In September 2013, the City of Houston Public Works and Engineering Dept. (PWE) began a 42″ waterline project within the Brays Oaks area that will extend from West Bellfort Ave. at Braes Forest to Pembridge; southward to Ludington; eastward to Sandpiper, and southward to terminate at West Airport Blvd. The affected neighborhoods are Northfield Sec. 5 and Sec. 6 and Southwood Place.
In preparation for this infrastructure project (before the construction began), Council Member Green hosted an informational meeting at the South Gessner HPD Sub-station where representatives from the three residential communities impacted by this project were invited to engage the PWE project manager as well as the project contractor to ask questions in relation to the project.
Relative to the West Bellfort esplanades (between Braes Forest to Pembridge), PWE apologized for the miscommunication on their behalf and acknowledged that they should have noted the tree removal as part of the 42″waterline project along those three esplanades. As part of the contract agreement with this project, the contractor is required to mitigate (replace ) those displaced trees with new trees. Thus, 38 100-gallon trees will be re-planted upon the project completion. The tree species will be Bald Cypress and Cedar Elm. The City’s Urban Forester will monitor the planting of these trees (which includes stake and mulch) and the contractor will be responsible for sustaining (watering) these trees for 2 years.
“The District K office will continue to monitor the progress of this project and continue to communicate with the community leaders impacted by this infrastructure project,” states Council Member Green.
