On a final note, Eric did say that if a property owner
wanted to install one of the expensive “Aerobic” sewage treatment systems
that even though the sewer project was completed, those property owners would
not have to connect to the city system for “five to seven years”. I know that
some folks are waiting to build because they are waiting for sewers and this
may give some of those folks an option if they would like to take it. November, 2009 – from Bill Hand The Bay Harbor sewer project is now a City of Galveston “Phase Two
Project” which means it has been moved to the back burner again. I have expressed to several of our
neighbors that I will believe we are getting sewers when “I see heavy
equipment moving dirt”. Until then, we will continue to “squeak” in hopes we
will get some “oil” on this sewer project. As of June, there were three outstanding issues related to the sewer
project that needed to be resolved– right of way along the streets, location
of the lift station, and keeping the funds allocated to Bay Harbor sewers in
the budget. It appears the “right of way” issue has been resolved. We are
still trying to resolve the lift station location issue. It appears that the
funding for Bay Harbor sewers in the 2008 Budget is safe for the time being,
but, if we can’t resolve the lift station location issue, all bets are off. At our annual meeting in June, councilwoman, Karen Mahoney, announced
that the city had received a legal opinion indicating that they already had
all of the “right of way” needed to install sewer lines under each street in
Bay Harbor. The packets that we announced would be sent to some property
owners to get additional right of way will not be sent out. Based on the sewer grid layout as currently designed, there is a very
limited area where a lift station can be placed. The city has started to
negotiate with the property owners in that area. BHIA has been trying to help
this dialogue. If no agreement can be reached with any of these property
owners, then the city will be faced with one of two difficult choices. They
could elect to invoke imminent domain on one of these properties or they
could look for an alternative location for the lift station triggering a
costly redesign of the grid layout. With the change in the make up of the city council, there has been
concern that the new members might redirect the $6 million dollars in the
2008 budget that is currently stipulated for Bay Harbor sewers to some other
project. Several votes have occurred in the last month that indicate the
council is willing to honor its long term commitment to eliminate the use
septic systems on the island. The money appears safe for the time being. As long as we can resolve the issue of the lift station, it appears
that the project will be able to go forward. All other issues have been
resolved. If the lift station issue can not be resolved, all bets are off. |