Bellaire Drainage Study is a Potential Game-Changer

Good decision making and long-term planning start with good information.  Over the past several months the City Engineer has been working on a detailed study, utilizing sophisticated technologies such as 3-D LiDAR surveys, to collect data and develop more accurate storm water modeling.  The dramatic potential of this new information is hard to overstate.  The results of this study may very well reshape the way we think about flooding and drainage, both locally and regionally.

The following is my layman’s summary of the highlights of the study.  For a complete copy of the City Engineer’s report, click here, and for the accompanying presentation slides, here.

Revised Water and Sewer Rate Proposal Adopted, New Rates Go Into Effect October 1

Having worked throughout the summer to gather and incorporate public input, City Council has unanimously approved a modified water and sewer rate proposal to avert the looming insolvency of the Enterprise (Utility) Fund.  As detailed previously, for at least the past 22 years rates have not kept up with the rising costs of utility operations and increasingly critical infrastructure needs. Had we done nothing to correct this, we'd be looking at a negative ending fund balance as early as the end of this coming fiscal year.

Responsive to the public input we received, the original proposal (first presented in April and the subject of a town hall meeting in July) was modified in two respects: