Important Facts About Misinformation

CLC Green Plan Advisory Group Rebuttal to Misinformation

A flyer was circulated sometime last week with completely erroneous information regarding the reuse of the old Clear Lake Golf Course and the current activity to gain community input for the park-like amenities that are to go into it. The opinion and viewpoint of the flyer do not represent the views of any of the CLC Green Plan subcommittees, and it has been circulated by an anonymous party, without the authorization of any Green Plan group.

In an effort to clarify the misinformation in the flyer with the facts, please see below:

1. The Clear Lake City Water Authority (CLCWA) purchased the old golf course from the former owner for the purpose of storm water management and flood control for the geographical area that includes portions of the Horsepen Bayou and Armand Bayou watersheds. The purchase of this property from the former owner thwarted his attempts to sell the golf course to a developer to build out into multi-family housing, commercial, and single family homes. There are currently Harris County flood control drainage ditches within the 178-acre property that have been found to be insufficient during large storm events in Clear Lake. The property will be retrofitted to manage substantial levels of storm water with state of the art detention capabilities. In addition, once the engineering phase is completed, the CLCWA will work with other entities to incorporate park-like recreational amenities for the community’s use. SWA, a renowned landscape architectural firm, has been engaged to create a master plan, and is currently actively involved at all levels as we gather the community input for our presentations at the August 30 meeting. The master plan is far from complete and is contingent on community input, as well as the constraints of the engineering elements. The renderings on the website from SWA are a visual only, to be used as a starting point. Please see the website for more information and the CLCWA and SWA presentations, www.clcgreenplan.org.

2. We have a capable and industrious group of volunteers representing us. The CLCWA has appointed a group of local residents and area experts, the CLC Green Plan Advisory Group, whose charge is to gather input on what the community would like to see done with the property once it is outfitted for flood control. The effort here has been thorough, transparent and on-going. The objective is to get as many residents as possible to weigh in on the project, make suggestions, and give ideas. Flyers announcing the first town hall meeting and the website were hand delivered to all golf course lot owners. Six large and active subcommittees have been formed and are actively engaged in the recommendation process. A huge email list is in place, and growing, to be used for updates as we proceed. A website, www.clcgreenplan.org, with a blog for commenting is in place to house all activity for the project and a Facebook page has been created for further commenting: https://www.facebook.com/ReUseOfTheClearLakeGolfCourse?ref=hl The recommendations are only as good as your input and it is not too late to let us know what you think.

3. Under no circumstances has, and at no time will, raw sewer water be used for any portion of this project. In fact, the use of treated re-use water must be authorized by the TCEQ. If
authorized, the treated water or "re-use water" must meet state quality standards which include a minimum sampling and analysis frequency directed by the TCEQ. UV disinfection is used as disinfection to inactivate the growth of pathogenic organisms. Re-use water is actually cleaner than the water in the ditches and bayous today. It should be noted that treated water had been used to water the “old golf course” for several decades when it was open and the lines still exist. The treated water continues to be used to water the Bay Oaks Golf Course and the UHCL lawns, however most of it is surplus and is piped into the bayou. What would make it drinking water? The addition of ammonia and chlorine. Check out the CLCWA’s latest newsletter mailed to your home, or the CLCWA website for detailed information, www.clcwa.org.

4. Every consideration is being given to the trees on the property. SWA has conducted an extensive photo documentation which will be used to determine some of the storm water engineering elements, as well as the outcome of the amenities development. As many of the old oaks and other trees as possible will be saved. Research is being conducted to assess the viability of moving some of them as well. The CLCWA will do all it can to save as many trees as possible.

We look forward to hearing from you and want your feedback and input on this great effort for our community. Feel free to email comments to clcgreenplan@gmail.com, or post comments on the website blog at www.clcgreenplan.org or on Facebook, see link above. Keep up to date with all the action at the website: www.clcgreenplan.org.

August Meetings for Hike Bike Trails Committee

Meet at the Coffee Oasis every Thursday night in August at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the ideas and recommendations of the Hike Bike Trails group for the August 30th recommendation presentation.  Contact Doug Peterson for more information:  dougpeterson@earthlink.net

Check Out Our FACEBOOK Page!

Leave your comments on our new Facebook page.  Thank you Claire Mules for getting that set up!

https://www.facebook.com/ReUseOfTheClearLakeGolfCourse?ref=hl

It's a busy month, with all the subcommittees getting their proposals organized and finalized.  The Aug. 30 Town Hall at St. Bernadette's Parish Hall, at 7 pm, will be a very interesting and exciting.  Plan to attend, and be sure to contact any of the subcommittee chairs listed in the posts to get involved.

Hike Bike Trails Proposal Based on Clear Lake Study

Please spend time on the Clear Lake Bicycle and Pedestrian Study that is toward the bottom of this Houston-Galveston Area Council website. Our proposal will probably be similar to the study.

http://www.h-gac.com/community/qualityplaces/pedbike/special-districts/default.aspx

Add your comments about this. We want to know what you think. And plan to come to the meeting July 26 at the Freeman Library at 7 pm to hear our discussions.

Hike Bike Trails Subcommittee Meetings Schedule

Clear Lake area residents are encouraged to attend a Hike/Bike Trails meeting at the Freeman Library on July 26 at 7 p.m. to review and discuss options for hike and bike trails at the former Clear Lake golf course. While the Clear Lake City Water Authority acquired the property for flood water retention, the local community is able to recommend additional recreational uses of the property to be funded by other government entities. The Trails Sub-committee seeks additional input for its final report at a townhall
meeting on Aug.30 at St. Bernadette's Church, 15500 El Camino Real.

Our scheduled dates for meetings until the final presentation are below.  Please come if you can, location to be announced at the July 26 meeting.  Contact Doug at dougpeterson@earthlink.net with questions.
8/2

8/9

8/16

8/23

8/30

Park-like Amenities Will Also Be Considered

The meeting on August 30 at 7pm at St. Bernadette's will focus primarily on the proposals by the established subcommittees, which are working hard at making sure they have as much of your input as possible.  BUT it is good to know that some of the other ideas you have suggested, that are not organized into a group of volunteers, will also be considered options when the final decisions are made.  As you scroll through the blog and look at some of the comments, you will see some of those.  A good example is a family or kids' playground, that would replace our wonderful old Rocket Park.

You can help be sure your ideas are considered by commenting regularly on the blog posts, or by using the email on the home page.   It is an exciting time, and a seriously wonderful community effort!  Let us hear what you think!

From the Houston Chronicle our own Cindy Bandemer!

Check out this link from today's Chronicle/Ultimate/This Week:
http://www.chron.com/news/article/Veggies-instead-of-tees-possible-3696958.p
hp




Our Subcommittee Chairman, Cindy Bandemer ROCKS!... even if she GARDENS!

Town Hall Meeting Aug. 30

Mark your calendar for the next Town Hall meeting to hear each of the subcommittees present a summary of their recommended proposals to the community and the Advisory Group.

Location:  St. Bernadette's Parish Hall on El Camino and El Dorado
                 
Time:        7 pm to 9 pm

Each of the following subcommittees will present their recommended plan:  Athletic Fields, Community Gardens, Dog Park, Hike/Bike, Landscaping, and Wetlands.
Keep an eye on the blog for updates as these groups make progress and hold meetings for your input!

Guidelines and Constraints for Subcommittee Proposals

Guidelines for Subcommittee Proposals

Now that the various subcommittees for the CLC Green Plan Golf Course Reutilization Advisory Group have started to work on their proposals, a number of questions have come up about the current status and plans for the land. The following will attempt to address some of these questions and can be used as a guideline for considering options by the subcommittees.

Current Status

The CLC Water Authority Board has purchased the former Clear Lake Golf Course for the purpose of adding stormwater detention capability consistent with the CLCWA charter. Approximately 2038 acres drain into the land. Most of that drainage is from the north and west sides of the golf course, but some of the land on the other sides of the course also drain into it. This is only a portion of the area known as Clear Lake City, but the stormwater detention provided by the plan will help prevent flooding in much of the area through related impacts in waterways like Horsepen Bayou.

The land purchased by the Water Authority totals 178 acres. Hydrology studies contracted by the Water Authority indicate that the Harris County standard of detaining a 6 inch rain is insufficient to prevent significant flooding in Clear Lake due to the heavier rainfall experienced in the southern part of Harris County. By increasing the detention standard to accommodate a 12 inch rain, the flooding potential in Clear Lake can be greatly reduced. This is the standard the Water Authority has adopted, and the one they are trying to accommodate with the former Golf Course land.

To hold a 12 inch rainfall from the 2038 acres draining into the golf course land, the average elevation must be reduced by 11.4 feet. This is a very simplistic way of looking at the engineering involved, but it gives some idea of the changes needed. The depth of the land can be easily calculated using the following formula:

Depth  =  2038 acres drained X 1 foot (12 inches) of rainfall  /  178 acres in the golf course

This calculation sets the average depth, which is 11 and ½ feet. Since the digging would not be straight down, and since some “set back” is needed to prevent erosion by the stormwater runoff from the surrounding homes, the lowest depth will be greater than the average, probably closer to 12 – 13 feet. Drainage and other hydrology considerations will further adjust the specific elevations at any specific location.

The only unwavering standard from the Water Authority is that the land will be used for stormwater detention, and it must be engineered to detain the 1 foot rainfall from the 2038 acres draining to the land.

Since the purchase of the land, the Water Authority has initiated the CLC Green Plan Advisory Group and commissioned various subcommittees to recommend additional “shared” uses for the land. The Water Authority has also hired SWA Landscape Architects to assist in preparing a Master Plan to be used in further negotiations with the City, Harris County, and Harris County Flood Control. The Master Plan will also be used to apply for funding grants from businesses, local, State and Federal agencies to construct and maintain the amenities that will be planned for the shared uses of the land. At this time, a MASTER PLAN DOES NOT EXIST. The Master Plan will be developed from decisions made by the Water Authority; these decisions will be based on the recommendations of the various subcommittees, recommendations from SWA, the Water Authority evaluation of the feasibility of the various proposals, and the Water Authority evaluation of the greatest benefit to the community from the amenities. The Master Plan will not be the final design document. It is still a broad conceptual document laying out the general direction the CLCWA intends to go, with many details yet to be worked out. The preliminary sketches created by SWA are not the Master Plan. The sketches are merely potential concepts that carry no more weight than any recommendations from the subcommittees. The sketches and concepts from SWA should not be considered constraints or final plans in any manner.

Subcommittee Constraints

The only hard and fast constraint is that the land will be used to hold the one foot rainfall from the 2038 acres being drained. The other constraints presented at the May 10 Town Hall Meeting should be viewed as City, County or Flood Control standards. These standards could be negotiated as long as the intent of the standard is met by the proposals. In particular, the 30 foot setback standard can be negotiated; SWA assumed that the setback could be changed in developing their proposal. Subcommittees have this same capability in developing their plans. However, when any of the secondary constraints from the May 10 meeting are “violated” in a proposal, the Subcommittee should highlight this as an area that will need to be negotiated between the Water Authority and the other governmental bodies. Similarly the setback does not have to be fixed at all locations. If it is desired to vary the setback to accommodate large trees or other “nature preserves”, this can be considered as long as the primary use of stormwater detention can be met. Please note that the negotiation around these secondary standards is a Water Authority responsibility. Subcommittees are free to recommend deviations from the standards, but the negotiations regarding them will be done later by the Water Authority during the subsequent development of the Master Plan.

Other constraints like access and additional parking are likewise flexible. While it is desired that no “hard surface” areas (concrete or asphalt) be added, additional access and parking using permeable surfaces could be considered. There are likely to be many requests for land near the existing hard surface parking areas, so highlighting of alternate access and potential permeable parking areas might be well received.

The “constraints” created by the SWA proposal that uses much of the land as lakes should not deter subcommittees from proposing alternate uses for the land. The SWA concept has no more weight than any subcommittee proposal.

Conclusion

Both the Clear Lake Green Plan Advisory Committee and the Water Authority want to express our gratitude to the many volunteers who are working to develop proposals. We see this effort as a key in defining the best uses for the land that bring the greatest benefit to the entire community. We want your ideas and concepts, and the ideas should not be fettered by unnecessary constraints from any source. All ideas are welcome, and the Water Authority also wants to hear any potential concerns so that they can better evaluate the various proposals.

Official Format for Subcommittee Proposals

Subcommittee Name

CL Golf Course Reutilization Proposal

The following describes the preferred content of the subcommittee proposals for the reutilization of the Clear Lake Golf Course consistent with the primary use of the land for rainwater detention. Although strict adherence to this outline is not required, the content should be addressed in the proposal. If the format can be followed it will ease the considerations of the CLCWA Board in developing the Master Plan.

Executive Summary
Section should contain a short statement (1-2 paragraphs) that gives a summary of the proposal.

Overview
A slightly more detailed description of the proposal, highlighting alternates considered, expected utilization, community benefits, and overall space impact of the proposed amenities. If other considerations like parking, access, location, funding, etc., are significant these should be presented. This section should contain a maximum of 8-10 short paragraphs. Use this section to “sell” your concepts.

Concepts and Alternates
Detail proposal concepts and potential alternates in this section. The proposals should include size and location of the concepts and alternates. Other considerations like parking, public access, handicap access and location should be addressed as applicable. If size or location considerations are significant to funding, these issues should be emphasized in this section as well as appearing later in the applicable sections. Similarly, if there is other “miscellaneous” information that should be included in the considerations (e.g., potential tie-ins to other trails for the hike and bike trail), please include these comments. Sketches and drawings may be referenced or incorporated in the section as applicable.

Expected Community Utilization and Benefits
Outline best estimates for community utilization of the space(s) and potential auxiliary benefits to the community. This section may be used to help justify the subcommittee preferences regarding the alternates presented. This section could be very significant in weighing potential alternate uses of space between the various subcommittee proposals so please use care in preparing your estimates.

Costs, Feasibility, and Construction Considerations
If cost estimates or feasibility studies have been developed for the various alternates, include these here; these studies are not necessarily expected as part of the proposal, but please include them if they are available. Similarly if there are construction considerations they should be included as applicable. Such considerations might include that construction of the amenities should progress in a specific sequence to help control costs. If the proposal could be constructed in phases, please include that information as well as preferences for which sections should be developed first.

Construction Funding
If the subcommittee has defined potential funding mechanisms, please include that information. It is not necessarily expected that the subcommittee would have developed such information, but include this information if it is available.

Operation and Maintenance Costs
If operation and maintenance costs have been defined, include the estimates here. Likewise, if support staff are required, include estimates of the headcounts involved. If the subcommittee has identified a preference for the long term operator (e.g., City or County Park Departments) include these considerations. If it is expected that maintenance will be done by volunteer organizations using the facilities, please identify the volunteer organization(s).

Other Considerations
If there are other issues not included in the areas above, include in this section. Such considerations might include security requirements, associated facility improvements (e.g., potable water requirements), potential health concerns or other liability issues.

CLC Scouts and Parents Update

Clear Lake City scouts and parents, you may have seen these signs around town:

They are for the Clear Lake City Green Plan, the plan to reuse the old golf course by the CLC Water Authority for rain water detention.  I’m Kyle Swisher, Troop 848/youth liaison for the CLC Green Plan Advisory Group, and over the next two months any and all input from the community will continue to be gathered.  You don’t even have to live on the golf course to voice your opinion, but sub-committees have been formed to create various proposals, things from hike and bike trails to dog parks will be taken into consideration and any other interests that you might have.  The CLCWA knows that the course means a lot to the citizens of Clear Lake and will do what they can to help make it more community friendly.  This project is going to take a very long time and is going to generate plenty of opportunities for service hours and eagle projects, so area scouts can play a big role in the creation and continuation of the area.  Go to the website and review the information, review or comment on the blogs, or even join one of the sub-committees if you want to.  If you have any other questions you can send them to me in an email at dngswish@comcast.net.

Have a great 4^th of July everybody!
Kyle Swisher.

Community Garden Report July 9

Community Garden Subcommittee

Progress Report

Type(s) of Gardens

The group consensus is to develop community gardens that over time will serve personal, charitable and educational purposes.  These gardens will be phased in as resources and volunteers allow, but will include:

• Allotment plots for individuals/families
• Donation/charitable plots
• Pollination/habitat/butterfly garden
• Common orchards (fruit trees, nut trees, blackberries, blueberries, etc.)
• Common perennial herbs
• Since several people have stated an interest in memorial gardens of some kind, either the orchards, perennials or habitat gardens might be appropriate for memorial purposes

Features/Site(s)

The group discussed several possible ways of developing sites for gardens, which generated some questions to be asked of the Advisory Committee and Water Authority.  The advantages and disadvantages of each will be presented and discussed on July 8.

Features to be considered for incorporation into the site (per Urban Harvest and meetings with successful community gardens):

• Picnic arbor/structure to provide shade and a place for participant gathering and education
• Bathroom or bathroom access
• Outdoor kitchen with sink/water
• Barbecue area
• Tool shed
• Cistern for rainwater collection
• Water source for irrigation needs
• Composting site/structure
• Perimeter demarcation (berry brambles, ornamental boarders, fencing)
• Planting beds
• Signage

Recruiting Community Support

• The group needs to more broadly recruit interested parties to demonstrate the desire for community gardens as part of the golf course development and to establish networks of organizations and individuals who will form the corps of supporters and volunteers for gardens. 

Deliverables

The usual timeline for volunteer recruitment, design and development of a small community garden is 1-2 years.  The short timeline between now and the due date for the presentation to the Advisory Committee and community in late August means that this subcommittee will aim to present a preliminary, yet thoughtful Master Plan with options, a long list of potential volunteers and supporters, and a fundraising strategy that together demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating community gardens into the golf course project.

Questions for the Advisory Committee/Water Authority

• When will a non-profit entity be organized through which fundraising could be initiated?
• Are we restricted to the designated acreage for “recreation” or are other smaller areas within the golf course boundaries available for use?
• Where exactly is the boundary between the rec center property and the CLC Water Authority property?
• What are the restrictions on structures (e.g., bathrooms, shed, and picnic arbor)?  It sounds like they can be paid for privately, but not owned privately?  If they are approved by the master plan, can they be developed and owned by the CLC Water Authority or County?
• What irrigation system is currently in place?  Will any of it be maintained? 
• Can future irrigation be planned into the landscape master plan?  Presumably water taps/drinking fountains will be part of the hike and bike system.  Could the gardens piggy back on these lines?
• Is the Water Authority open to providing water for the gardens, or must separate meters be installed and owned by the “Friends” organization or another non-profit developed to govern the community garden.