Brownwood City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to join the Corps of Engineers in a feasibility study of the re-channelization of Willis Creek through a cost sharing agreement.
Due to FEMA’s remapping of Brownwood, approximately 400 homes are now in the flood plain, which raises the probability that property owners may be required to purchase costly flood insurance as well as face a possible decline in property values.
A briefing sheet explained that in 2012, FEMA published their preliminary flood map for Brown County which closely matched the flood map produced by the Corps of Engineers in 2001. Between 2002 and 2014, more structures have been constructed in what is now considered a flood plain. The Corps recently conducted a site visit and prepared a Federal Interest Determination Report (FID) indicating that the project appears to remain feasible. The FID is used by the Corps to justify a federal funding request for the Feasibility Study. Because it has been 12 years since the last feasibility study, the Corps’ policy requires another to be done before a project is considered.With this agreement to share the cost of the $400,000 study, the City of Brownwood will know more about the cost and construction of a rechannelization project. Participation in the feasibility study does not obligate the city to proceed with the channelization project, which could take 12-18 months. The city’s share of the cost of the study would be 50% or $200,000, which will come from a payment made later this month from the Brown County Water Improvement District to reimburse the City of Brownwood for their share of the TWDB bond buy-in due from Early and Zephyr for the construction of the BCWID Water Treatment Plant.
The boundaries of the study area will generally be in the Willis Creek watershed for hydraulic modeling and runoff calculations. Feasibility of detention facilities will also be included in the study. The appraised values of the approximately 440 structures within the Willis Creek flood plain are estimated at $105,000,000. The channelization project, depending on its final design could remove approximately 380 structures, valued at $92,000,000 from this flood plain. Should the study determine that the channelization project is viable; the city would be responsible for 35% of the construction costs, up to $7,000,000. Included in the city’s share of the construction costs is the valuation of real estate provided for the project, right-of-way acquisition costs (including surveys, appraisals, and title fees) along with administration duties such as project management, plan reviews, and general ongoing coordination throughout the study process.
In other matters on Tuesday’s agenda:
*Council approved a resolution regarding seven new capital leases with Citizen’s National Bank and assigning a property tax pledge.
*Council approved on first reading, an ordinance to change the zoning classification of Lots 6-10, Block 5, being the Taber Addition, located at 1800-1812 Austin Avenue from R1 Single Family Residential District to CN Neighborhood Commercial, a stricter zoning that will help regulate commercial against possibly more noisy commercial uses that could also increase traffic in the neighborhood. This zoning is for businesses such as offices and bakeries.
*Council approved BEDC Board action to subordinate the BEDC’s first lien holder position on the Loadcraft Plant at 1001 Gifford Street to the BIFI for their Intermediary Relending Program loan to Loadcraft.
*Council ratified the mayoral appointments to the Brownwood Economic Development board of Keith Clark and Gregg Rice, each to a term which will expire on October 1, 2017.
