Dear Jeff:
Thank you for contacting me about the Braeswood Place Homeowner Association’s concerns with the Poor Farm and Kilmarnock Regional Study (PFKRS) report. Upon review of your request, the following revisions have been made to the report, which we feel capture the essence of your concerns.
It is important to note that should the PFKRS become a funded project and move into the preliminary engineering phase, a thorough analysis on any downstream impacts on Poor
Farm Ditch (as well as Kilmarnock Ditch and Brays Bayou) would be conducted and appropriate methods of mitigation would be determined.
The Braeswood Place Homeowner Association’s concerns about the timing of a potential funded project on Poor Farm Ditch and the timing of Project Brays coming through your area are noted very clearly in the summary of the Braeswood Place HOA meeting in
January 2004.
In ten 10 days, Claunch & Miller will forward a letter with these revisions to the cities and to the Study Group.
Should you have future concerns with the PFKRS report, I respectfully request that you contact me or Yeh-Min Maa directly.
Thanks for your input – Mike Vandewater
Page 5
To further analyze the impacts of the proposed recommendations for Poor Farm Ditch and Kilmarnock Ditch to mitigate any downstream impact, as the communities have expressed concerns for such impacts; this includes any impact downstream of
Bellaire Boulevard to residents along Poor Farm Ditch, as well as any downstream impact on Brays Bayou.

Page 6
During TSA, the Poor Farm and Kilmarnock watersheds encountered widespread structural flooding in the cities of Bellaire, Houston, Southside Place and West University
Place. Based only on the number of claims filed with the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), the following estimates were made:
Estimated Residential Damage Count by City
During Tropical Storm Allison
City
Houston
Bellaire
West University Place
Southside Place
No. of
Claims
47,671*
591*
92
12
*Number of Claims includes areas outside of the Study area
It is very likely that the actual number of homes flooded during TSA was much higher, since these estimates only account for property owners that filed flood insurance claims.
It was estimated by the Braeswood Place Homeowners Association that approximately
500 of the 2200 homes in the association suffered damage during TSA. This City of
Houston subdivision is located just south of Bellaire Boulevard primarily between Poor
Farm Ditch and Kilmarnock Ditch. Portions of the subdivision are outside the Study area.
The estimated maximum rainfall for Brays Bayou at Stella Link for a 6-hour period was
9.44 inches, which yielded an exceedance probability of 1.2% (an 83-year event).
Though the study area did encounter substantial damage, the rainfall in the Brays Bayou
Watershed did not quite reach the severity of a 1% (100-year) event.
Page 28
This mitigation volume is a preliminary estimate for this phase of the Study, but it is an important component of the Study Group’s recommendation. Should this study move to the preliminary engineering phase, storage volumes and detention sites for mitigation would be refined in a more detailed analysis, including any downstream impacts on Poor
Farm Ditch, Kilmarnock Ditch and Brays Bayou.
The detention volumes and associated costs are the same for each concept and are incorporated in the evaluation. The Repair-Only or baseline alternative does not require mitigation since it does not alter the existing flow conditions.