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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
Navigation board meets with bayou defenders
By Jane Howard Lee
Contributor Published November 19, 2009 More than 25 people showed up at a Wednesday meeting of the Cedar Bayou Navigation District (CBND) Board of Directors, and while many of those were citizens concerned about a proposed barge terminal project, the board members pointed out that they see their current task as something different.
The CBND board was established to oversee efforts to deepen and widen Cedar Bayou for industrial purposes.
Along the way it passes Baytown’s Roseland Park and just across the bayou from there is the site of that proposed barge terminal. The project has raised the ire of some area citizens, who have formed the Friends of Cedar Bayou United primarily to fight construction of the proposed barge terminal.
The Friends of Cedar Bayou accept that the future will bring changes to the bayou, but according to the group’s founder, Cindy Coker, refuse to accept that industrial growth within sight of Baytown’s bayou-front homes and most popular park be a part of that.
The CBND’s plan to deepen, widen (in spots) portions of the bayou, as well as to straighten out some curves, has already been approved. The CBND board’s current task is to develop regulations that will go along with that plan and safeguard the waterway’s future, along with establishing a system to enforce those regulations, clearing the way for federal funding and establishment of the Navigation District as a federal waterway, according to board member David Law, who said those efforts must meet extensive criteria.
Along with that, they must take into account people who live on or near the bayou or use it or the land adjacent to it for recreational purposes.
Baytown resident Chris Buckner, who lives on Kilgore Road, is one of those people.
He spoke to the board about his concerns for the bayou’s future and presented a unique perspective because of his years working in emergency management and with FEMA.
Buckner is opposed not only to the barge terminal project, but also against straightening and deepening the bayou to facilitate any additional barge traffic.
“It would create an ecological nightmare,” he said. “It would create a straight shot for a storm surge to come and further damage our property … if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
David Law said he and the other board members do consider the people living and playing along the bayou as it goes about their duties.
“People are concerned about lights, noise and property damage and those are issues we have to consider,” he said.
Baytown resident Linda Jones asked the board to “consider your responsibility, not only to fulfill your original purpose to dredge Cedar Bayou, but for the legacy you will establish and leave for posterity, by providing good regulations and means of enforcement, that will establish purposeful and protective growth for uses of our favorite city bayou, and safety for all who live along its banks, and those who use it for recreation or business.”
“I want my grandchildren to enjoy the tranquility of a pleasant boat ride, or a wild ride on a jet ski in water in Cedar Bayou that will not make them ill, or their safety be threatened by unregulated industrial water traffic. I want that for all our children.”
Opponents to the barge terminal project, like Buckner and Jones, feel the board should also use its powers to keep the project from progressing, but after the meeting some board members said people against the project should look to the city of Baytown for help with that.
Baytown city officials went to the state legislature two years ago to ask lawmakers to add two appointees from Baytown to the CBND board (then only made of up Chambers County appointees) to protect the city’s interests, primarily in connection with the proposed barge terminal. Baytown businessman Jack Adcox and former Baytown mayor Calvin Mundinger now hold positions on the board. Adcox and David Law said after Wednesday’s meeting that the city of Baytown is the entity that people should look to if they hope someone can stop the project.
As a move against the project, the city annexed the land where the proposed terminal would be built, thus putting any construction under the city’s jurisdiction.
Baytown City Attorney Ignacio Ramirez said after Wednesday’s meeting that the CBND board “does have authority to regulate traffic on the bayou” as well as things that are built on the shore, but that the barge terminal issue was “complicated.”
Partners in that barge terminal project have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city of Baytown, citing several issues including a claim that the city is not giving them the permits that they deserve.
At Wednesday’s meeting, board members agreed to set up a website that could better explain the plans for Cedar Bayou,
“We need to better inform citizens of this project,” said the CBND board chairman Dan Hall.
Contributor Published November 19, 2009 More than 25 people showed up at a Wednesday meeting of the Cedar Bayou Navigation District (CBND) Board of Directors, and while many of those were citizens concerned about a proposed barge terminal project, the board members pointed out that they see their current task as something different.
The CBND board was established to oversee efforts to deepen and widen Cedar Bayou for industrial purposes.
Along the way it passes Baytown’s Roseland Park and just across the bayou from there is the site of that proposed barge terminal. The project has raised the ire of some area citizens, who have formed the Friends of Cedar Bayou United primarily to fight construction of the proposed barge terminal.
The Friends of Cedar Bayou accept that the future will bring changes to the bayou, but according to the group’s founder, Cindy Coker, refuse to accept that industrial growth within sight of Baytown’s bayou-front homes and most popular park be a part of that.
The CBND’s plan to deepen, widen (in spots) portions of the bayou, as well as to straighten out some curves, has already been approved. The CBND board’s current task is to develop regulations that will go along with that plan and safeguard the waterway’s future, along with establishing a system to enforce those regulations, clearing the way for federal funding and establishment of the Navigation District as a federal waterway, according to board member David Law, who said those efforts must meet extensive criteria.
Along with that, they must take into account people who live on or near the bayou or use it or the land adjacent to it for recreational purposes.
Baytown resident Chris Buckner, who lives on Kilgore Road, is one of those people.
He spoke to the board about his concerns for the bayou’s future and presented a unique perspective because of his years working in emergency management and with FEMA.
Buckner is opposed not only to the barge terminal project, but also against straightening and deepening the bayou to facilitate any additional barge traffic.
“It would create an ecological nightmare,” he said. “It would create a straight shot for a storm surge to come and further damage our property … if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
David Law said he and the other board members do consider the people living and playing along the bayou as it goes about their duties.
“People are concerned about lights, noise and property damage and those are issues we have to consider,” he said.
Baytown resident Linda Jones asked the board to “consider your responsibility, not only to fulfill your original purpose to dredge Cedar Bayou, but for the legacy you will establish and leave for posterity, by providing good regulations and means of enforcement, that will establish purposeful and protective growth for uses of our favorite city bayou, and safety for all who live along its banks, and those who use it for recreation or business.”
“I want my grandchildren to enjoy the tranquility of a pleasant boat ride, or a wild ride on a jet ski in water in Cedar Bayou that will not make them ill, or their safety be threatened by unregulated industrial water traffic. I want that for all our children.”
Opponents to the barge terminal project, like Buckner and Jones, feel the board should also use its powers to keep the project from progressing, but after the meeting some board members said people against the project should look to the city of Baytown for help with that.
Baytown city officials went to the state legislature two years ago to ask lawmakers to add two appointees from Baytown to the CBND board (then only made of up Chambers County appointees) to protect the city’s interests, primarily in connection with the proposed barge terminal. Baytown businessman Jack Adcox and former Baytown mayor Calvin Mundinger now hold positions on the board. Adcox and David Law said after Wednesday’s meeting that the city of Baytown is the entity that people should look to if they hope someone can stop the project.
As a move against the project, the city annexed the land where the proposed terminal would be built, thus putting any construction under the city’s jurisdiction.
Baytown City Attorney Ignacio Ramirez said after Wednesday’s meeting that the CBND board “does have authority to regulate traffic on the bayou” as well as things that are built on the shore, but that the barge terminal issue was “complicated.”
Partners in that barge terminal project have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city of Baytown, citing several issues including a claim that the city is not giving them the permits that they deserve.
At Wednesday’s meeting, board members agreed to set up a website that could better explain the plans for Cedar Bayou,
“We need to better inform citizens of this project,” said the CBND board chairman Dan Hall.