Council hears plan for $1.35 million CDBG drainage project on Lizzie Lane; design underway, construction planned next fiscal year

City staff told the council Sept. 15 that the city has been awarded $1,350,000 from a Community Development Block Grant (disaster recovery reallocation program) to build drainage improvements along the south side of Lizzie Lane and to connect those improvements to earlier work on South Persimmon.

Megan (city staff) summarized the grant and said the funds came through the General Land Office and are part of a disaster recovery reallocation that traces to Hurricane Harvey funds: “We were awarded $1,350,000 for that grant.” She said the award covers design, construction and grant administration and that the city must expend and close out all funding and documentation with the GLO by March 2027.

Scott (engineer) described the principal project (M118001) as an L-shaped channel improvement that will increase capacity and provide detention. "So the project is M 118001. So that is the channel. So the channel is l shaped... the east to west part of the channel will drop ... approximately 9 to 10 feet," he said, adding the north-south segment “will drop approximately 6 to 7" feet to create conveyance into the previously improved South Persimmon outfall. Staff said the project scope includes dredging the channel, installing larger boxes or culverts at the Lizzie Lane curve, and constructing a long detention section where the channel bottom will be lowered.

Staff confirmed the work is intended to tie into prior South Persimmon investments (which installed underground boxes and outfalls) so the two projects operate together. City staff said they have already approved an engineering contract and survey and topo work has begun. They told the council that the project should remain inside existing parcel and right-of-way boundaries and that no new easement acquisitions are expected for the channel alignment described on the map presented to council.

Staff also reviewed required administrative policies and procurement steps for federal funding. Two new administrative policies (9.6, financial goals and policies, and 9.7, federal grant procurement policy) were proposed for the city’s policy manual to meet grant compliance; staff said existing citizen-participation, Section 3, grievance, fair-housing and excessive-force policies previously used for South Persimmon remain in force and are being carried forward with a new resolution (Resolution 2025-45) to designate authorized signatories for contractual and financial grant documents.

Staff presented a related administrative item to amend the professional services agreement with Langford Community Management Services to add the contract’s total not-to-exceed amount for grant-administration services; staff said the original signed contract had not listed an amount because pre-award grant administration services are not reimbursable and the amendment is required now that the grant is executed.

Council members asked operational questions about maintenance and scope. Staff said the dredged channel may require periodic silt removal depending on future development and that routine mowing and maintenance already occur; Scott estimated that silt removal frequency will depend on development and erosion rates and might be yearly if conditions warrant. Staff warned that a full reconstruction and widening of Lizzie Lane to include storm sewer would be a separate capital project likely requiring bond funding and could cost in the tens of millions of dollars; the CDBG project will lower flow lines and enable future storm-sewer work but will not, by itself, fully rebuild the roadway.

The council also discussed coordination with an Economic Development Corporation (EDC) project. Staff said the EDC’s planned channel extension and a proposed 7- to 8-acre detention pond on property the EDC is pursuing would provide regional detention capacity; staff stated the EDC intends to coordinate with the city and the city has been involved in the design review. The EDC-related pond was described as a dry detention pond (detention, not permanent retention) intended to hold runoff temporarily and release it downstream.

No formal council votes were recorded on Sept. 15 for the grant items; staff said the grant documents, administrative policies and the Langford contract amendment will be brought forward as action items on a regular agenda for formal approval. Staff estimated design would be completed and construction advertised in the next fiscal year (not the current calendar year), with actual construction activity expected to begin once design and procurement are complete and consistent with the March 2027 expenditure deadline.

Quotes in this article come from staff presentations during the Sept. 15 workshop and are attributed to the speakers who made them.