Crosby's Gulf Pump Road site

Railroad Ties must be removed, County Attorney ready to sue

Environmental and safety concerns cited by Fleming

by Bobby Horn
Highlands Crosby Star Courier
May 14, 1998

CROSBY -- Violations of the state's Health and Safety Code and concerns over the safety of people and property along the San Jacinto River, has prompted Harris County Attorney Michael Fleming to act to have railroad ties removed from a site which he calls an "illegal dumping ground."
      According to Fleming, 1996 Southern Pacific Transportation Company contracted with Tiller Services to dispose of railroad ties from Southern Pacific Englewood Yard. Fleming said that starting in November of that year, the ties were dumped at a solid waste site, located on Gulf Pump Road near Crosby.
      The site, where an estimated 11,000 ties have been dumped, is approximately 600 yards form the river and is located in the river's floodway.
      Fleming said that this location is dangerous to residents in two ways. The first way, he said, is the possibility of contamination of water. The ties, some of which lie in ponds along the side of the river, is coated with creosote, which the county said could affect surface and ground water reservoirs.
      The second way is which the ties could be dangerous to residents is that in the event of heavy flooding the ties could be swept down river, crashing into property in Rio Villa and Banana Bend, like the barges did in 1994, Fleming added.
      Despite getting the go-ahead from Commissioners' Court, Fleming said the he is waiting to file a lawsuit against J. Tiller and Union Pacific Railroad Company, in hopes that a dispute over dumped railroad ties can be resolved without going to court.
      The county previously filed a suit against the owner of the site, Thelma Waitkus. Fleming siad that they are in negociations with Waitkus to clean up the site and that Waitkus has until June 1 to remove the ties.
      The lawsuit against Waitkus is not the only legal action to come out of the dumping. An attorney representing Waitkus has filed a suit against J. Tiller and Union Pacific, who took over control of Southern Pacific in late 1996, to reclaim the $330,000 it will cost to have the ties removed.
      Union PAcific has filed a countersuit, saying that had no control over what their contractors did, and that J. Tiller was responsible for obtaining the proper permits.
      Fleming said that in cases like this the state says that the generator of the waste, in this case, Union Pacific, also bears responsibility for ensuring that the waste is properly disposed.
      Fleming said that that is was not likely that the county would not have to go to court to have the issue resolved. "This majority of the cases can be settled before we go to court, especially when we're dealing with a legitimate company like the railroad.



Buyout of homes saves costs of washouts

Flood Control districts acquisitions are alternative to offering assistance

by Carlos Byars
Houston Chronicle February 8, 1998

      Harris County Flood Control is taking what only a few years ago would have been a novel approach to the problems of flood prone subdivisions: It is moving the people rather than the water.
      The distict is accomplishing this rather Herculean task by allocating county and flood control funds for the purchase of homes in the county's flood plain. Since lst summer, the agency has purchased 25 properties, mostly along the San Jacinto River above Lake Houston.
      Currently, the county is focusing buyout efforts on the most flood-prone properties in the Forrest Cove and Hamblen Estates subdivision near Humble. Some residents welcome the opportunity to sell, others do not.
      Beginning March 1, the buyout program will be expanded to homeowners in the Cypress Creek flood plain.
      Colleen O'Brian, project manager for the flood control district, says there are enough homes in the flood prone areas that the buyout will go on for years, limited only by the money available to buy the land. The goal is to get people who live in the flood plains of Harris Co. out of harms way before the water comes.
      "We recognized that there are some areas in which we could never protect the people," O'Brian said. "I can never lower the San Jacinto River 10 feet, not feasably nor economically."
      O'Brian said $2 Million has been allocated for the purchase of a large number of homes in the Cypress Creek water shed during the fiscal year beginning March 1. Another $1 million will be available for purchases in Harris Co, she said.
      She estimates that throughout the county, there are 2,500 homes located in the flood plains that are so low the district will want to buy the property as an alternative to continuing to provide flood protection and rebuilding assistance.
      She said most homeowners were volunteers for a federally funded, county administered program 2 years ago. That FEMA program run out of money before all the tendered homes were purchased.
      To willing sellers, the buyout program is a godsend.
      JAckie and John Knight, who lived on Sunrise Trail in the Forest Cove subdivision for almost 19 years and who rebuilt after the 1994 flood, are amung the flood district's happy buyout customers.
      "They gave us a second opportunity to vacate from there,: Jackie Knight said of her old home. "They paid moving expenses, assigned a relocation broker to handle relocating to a new house. Personally I can't say enough good things.
      "We probably would not have been able to get as much money selling on the open market," she said. Neither the Knights nore government officials would reveal the buyout amount.
      Knight said they learned of the buyout last October, when her husband saw an appraiser taking pictures of the house. "We pursued it," she said. "We have a daughter getting married in May and we didn't want it to be dragged out."
      Knight said she considers the program a good one, but added that people in the area have an inflated idea of the value of their property.
      Knight, however admitted the current buyout program semes to have some inconsistancies. A common complaint is that properties seem to be picked at random.
      Some houses area selected, while others on the same street, even next door, are not. Knight said although msot of the flood prone homes have been bought, two families have been ignored. "Those people wonder why they are not in the buyout," she said.
      O'Brian said the county is preparing a long range plan that will set criteria for future purchases.
      This "predisaster flood plain buyout program" will set priorities and provide a ranking for properties throughout the county that are vulnerable to flooding, she said. "It will give us a way of selecting homes for purchase."
      The plan should be finished this fall, she said.
      Pat KAllaher's was one of those overlooked. He said he heard about the buyout from a neighbor. He said flood control officals told him that homes were selected for purchase based on their elevation, and that all funds had already been allocated.
      But Kallaher said some of hte houses that the county already has purchased had no ground level living area. "Their living space is 6 feet above me," he said.
      When Kallaher bought his home in 1977, the lot was on the edge of the flood plain, but the house stood well clear. That is no longer the case. In 1979 and 1989 floodwater reached the middle of his yard. In 1994, he got 5.5 feet of water in his house.
      Kallaher rejected the earlier federal buyout because he was uncertain about the program. Nor did he benifit from a grant as some other uninsured residents received after the 1994 flood.
      Still, he feels that the flood control district should at least have given him the chance. "The final straw was when nobody ever talked to me. I was never given the option, nor consideration. I thought that was very unfair," Kallaher said.
      He may get another chance, however. O'Brian said Kallaher definitely is on the list of 22 other familiesthat have volunteered for buyout. And his property will rank very high, according to the district's criteria, she said.
      O'Brian said that, as an interim measure, while the long range plan is being developed, the district is using four criteria to determine what properties are being purchased. They are:


      Under these criteria, O'Brian said the Kallaher home should come up for purchase pretty soon.
      In the meantime, the Kallaher family and the family of Glenn and Jill Sutton will remain on an otherwise vacant unlighted street.
      Jill Sutton said she would like to get more information about the program, but for the time being, she is content to stay put. "I like the privacy," she said. "I don't want to move into a neighborhood that is jam packed."
      Sutton is torn between her reluctance to move and her concern about how the family will handle another big flood such as the one in 1994 when she had four feet of water in her house.
      "This is not my dream home, but it is home," she said.
      Ron and Jane Hagest, who live in one of the lower pieces of property in Forest Cove, said they were willing to sell, but the districts offer was too low.
      "They threatened to condemn us, then said that other people want the money, so they passed us by. They said they will never buy us now," said Ron Hagest.
      Officials said the Hagests were removed from the list of prospective sellers at their own request.
      JAne Hagest said the flood control district went about the project in the wrong way, at least where they were concerned.
      "They put the cart before horse," she said. "They had an appraisal person contact us befoer we were ever told about a buyout. We asked for something offical ( an notice) and a week later they still had not called. The we got a vague fax and finally a letter. The appraisal office did an appraisal sight unseen. And that had the square footage wrong,a nd other things.
      "I'm not against what they want to do," Ron Hagest said. "If they want to buy homes than fix the river, that's their choice. I feel like it would be cheaper to fix the river, but that's their decision.
      His wife said she found three comparable homes on the area, but to rebuild to current elevation requirements "we would have to win the lottery."
      The district's offer of $45 per sq ft was not nearly enough, he said. "You can't even buy a slum house for $45 a sq ft.," he said.
      Realter Connie Moreno with Century 21 Preferred Properties said a market analysis shows that flood plain properties average $40.62 a sq foot. Those on higher elevations average $46.70, she said.
      The January flood was not the first time the Hagests have suffered because of the river. Ron Hagest said they have flooded 6 times in four years. "We had 17 feet of water in our house in '94," he said with some pride.
      Nor is their first experience with a buyout.
      "In 1996, (the federal) was for me to live in an apartment. Their answer was if your home was not livable, to board it up and walk away. And people lost their homes because of that. There is a lot of bitterness because of that," JAne Hagest said.
      There was no effort to communicate with residents (then), and most of what (federal and county officals) told us was not true," she added.
      After the 1994 flood, she and her husband rebuilt the upper floor of their home and have been working on the bottom floor ever since. Jane Hagest said she is determined to stay in the areauntil their youngest son graduates from high school, which is several years off.
      "We've got it all cleaned up now," Ron Hagest said last week. But their problems may not be over.
      "The feds are giving us a hard time about paying off the insurance. The adjusters are taking their sweet time," he groused.
      Vicki Flake, president of the Forest Cove property owners association, is furious about the flood control district's approach to her fater, one of the flooded Forest Cove residents.
      Her father has lived in one of the lowest homes in Forest Cove for 33 years, yet he only had water in his home during the particularly bad flood of 1994.
      "He was told that if he didn't take their offer, they would take him to court and condemn his property," she said. In the end, however, an acceptable offer was negociated.
      In another Forest Cove home, James Graham and his wife, Patti Carothers, were still remodelng from the 1994 flood when the swollen San Jacinto inched toward their house during last months flood. Theri hom was not flooded, but was damaged when they had to cut a large hole in the ceiling that furniture could be moved quickly to the attic.
      O'Brian says that people who do not wish to sell have an easy out. "For the most part, my policy is that we are offering a chance, and if you don't want it there are people in line for it," she said.
      "We are giving them this opportunity -- emphasize opportuntiy. In addition to (buying their home) we are paying relocation money and will pay the difference to buy a comparable home elsewhere," O'Brian said.
      O'Brian said people also have the option of buying back their lot -- after the house is demolished -- and rebuilding to current standards of elevation.
      O'Brian daid the district is trying to make the program as palatable as possible and that no one will be coerced into selling. Nor is the program winding down.
      "People are still calling to get on the volunteer list," O'Brian said. As for complaints that the districts offers are too low, O'Brian said, "We can't give public money away."


Banana Bend Civic Club Hosts Information Night

Marsha DeLay
Banana Bend News
March 1998

      On March 10, 1998, Banana Bend Civic Club hosted and informational evening for all area residents. The purpose fothis community meeting was to invite county officials to Banana Bend, in order to hear first hand, their responses to questions from residents on the subject of buyouts and permits for constuction.

Invited guest included:

Mr David Floyd, Executive assistant to Commissioner Jim Fonteno

Mr John Blount, Manager Harris County Permit Division

From Harris County Flood Control District,

      Mr. Burton Johnson, Engineer
      Mr. Robert Gaskins, Engineer
      Mr. Terry Woodfin, Engineer
      Ms. Colleen O'Brian, Engineer


      President Dana Brooks moderated the inital question and answer session and then the floor was opened for general questions. IF you missed this session you missed a very informational evening, as many questions were answered and concerns were addressed during the evening.
1: Will all homes in Banana Bend everntually be bought out?

      After the flood in 1994, there were numerous buyouts through FEMA. There is now a big, overall, county wide program to buy out homes located in the flood control district. The program started with those who expressed interest to FEMA. Now included are those who have expressed interest in a possible buyout. Will all homes be bought out? The decision will be made by the community.

2: Will the buyout lots be least, and if so, how will that be handled?

      Two types of agreements are available. One is a lease, where the lessee has "care, custody and control" at a price based on fair market value. The other is a maintenance agreement, where the lot will be offered to the adjacent land owner at no cost. The decision has been made that maintenance agreements will only be made to the residents of Banana Bend and not to outsiders.

3: Will Banana Bend eventually become a state park?

      This is up to the State of Texas and it's parks department. The HCFCD has no desire to make it a park. Land bought out by the HCFCD is being purchased with funds that 1/3 from Harris County and 2/3 from HCFCD.

4: Are we being bought out because of the cost of rebuilding the roads?

      No. The county would repair the roads and not the HCFCD, however, this could be a consideration to encourage residents to take a buyout. The HCFCD's motive is to help those out who want to get out.

5: Is it the goal to have all Banana Bend residents bought out within 3 years?

      No, this is not true. The community will make the decision about whether or not it wants too be bought out.

6: Can a person rebuild after he has been bought out?

      Yes, onlyu if the home is built up to new specs, including a contained sewer systems (permits will be issued) and a permit is issued by HL&P. There will not be any more temporary light poles.

7: Who determines fair market value of a property?

      Outside, independent appraisers are used or a resident may use their own appraiser. They consider many factors: age of the home, sales of other homes or lots in the area, etc. Be aware that HCFCD is not required to offer moving funds. A move will be paid for up to 50 miles but the new home must be built in the US in order to get other relocation funds.

8: A comment was made that the sand pits are destroying the neighborhood.

      The sand company must have a permit to dig. HCFCD does not pass laws or have any authority in this area, but will ask the county attorney to look into it. They are not supposed to dig within 30' or 60' from the road.

9: Will any more permits be granted to build in the area?

      Yes. The law passed last year not allowing any more septic permits has been rescinded. You cannot restrict in the floodway, but you can have higher building standards.

10: Can people live in travel trailers on leased properties?

      No one can live in travel trailers longer 180 days. If they do, this is considered permanent housing and the same as a manufactured home and it must be elevated, meet septic and light pole requirements.

11: Are there targeted properties for buy out, like an "A" list or "B" list.

      No. All residents considered for buyout, have been at the owners request. However, if everyone is gone on a street and only one house is left, it might be deemed a public necessity, and a buyout pursued by HCFCD.

12: What about a house that meets elevation standards, will those residents be considered for a buyout?

      Possibly, if only a few houses are left in a neighborhood. They will still be considered at fair marked value including boat houses, septic systems, etc.

13: If someone cannot come to terms on what is fair market value, then could someone be forced to take a buyout?

      Yes! A condemnation hearing would be held by independent agents appointed by the civil court. HCFCD says that if only a few houses remain, they would have an obligation to finish out the neighborhood.

14: What about leaving bulkheads?

      Commissioner Fonteno has asked that this be checked into. At present no bulkheads have been pulled, but cement slabs must be pulled.

15: Can residents buy back their homes and move them?

      The resident may contact Cherry Moving and negociate with them on this matter.

16: Can a resident build their own home and still get relocation funds?

      If a resident gets $100,000 then they must spend $100,000 on a new home to get relocation funds. Possibly a resident could determine their worth in man hours spent building their own home, though not spending the entire amount and still get relocation funds. This would need to be investigated. Contact HCFCD.

17: What happens if three years down the road someone says "uncle" and they then want to be bought out and their house isn't in as good a shape as it is now. Could it be appraised now?

      No. Only the serious buyout seekers will be appraised. Rememberthe plicy today, may not be the policy tomarrow. The program is being offered now, but may not be offered in the future.

18: Can yo change your mind afer your house is appraised for buyout?

      No. This a voluntary buyout program at this time. If you volunteer, and then area accepted and an offer is made, you are locked in for a buyout. Not necessasarily on a price, it could go to a condemnation hearing, but a move yes. It is voluntary, until you volunteer. Three million has been allocated this year and all fund have been spent on the San Jacinto River area.

19: Comment made by Mr. Blount, was that all residents need to carry flood insurance.

20: Is there a cutoff date for indicating interet in a buyout?

      No, not at this time. All funds have been spent so far, but volunteers are still being taken.

21: Concern was expressed about the hole on Cypress Street.

      Mr. Floyd says that this will be investigated for possible repair.