Sewer Status:From Pam Williams May 29, 2019:I had a conversation with the City Manager about 2-3 months ago. He said that there weren’t enough residents in Bay Harbor to warrant the cost for connecting to the city sewer system. He also advised that neighborhoods such as Pointe West/Indian Beach formed their own MUD Districts to assist in the funding for sewers i.e. the residents paid thousands each.
The city still owns the property on 2nd street they bought for a lift station, but the total cost is in the millions, so doubt that Bay Harbor will see sewers in our lifetime. I believe that John Dundee came up with an idea that the city provide a stipend for each home owner to go towards purchase of the new systems that are practically individual water treatment centers. I think that’s the best idea I’ve heard!
November 2011 – Bay Harbor Sewer UpdateThis is a copy of an email exchange between Mayor Joe Jawarski and Eric Wilson from City of Galveston: From: Eric Wilson Sent: Friday, November 18, 2011 1:52 PM To: Joseph Jaworski ; gschoate@sbcglobal.net Subject: RE: Bay Harbor sewer West of Jamaica Beach the areas between Jamaica Beach and Silver Leaf, and Bay Harbor are the only areas without sanitary sewer service (Far West, & Near West Unserved Areas Projects). There are three projects associated with these two areas; the two sanitary sewer projects and the expansion of the Terramar wastewater treatment plant. Pricing for the two areas is estimated in the $10 Million per area, with an additional $4 Million for the wastewater treatment plant expansion. Total west of JB approximately $24 Million. East of Jamaica Beach the Ostermeyer/9 Mile Rd, Sportsman Rd, Sunny Beach and parts of Harborside Dr do not have sanitary sewer service. The total estimated cost for all of these projects combined is in the $8 to 10 Million range. As previously stated the projects west of JB have been included in the 5 year Capital Improvement Program and will require Council approval of rate increases and bond issuances. If there is any other information I can provide please let me know. Eric From: Joseph Jaworski [mailto:JoeJaws@jaworskilawfirm.com] Eric – I had a great meeting with Bay Harbor folks last weekend. We discussed sewer in the 5 year CIP. Questions: What west end communities are presently without sewer? Can you estimate cost of each community’s install costs – and therefore what a total sum would be? We all agreed that a resolution from the Home Owners Association would be appropriate. They may want to work with other west end communities/neighborhoods in similar boat to leverage the political will to bring west end online and therefore incentivize new homes, home improvements to exisiting homes and better water quality. Thanks for your good work!! I am copying Bay Harbor rep. Gail Choate hereto. Thanks! Joe Joe Jaworski Jaworski Law Firm 305 21st Street, Suite 222 Galveston, TX 77550 (409) 763-0700 (409) 763-6352/fax (409) 771-7139/cell joejaws@jaworskilawfirm.com This is a copy of an email exchange between John Halsey and Eric Wilson from City of Galveston (Note John’s questions and Eric’s answers after the questions:From: JOHN HALSEY [mailto:jthalsey@sbcglobal.net] Hi Eric and Dianna, I haven’t heard anything re the sewers since our meeting with Eric in the end of June. 1. What is the status of obtaining federal funding for the project? I know that the schedule for applying for funding is still down the road, but has anything been done to put together the case that water quality has deteriorated around Bay Harbor due to septic system damage from Ike? Septic Sewer Elimination Project is still one of the items on our preliminary draft list of CDBG-DR Round 2 Projects, that is available on the City’s website. However, If you haven’t read in the paper yet, there was a settlement between the State of Texas and two Housing advocacy groups, Texas Appleseed and Texas Low Income Housing Information Services. This settlement, commonly known as the Conciliation Agreement, has changed the eligibility requirements for non-housing projects. At this point in the game we do not know if this project will be eligible for CDBG-DR funding or not. Also Eric mentioned that there is a possibility that the 6 million in funds originally allocated to this project might be made available again once the city’s fiscal status stablized. Is there any progress in this direction? This path will be several years out. Basically once all other projects have closed out, maybe 2014-15 this could become an option. If the economy turns around and we can issue debt again it might come a little quicker. 2. Easements – what, if any, additional rights of way along the streets of Bay Harbor does the city need? Has Eric been in touch with Brandon to understand the legal basis he found for the city already having the right of way it needs to implement this project. Have any discussions been held with the legal department on this issue? Not yet. 3. What is the status of obtaining a location for the lift station? Did anything come of Eric’s recommendation to council to go ahead and authorize the funding to purchase the property on second street. It still appears to be on the market. Another item that may be of interest – Edwin Greiner’s property, the site which was originally planned for the lift station, is now on the market. We have made an offer that has been accepted by the owner of the vacant lot on the west side of 2nd street that you brought to us. We have conducted a survey and a phase one environmental review. Currently legal is drafting a purchase contract which I will be bringing to Council somewhere in the next several weeks. I’d appreciate hearing back from both of you. If there has been no progress as yet, perhaps we could have an idea of when there might be some progress. Regards John Halsey February 2010 – Bay Harbor Sewer UpdateOn Tuesday February 2nd, 2010 John Halsey and Bill Hand met with Eric Wilson and Karen Mahoney to discuss the status of the Bay Harbor Sewer Project. Bill explained that our septic tank situation was getting worse and that a lot of people are having problems flushing toilets and in some cases that raw sewage is running into people’s yards. Eric seems to think that the City will get enough funds in the second round of CDBG funding to complete the sewer projects on the West End and other areas. The original funding that we thought was there is no longer available for a number of reasons. We again reviewed the master plan for Bay Harbor which was completed in 2006. Eric plans to move forward with the acquisition (purchase) of land for a lift station. There are no plans to move the original location of the lift station because that would delay the project and add additional costs. We explained that the BHIA would not be involved with individual property owners during this acquisition process. We did agree to provide whatever contact information that we had available as an HOA. The bottom line is that the best case scenario would be that we may see construction start during the 1st or 2nd quarter of 2011. As most of you know, this is just another date of many that we have seen over the past six or seven years. We are trying to stay as positive as we can but we will know that our sewer project has arrived when we see heavy equipment in Bay Harbor digging holes in the ground. I do feel that we have a good working relationship with Eric. On a final note, Eric did say that if a property owner wanted to install one of the expensive “Aerobic” sewage treatment systems that even though the sewer project was completed, those property owners would not have to connect to the city system for “five to seven years”. I know that some folks are waiting to build because they are waiting for sewers and this may give some of those folks an option if they would like to take it. November, 2009 – from Bill HandThe Bay Harbor sewer project is now a City of Galveston “Phase Two Project” which means it has been moved to the back burner again. I have expressed to several of our neighbors that I will believe we are getting sewers when “I see heavy equipment moving dirt”. Until then, we will continue to “squeak” in hopes we will get some “oil” on this sewer project. August 15, 2008 – from John HalseyAs of June, there were three outstanding issues related to the sewer project that needed to be resolved– right of way along the streets, location of the lift station, and keeping the funds allocated to Bay Harbor sewers in the budget. It appears the “right of way” issue has been resolved. We are still trying to resolve the lift station location issue. It appears that the funding for Bay Harbor sewers in the 2008 Budget is safe for the time being, but, if we can’t resolve the lift station location issue, all bets are off. At our annual meeting in June, councilwoman, Karen Mahoney, announced that the city had received a legal opinion indicating that they already had all of the “right of way” needed to install sewer lines under each street in Bay Harbor. The packets that we announced would be sent to some property owners to get additional right of way will not be sent out. Based on the sewer grid layout as currently designed, there is a very limited area where a lift station can be placed. The city has started to negotiate with the property owners in that area. BHIA has been trying to help this dialogue. If no agreement can be reached with any of these property owners, then the city will be faced with one of two difficult choices. They could elect to invoke imminent domain on one of these properties or they could look for an alternative location for the lift station triggering a costly redesign of the grid layout. With the change in the make up of the city council, there has been concern that the new members might redirect the $6 million dollars in the 2008 budget that is currently stipulated for Bay Harbor sewers to some other project. Several votes have occurred in the last month that indicate the council is willing to honor its long term commitment to eliminate the use septic systems on the island. The money appears safe for the time being. As long as we can resolve the issue of the lift station, it appears that the project will be able to go forward. All other issues have been resolved. If the lift station issue can not be resolved, all bets are off. |
Bay Harbor Improvement Association
Improving the Communities of Bay Harbor, Bahia Azul, Bahia Azul-Orner, & Bee Gee Bay