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.