Mitigation Planning Committee Meeting #5 (October 6, 2003)

Meeting Discussions

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  Overview of Work Session – A City Council work session was held on the evening of October 6. The Council was briefed on the current status of the plan and was asked to approve the draft plan for public review. After a short question and answer session, the Council approved the release of the public review draft.
  
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  Review updated timeline – with recent changes on the date and time of the Council Work Session, and to allow enough time for public review, the timeline for completion of the plan was revised and reviewed with the committee. Please reference the approved, revised timeline below.
  

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  Linking Mitigation Goals to Actions – the committee reviewed the mitigation goal statement and evaluated each proposed mitigation action item to ensure each action met one or more elements of the mitigation goal statement. The following table is the result of this discussion.
  

Table 7-3 Linking Mitigation Goals & Actions.
Element of Goal Statement	Actions Relating to Goal
Protect public health, safety and welfare	1, 3, 4, 5, 6
Increasing public awareness of hazards	2, 3, 6
Mitigating risks due to those hazards	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The committee reviewed each of the high priority action items to ensure all required data were provided. Updates provided during this review will be captured in the draft plan.

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  Review of Maps – the committee decided to remove Map 5-2 from the draft plan as the sheer number of data points on the map made it unreadable and confusing. Text will be added in place of this map.
  
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  Communication Brochures – the committee reviewed the two communication flyers. With the exception of a change to a phone number, the flyers were approved by the committee. The flyers will be finalized once City Council members have had an opportunity to comment.
  

The committee unanimously approved the release of the draft plan for public review. The draft plan will be made available to the public the week of 13 October and a public meeting is scheduled for 29 October from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the community center. Cindy Alcala has the lead on preparing for this public meeting (location and publicity).

TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT FLOODING

AND OTHER HAZARDS IN THE CITY OF PEARLAND AND SHARE YOUR IDEAS ABOUT REDUCING FUTURE DAMAGE

The City of Pearland has secured grant funding from state and federal sources to prepare a plan to help address damage from hazards and safety risks. Part of our planning process is to utilize this questionnaire to collect information about hazards in your community.  As you will notice, the majority of questions are related to flooding, since this has historically been the hazard with the greatest impact on the City. However, we are interested in your assessment of all hazards and their historical and future potential impacts. Your input is an important part of the planning process. We will hold a public meeting to present the draft plan during Summer 2003.  At that time you will learn about mitigation planning and proposals.

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  Drainage/storm sewer backups as a significant contributor to flooding. Respondent’s recommendations include improving drainage beyond current needs and keeping all ditches and creeks cleaned.
  
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  Street flooding as a significant problem.
  
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  New home developments are being built higher than older, established neighborhoods, and there is a concern the City is allowing too much new development (residential and commercial). It was stated that both of these concerns are contributing to flooding. Respondent’s recommendations include enforcing zoning and regulations to prevent overbuilding and to reduce new home building permits.
  
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  HazMat accidents are a significant potential hazard. This concern was furthered with the concern that City roads may be too congested to handle an evacuation.
  
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  Increased traffic in the City is a hazard that has increased in severity in recent years.
  
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  Sewers backup during most heavy rains.
  
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  Recommend cleaning/dredging Clear Creek.
  
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  Most all respondents stated they are aware of the City’s floodplain permitting requirements.