A potentially expensive problem with drainage at the Atwood Bungalows was discussed Thursday afternoon by the Community Development District 9 Board of Supervisors.
Bruce Brown of District Property Management said the underdrain system at the villa community located behind the Brownwood Hotel & Spa is “not performing as designed.”
An underdrain is designed to collect subsurface water before it saturates the road surface.
The underdrain system is likely “clogged,” Brown said.
“You have a lot of water that’s been sitting there. There’s been a lot of rain, so there’s a lot of water with no place to go,” Brown said. “It’s in a high clay area. Clay creates a lot of clogs.”
The next step in the process would be to “unearth portions of the underdrain system,” Brown said.
The potential cost of the exploration of the problem and a potential solution clearly made some supervisors nervous.
“What assurance do we have that we’re going to get it right this time?” asked Supervisor Smoke Hickman.
He noted that the CDD 9 board has already budgeted $177,326 to mill and overlay the streets in the Atwood Bungalows.
Underdrain problems at villa community in CDD 10
While this may be a relatively new problem in the Atwood Bungalows, the long-suffering residents of the Callahan Villas have been forced to cope with a similar problem with their underdrain system.
“This has been an ongoing problem for the residents,” said Don Wiley, board chairman in Community Development District 10 where the Callahan Villas are located. “They have been living with this for two and a half years. I feel for them.”
An upcoming inspection could provide more clues as to what is happening with the underdrain system in the Callahan Villas.