City May Seek New Flood Control Vote

The new year means going back to the drawing board for city officials in the wake of the narrow defeat of a proposed $10-million bond issue that would have paid for badly needed flood control work.

Measure G, which city voters rejected in the Nov. 5 election, needed a two-thirds vote to pass, or nearly 67%, but it fell just short, with 63.2% in favor of the bond issue. Had the measure passed, it would have added about $58 a year to the property tax on a house with an assessed value of $200,000.

“The vote was so close that I’m going to recommend that the City Council put it on the ballot again in 1998,” said City Public Works Director Mark Christoffels.

“The feedback I’m getting is that the fall election was certainly not an overwhelming rejection by the voters,” he said. “Most of the people really did want it.”

The bond issue would have financed 14 separate drainage and channel-improvement projects in various parts of the city. Demand for better flood control arose following the torrential rains of January 1995. Those downpours inundated streets, flooded many houses and caused extensive property damage in Cypress.

Christoffels said Thursday said that the unusual amount of rain recently hasn’t caused flooding in the city so far.

“We do OK when the rain is just steady over a long time,” he said. “It’s when we get a heavy deluge in a short period of time that causes all the trouble.”

The long-range worry, he noted, is that a heavy downpour will occur before the city can construct improvements.

Councilwoman Mary Ann Jones said she also believes another bond issue should go on the ballot. “I also think that’s the consensus of the rest of the council,” she said Thursday. “We’ll be discussing this at an all-day meeting of the council later this month when we go over priorities for the city.”

Jones said that with more information given to residents, a bond issue probably could pass the 66.6% mark.

“I don’t think, however, that the city should have the expense of a special election for this, but instead should wait for the regular election” in 1998, she said.