Residents tell city officials drainage issues are to blame
HUTTO – Homeowners in the Durango Farms subdivision near downtown say problems caused by poor drainage in the 3-year-old neighborhood are creating a flood of financial woes.
Storm water collects in stagnant pools despite the developer’s efforts to fix the issue, damaging homes in the subdivision and in neighboring residential areas, the City Council heard during its June 5 meeting.
Two attempts already made to correct the problem failed, with council members at various points considering remedies including having fences adjusted and easements ceded to the city.
“I have lived in that community since January of 2022,” said Kara Field, who is part of the Durango Farms Owner Group, a homeowner’s association. “I have watched this drainage project happen. It is an absolute failure. … What I’m seeing right now is failed infrastructure. Why should we as homeowners be responsible for failed infrastructure problems?”
After much discussion, council members asked City Engineer Matt Rector to encourage the HOA and developer Meritage Homes to cooperate on a solution and redesign the drainage.
The city should also work with homeowners to get fences moved so that renovation and maintenance can be performed without having to enter private property, officials said.
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“I really don’t think it’s right, personally,
to put this kind of a (maintenance) responsibility on an HOA. There’s just no way that’s ever going to be a long-term viable solution,” said Mayor Pro Tem Peter Gordon. “My more significant concern is the current design is in the backyards of those people. Because then if we do take over the easement, I would be extremely uncomfortable doing that while it’s in their backyards still.”
Field said the drainage problem has already cost property owners money after two failed attempts to alleviate adverse conditions. She said the HOA had to raise fees on its 250 homeowners to pay for upkeep.
The drainage concern stems from nine residences that were improperly graded so that water does not flow into the existing storm drains, residents told city officials. Instead, liquid pools in yards and flows into properties in the neighboring subdivision on FM 1660, they added.
Meritage Homes has tried to fix the issue by building a submerged trench or French drain system through the affected area, the city was told. The developer is now working on an upgrade that would add a concrete trench at the bottom.
However, residents don’t believe the mitigation effort will work. Field said homeowners cannot financially afford a third attempt.
“How is that fair to
“What I’m seeing right now is failed infrastructure.”
— Kara Field, Durango Farms Owner Group
us as homeowners?” Field said.
Rector said he had been hired by the city just over a month before the project was first presented to him.
“At that point, I suggested they shorten people’s backyards and put a traditional storm drain system,” Rector said. “That’s obviously problematic for multiple reasons ... and I understand that from a political, sales, landowner thing. But from an engineer perspective that is the cleanest, simplest, most straightforward task to mitigate these issues.”
Rector said his focus is ensuring plans by private developers meet the city’s technical requirements, but he does not have any sway over how private builders design projects.
“Could this work? Is it properly designed? Yes. But in my personal professional judgment would I recommend this kind of thing if I was working for a client? No, I would not,” Rector said. “I will look at everything when they submit it to us and see if I see any issues with it. But if this was a public infrastructure project that I knew the city was going to be on the hook for maintaining in the long run, I would not recommend that you guys do this.”
Council members said they remained sympathetic to the homeowners’ plight but added legally they have few options. A major obstacle is that the existing French drain runs inside the fence line of the affected properties.
Whether the HOA or the city maintains the drainage, somebody will have to go into people’s backyards every month to check for clogs.
Rector recommended homeowners move their fence lines to the inside edge of the easement, which would be expensive and would also shorten the yards by at least 10 feet.
“Whether the HOA keeps it or the city takes it over, the fences are going to be a problem. The wooden fences that cross the drainage at every lot are going to have to be pulled out,” Rector said.
Once the fences are moved, homeowners would cede their easements to the city and make it municipal property, council members said.
Mayor Mike Snyder expressed concerns about what effect helping Durango Farms would have on other developers, potentially leading future builders to cut corners.
“How do we get it to where we have neighborhoods built without problems or is this just how it is?” he said.
