1. Who owns the Salado Plaza low water bridge next to Sherrill Park across from the old club house?
Answer: According to Bobby Littlefield, District Engineer, Waco:
Mayor Blancett,
I found out that the low water bridge in Salado that you and I discussed yesterday is not in our bridge inventory. This means it does not meet the federal definition of a bridge and is therefore not included in the federal bridge replacement/rehabilitation program. TxDOT does not own this structure nor do we have any jurisdiction here since this road is off of the state system.
Bobby Littlefield
8 Jan 16 (email)
2. What does this mean?
Answer: The Village of Salado owns the bridge and is responsible for maintenance, upkeep, and replacement should something happen to it.
3. Will the State or Federal Government help with cleaning around it.
Answer: No. TXDoT was asked and your read the response from Mr. Littlefield.
4. Is there really a serious reason to clean the bridge now?
Answer: Here are a few pictures to answer the question. However, the best answer is to park your car near the bridge and see for yourself
This is the low water bridge looking toward the West (Brookshires). Notice that there are culverts or slits that allows water to flow under the bridge. (The black areas). You can see the West slit and the middle slit. The east slit is just outside the picture.
This is a close-up of the gravel in the above picture. The blue and white is a blue shoe caught in the weeds and rocks.
This is the same gravel in the two pictures above. One can step off the bridge unto the gravel and walked out in to the creek. Feet will not get wet. This is how close the gravel is to coming over the bridge. If the rains continue by mid-summer it may be covering the bridge.
This is a close-up picture of how shallow the water is in certain areas. This is about almost the middle of the creek. Sometimes you can see the resident goose walking around on this gravel. A nice scene but one that will one day endanger the bridge.
Water flowing south to north from Sherrill Park. Notice the weeds and shallowness.
This is the water coming from the Sherrill park side. It looks like a nice flow. However, looking closer, the water is dropping from the drop of the slit. It is not known what is causing this to happen. A logical explanation is the slits have filled with gravel and limbs and this is the path of least resistance
Gravel and weeds.
Limbs and trash
5. How much does it cost to clean the creek about 30-50 yards from the bridge?
There are two bids: $10,000 and $18,000.
6. Why does it cost so much?
A special tractor with large tires is needed for lifting the gravel, weeds, and trash from the creek.
Nothing can be placed or fall on the ground or be placed near the creek.
A dump truck must be close to receive each scoop of gravel, weeds, trash, etc.
,
When full the dump truck hauls it to a specific location a significant distance from the creek.
7. Are there environmental concerns?
Yes, a permit is needed. The Mill Creek Association purchased it. All that is needed is the money to pay for the cleaning.
8. Is this tax deductible?
Yes, if the money goes to the Salado Community Foundation, a 501-C3. Keep Salado Beautiful offered their Post Office Box to receive donations. All donations will be given directly to the Salado Community Foundation for deposit and distribution. The checks must be made to the Salado Community Foundation and identify that the donation is for cleaning around the low water bridge.
9. Why isn't the Village receiving the Money?
It is not a 501-C3 organization and, therefore, will not be tax deductible.
10. Will the money only be used to clean and maintain the bridge? Several years ago, a golf tournament was held and the money was used for something else.
Yes. Any money over and above will be kept in an account for cleaning and maintaining the bridge.
The bridge is key to the health and safety of the Village. Keeping it clean, healthy, and flowing is critical. Your financial help -- small, medium, or large -- will be greatly appreciated. The cleaning needs to be done as quickly as possible.
Please make checks to Salado Community Foundation, % of Keep Salado Beautiful, P.O. Box 895, Salado, Texas 76571.
Thank you for considering this critical project. It takes all of us to make this village strong and healthy.
VR/Skip
Why isn’t TxDOT doing their part to clean our waterways or remove the silt and debris from their contractor’s deficiencies? There is no reason we should be paying to remove silt and mud from the Creek until such a time that the TxDOT does their part and removes the objectionable silt and mud they’ve allowed to contaminate our waterways.
ReplyDeleteIt is widely known that James Construction Group has created a sloppy mud hole and they have tracked mud throughout our community and they continue to leave our community looking like a pig pen. They continue to operate without any care or regard to the permit or Clean Water Act and now we are being asked to donate funds to clean our waterways.
If someone doesn’t take control of the project and continues to allow James Construction Group to desecrate our community even more than they’ve done already, we will be left holding the bag and lose even more revenues from our community than we’ve done to-date.
We ask that our elected officials hold TxDOT’s feet to the fire and do what we expect to be done and stop enabling James Construction Group and their subcontractors to walk all over us and get out of our community.
We want our watershed restored and the drainage systems fully functional. We want our storm water clean from their mud and debris. We don’t understand why they are allowed to continue to operate without being held accountable. As other posters have said, TxDOT needs to bring in Williams Brothers and show this company how it’s supposed to be done, timely and quality work.