Council workshop reviews $1.35 million CDBG plan to deepen Lizzie Lane drainage channel, staff outlines contracts and policies

City staff told the Tomball City Council at a Sept. 15 workshop that the city has been awarded $1,350,000 through a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster-recovery reallocation to fund drainage improvements along the south side of Lizzie Lane.

"We were awarded $1,350,000 for that grant," Megan, a city staff presenter, said as she outlined the project and related administrative items. Staff said the award comes from Hurricane Harvey reallocated funds administered by the Texas General Land Office and that the project ties into earlier South Persimmon drainage improvements.

Staff identified the work as project M 118001. "So the project is M 118001," Scott, a staff engineer, said. He described an L-shaped channel that the city plans to deepen and widen: the east–west leg would be lowered about 9–10 feet and the north–south leg about 6–7 feet, with dredging of the existing channel and installation of larger boxes or culverts at the Lizzie Lane curve to increase conveyance.

Megan said construction funding will pay for design, survey, and construction and that the city has already approved an engineering contract and begun survey and topo work. She also warned of an administrative deadline: "All funding has to be expended by March 2027," Megan said, and staff said they plan to move quickly to complete design and bid the work in the next fiscal year (not within the current calendar year).

Along with the engineering work, staff proposed several administrative actions tied to compliance with federal grant rules: adding two new administrative policies (policy 9.6 on financial goals and policy 9.7 on federal grant procurement), amending the professional-services agreement with Langford Community Management Services to set a not-to-exceed amount for grant administration (staff had earlier estimated about $108,000 but said pre-award tasks are not eligible for reimbursement), and adopting a resolution (2025-45) that designates authorized signatories for contractual and financial documents related to the grant.

Staff emphasized that the Lizzie Lane channel project is intended to connect to prior work: the South Persimmon improvements created an outfall and underground boxes that allow the new channel to convey stormwater into a detention pond to reduce overflow and localized flooding. Staff also described coordination with a separate Economic Development Corporation (EDC) property the EDC purchased for a larger regional detention pond. Scott said the EDC's planned expansion would extend the channel and could include a 7–8 acre dry detention pond near the railroad to capture and detain runoff.

Council members asked a range of technical and programmatic questions, including whether the project would require new easements or property acquisitions (staff said it would remain within existing appraised lot/right-of-way lines and would not require easement purchases), whether Lizzie Lane would be widened as part of this grant (staff said full road widening would be a separate capital project likely requiring bonds), and how often the channel might need dredging (staff said silt removal likely on a periodic basis, not necessarily annually, and would depend on future development).

Staff noted that some related projects (widening Ag Road, extensions of M 121 E) would be future capital initiatives and that right-of-way dedication requirements have affected past developer negotiations. Because this meeting was a workshop, council did not take formal votes on the grant, contract amendment or resolutions; staff asked council to confirm availability to move forward with design, to finalize the Langford amendment and to bring the resolutions back for formal action as needed.

The next procedural steps staff described: confirm consultant availability for policy review, finalize the Langford amendment, complete design and survey work, put the project out for bid in the appropriate next fiscal year, coordinate with the EDC on the regional detention plan, and prepare documentation to close out the grant with the Texas General Land Office by March 2027.

Ending: Staff said they will confirm Kelly Moore's availability for the strategic-plan check-in (a separate agenda item) and will return to council with formal ordinance/resolution items and the proposed Langford contract amendment for approval at a future meeting.