UPDATE 2/19/2025: Bellaire City Council voted unaimously to award $3 milion more to Ardurra for Cypress Ditch design, even though two grant applications have been declined and no additional funding is approved at this time. Never the less, Ardurra will receive $3 million+ to prepare plans so the City will be “shovel ready” to start. You may wonder, as I do, why the City doesn’t wait to spend that money until we know the project is fully funded and approved. Watch the meeting here.
This article may be of some interest: Some Iterations Of Bellaire’s Drainage Plans And WWTP Choices
Click on the table to view Grant Activity. Two grants were not approved, but Ardurra claims they are still in the running. The only grant application that has been approved is one to provide information to residents on home elevation. No funding is involved for assistance with actual home elevations. No amounts are shown for any of the funding requests. My email to City Council follows.
Email to Bellaire City Council, February 15, 2025
Dear Mayor and members of Bellaire City Council,
Reviewing the Council agenda for February 17, 2025, I see that Ardurra Engineers is listed for a $3 million work order for more for plans for Cypress Ditch and and a detention pond on the Houston side of Beechnut. My understanding of these Ardurra projects is that the Cypress Ditch will cost around $110 million, but Bellaire has only $40 million available in bond funds.
Other than these bond funds, I would appreciate a clear, concise explanation of funding from other sources. Funds that have actually been approved and committed to the Cypress Ditch project. Also any other funding that may be available for the wastewater treatment plant rehab or replacement.
The future of the wastewater treatment plant is in flux, though oddly enough the $30 million in bond funds for that area will cover the cost of demolition of the Bellaire plant and connection to the City of Houston plant. That is the province of HDR Engineering.
The local HDR engineers seem to have a problem with providing solid information and costs for rehabbing our wastewater treatment plant, or for the cost of a new plant on the old Public Works land. But their website contains a large number of wastewater treatment plants that have been rehabbed, enlarged, or reconstructed.
When Public Works moves to the new Glenmont location wouldn’t that PW area be available for a new plant if it’s deemed necessary? Here’s an interesting article on an HDR project in Iowa.
As for a detention pond across Beechnut, which may or may not be connected to a detention pond in the Public Works area, how would those areas be connected? Is the intent to connect the two detention areas under Beechnut?
That Beechnut location is already at the lowest point in Bellaire, why not remove the solid wall around the Public Works area and allow the surface water to drain overland to Brays Bayou? Install open metal fencing, elevated above the ground perhaps one foot, to allow debris to be carried out with the runoff. James Ong has already addressed the problems with fences and flooding, especially in the Southdale area.
There have been drainage plans in work for years, several from ARKK Engineering, now updated by the new company, Ardurra. Other payments have been made or approved to HDR Engineers. One must wonder how much the City has paid in the past 10 years for all these studies and proposals. One thing is certain, by now there should be a solid list of projects to address problems with flooding, and another list of costs to complete them.
I’d suggest that unless the City has guaranteed funding from outside sources to pay for those proposals, payments to more engineers should be put on hold. Meanwhile, I believe the residents of Bellaire deserve a clear, concise explanation, easily understood by non-engineers, of proposals, cost, and funding currently on the table to lessen the damage from flooding.
Speak in person or send comments to the Mayor and City Council via our City Clerk, Tracy Dutton, at tdutton@bellairetx.gov
Construction on the new Bellaire High school is complete. The original building was demolished during the week of July 13-17, 2021. 
FEMA imposes requirements for new structures and limits on existing structures in flood zones. Check with Development Services for more information,