MUD 26 – Lamping Project

Your Brazoria County Municipal Water District 26 is responsible for financing critical areas of infrastructure inside our neighborhood. An important piece that we finance and then turn over to the City of Pearland to operate is the storm sewer system. During Hurricane Harvey, the storm sewers financed by MUD 26 were able to handle an unprecedented amount of rainfall. The amount of rainfall and the potential for destructive items to enter the systems can cause problems that cannot be seen from the street or via simple optical inspection. MUD 26 has hired Camino Services to “go underground” and detect problem areas. This preventative maintenance project is commonly referred as “lamping.”

The district’s engineer, LJA Engineering, assigns key locations to be reviewed; then Camino Services creates high-resolution digital media of the storm sewer system locations.  These images, reviewed by both parties, are used to determine if damage has occurred.

If you notice areas of slow drainage, please notify us through the “Contact us” page on this website.

Our website also contains meeting minutes that provide additional information and the discussions of the board members and consultants. Brazoria County MUD 26 meets the first Tuesday of every month at 11:00 a.m. in Greenway Plaza area.  Come take a work break and have lunch with us. All residents are invited to attend.

 

Clearing on SCR Nature Trail

During the most recent MUD meeting a resident asked about the clearing on the SCR nature trail. This would be the area next to the park south of Clear Creek, east side adjacent to Kingsley.

The City of Pearland let us know that there is a habitat restoration project in the area. They removed some invasive species including tallow trees.

If there are additional questions please let us know.

MUD 26’s Year in Review: 2017

The year 2017 was an active one for your Brazoria County Municipal Utility District 26. This post will detail our main success stories of the past year. Throughout 2018, we will utilize posts like this one to keep you up to date on timely news and other information about the MUD, as we strive to keep you informed. If you have any questions or concerns, please notify us through the “Contact us” page on this website.

Here are some notes from last year:

Hurricane Harvey – Category 4 Hurricane Harvey left widespread damage across the greater Houston area. However, we residents of Shadow Creek Ranch suffered little, compared to some of our neighbors. Considering what could have been, we are thankful that we have only heard that  seventeen homes in the community sustained water damage. MUD 26 is proactively working to ensure the stability of our storm sewer system by searching for any unseen damage. Currently, we are having cameras sent into the storm drains to take high-definition photos. This will help to determine what additional action, if any, we will need to take to ready our storm sewer system for the next hurricane season.

Security – With nearly one million people coming in and out of the City of Pearland on a daily basis, a few years ago, the Shadow Creek Ranch community began seeing an increase in crime rates, specifically burglaries. During the past three years, a new security camera system was designed to help ensure the safety of residents inside our community. Since MUDs are very restricted in what they can spend money on, the MUD reached out to SCRMA (the Shadow Creek Ranch homeowners association) to help get security cameras installed. SCRMA did not have enough money in its budget to fund the installation of these security cameras.  So, the MUD helped out and funded needed repairs to the detention pond side slopes to free up SCRMA funds.  This cooperation helped get the SCRMA  camera system installed. According to the Pearland Police Department, the cameras helped to catch murder suspects and theft suspects, as well as a shooter in a vehicle. Crime in the community overall has seen a drop from 2016 to 2017, with robberies down 56 percent, burglaries down 33 percent, aggravated assaults down 25 percent, and thefts down 17 percent. Assisting with this decrease in incidents are the additional patrols of off-duty Pearland officers, hired by the MUD and our sister MUD, Brazoria-Fort Bend MUD 1 to help patrol our area.  The MUDs also hire added patrols during busier times of year, such as during the holidays.

The Master Park Project – After a series of delays, for various reasons out of our control, the City of Pearland finally started its development of a Master Park Project. While we were waiting, MUD 26 felt strongly about the lack of usable open space for community residents and their children. With the City of Pearland being one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, the MUD chose to keep pace with growth by leasing a plot of land from the City, where the city had eventual plans for improvement as part of the Shadow Creek Ranch Sports Park. The MUD voted to escalate that process by developing the land ourselves, making temporary ball field space for our families. This four-acres was at the corner of Shadow Creek Parkway and Kingsley was developed into a space with multi-use recreational fields, including temporary ball fields: eight adult softball fields, eight baseball fields, a volleyball court, and an additional walkway around the park.  The work we did has since encouraged the City to build and open the first phase of the regional sports park in Shadow Creek Ranch.  MUD 26 has returned the land to the City, who now operates and maintains this extra acreage as part of the larger Sports Park.  The MUD also joined in with our sister MUD, Brazoria-Fort Bend MUD 1 to finance the water, sanitary and drainage facilities at the Sports Park.  This funding allowed the City to increase its budget for the first phase of the Regional Sports Park.  Now, thanks to this cooperative efforts, in  addition to offering unorganized leisure activities for residents, the Regional Sports Park now hosts adult softball, Little League baseball, and flag football. We hope the City will continue to develop the Park due to its location which allows easy and convenient use and enjoyment for our community.

Blue Ridge Landfill – The Shadow Creek Ranch MUDs exerted pressure to encourage the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to take action to determine the source of the foul odors in the community from the Blue Ridge Landfill. TCEQ investigated complaints and discovered that the Blue Ridge Landfill had multiple violations of their permit. Both MUDs continue to work with St. Representatives Ed Thompson and Ron Reynolds to assist as they need to expedite a solution to eliminate these odors. Because the MUD is limited to what it can spend funds on under the Texas Water Code, we are doing as much as we can to encourage others with more authority to take action. An Odor Task Force has been formed by the City of Pearland, and they have created a website to update the community on their efforts to resolve this issue. The website also contains information about how residents can report any additional complaints related to the odor. Anyone interested in this issue can visit the following link: https://www.pearlandtx.gov/other-city-pages/west-pearland-air-quality. The city of Pearland recently sued the landfill also over a breach of a settlement agreement between the landfill and the City. Please encourage the City Council to aggressively pursue its legal rights. The MUD will be following the case and well as the status of TCEQ review of corrective plans by the Landfill to determine what, if anything, the MUD can do to help.  The MUDs want to help determine what and who should take the next steps.

Financial – Through hard work and a fiscally conservative nature, the district bond rating from national rating agencies remains excellent. The MUD has contributed to this in two ways: (1) by aggressively paying off the bonds early when possible and (2) by shortening the maturity schedule which helps the bonds sell at a lower interest rate, therefore paying significantly less overall cost for infrastructure.

MUD 26 is proud of this year’s achievements and is looking forward to continuing to serve our community as we go into the year 2018.

For more updates on MUD 26’s initiatives in the Shadow Creek Ranch Community, please visit our website. If there are items you want us cover in the future, or if you have any questions or concerns, please notify us through the “Contact us” page on the district website www.Shadowcreekranchmuds.com.