Published: May 15, 2008 05:40 pm         

Clear Creek Watershed to address safety concerns

Anyone who was in the June 18, 2007, flood in Gainesville knows well the importance of controlling the flow and drainage area of a large creek.

But it’s not just Pecan and Elm creeks in Gainesville that have caused woes for county residents over the years. Families living around Clear Creek in southwestern Cooke County experienced flooding in the 1950s which destroyed highway bridges and flooded farms and ranches for weeks. The disaster prompted the creation of the Clear Creek Watershed Authority in 1959, which built a series of dams and drainage ditches to control water levels near the mighty waterway.

An election for the Board of Directors of the watershed authority was held on Saturday. However, some of the results of the election are still being determined as a three-way tie occurred for seventh place.

Dr. Lee Goodman, Dr. Larry Klein and Fred Stevens are tied for seventh place, each with 140 votes, in the Clear Creek Watershed Authority election.

Seven seats were vacant on the nine-member taxing entity, which covers the drainage area of Clear Creek and is intended to build and maintain dams and flood control structures and channels to keep the creek from overflowing.

The following candidates won their seats on the board: Bo Crossen (218 votes), Phil Hancock (187 votes), Dr. Walter Knight (216 votes), Edwin “Demps” Knight (221 votes), Claire Fortenberry O’Berry (226 votes) and Craig Waggoner (151 votes).

The following candidates did not receive enough votes to attain a seat on the volunteer board of directors: Lisa Crossen, Debra Holcombe, John Holstead, Chuck Pedroso and Scott Sanford.

Demps Knight, Era resident, said he said he has a lot of work to do in order to get started on the board.

“I’ve got mixed emotions about it,” he said. “It’s nice for people to have confidence in me, and now it seems like we have a job to do. It’s time to get my feet on the ground.”

According to Neil Bowie, vice president and secretary of the board of directors, the watershed authority and county officials will have to determine the eligibility of 30 provisional ballots. In other words, Bowie said, 30 votes were contested as election judges were not certain the voters were residents of the watershed drainage area.

Bowie said he hopes it will be resolved before the next meeting of the watershed authority, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. May 21 (a Wednesday) at the Muenster State Bank Gainesville Banking Center Community Room, at 1601 W. U.S. Highway 82.

Bowie said he expects business to continue as it has with the watershed authority. He said several candidates in the May 10 election were opposed to higher taxes, and most did not win.

As it stands, the tax rate is 6.5 cents per $100 property valuation.

A letter, dated April 13, 2008, from Betty Knight Taylor of the MK Ranch near Rosston, urged a vote for O’Berry, Demps Knight, Walter Knight, Bo Crossen Hancock and Stevens.

“Some of the other candidates have expressed the opinion that the site owners should bear the cost of maintenance on the dams, and even that the Watershed Authority should be dismantled and the dams abandoned,” the letter, which was mailed to “site owners” in the Clear Creek drainage area, stated.

Goodman, in an interview Tuesday afternoon, said there was some misinformation being circulated about the candidates of which he was affiliated.

“The folks I was affiliated with had a goal of increasing efficiency, while keeping the tax rate as low as possible, and keeping the dams maintained,” Goodman said.

In a response letter, which urged a vote for Goodman, Pedroso, Holcombe, Sanford, Holstead and Walker, said they intended to “keep the CCWA tax rate as low as is reasonably possible, while assuring all CCWA property owners’ rights are protected.” Other goals, the letter said, included maintaining dams, addressing “waste and inefficiency,” and opening records of the watershed authority.

Other goals included encouraging open participation in the board meetings and distributing announcements of them.

“The CCWA Board should have no secrets,” the response letter read.

Bowie said the watershed authority suffered from “benign neglect” over the years.

“It’s a public safety issue that has for many years suffered from a benign neglect,” Bowie said. “As the Pecan Creek deaths showed us recently, flood control is not something you want to ignore.”

For first 16 years, Bowie said, the watershed authority taxed at the maximum 10 cents per $100 valuation rate.

(The taxing jurisdiction extends to the drainage area, and a map is provided on the watershed authority’s Web site, listed below).

In the 17th year, there was a change, Bowie said, and the tax rate was dropped to zero. It remained at zero for five years, he said, until the 23rd year, when the watershed board raised the rate to 1 cent per $100 valuation.

“When I came on the board four years ago, it was at a penny. And a penny is not enough to do the maintenance and repair functions that need to be done,” Bowie said, adding that much of the maintenance of dams was deferred to the county governments.

Bowie said two sites were heavily damaged in storms last year, and insufficient funds were available for repairs.

“We are very fortunate is that the federal government originally gave us more than $100 million worth of dams ... on the condition that the residents of the watershed maintains them,” he said. “That’s what the watershed is all about ...”

“Flood control is not a glamorous topic, but people need to be aware of what’s going on, here,” he continued.

On the Net:

Clear Creek Watershed Authority: www.ccwa-tx.org

Reporter Andy Hogue may be contacted at andyhoguegdr@ntin.net