Orange’s Public Works Director Jim Wolf probably never thought his idea to use federal Hurricane Ike recovery money would end up in a quixotic quest taking years.
But his plans to put a concrete liner along almost a mile and a half of Cooper’s Gully is now committed to paper and dozens of legal documents. The Orange City Council accepted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for the project.
“Jim Wolf has done the almost impossible to get this done,” City Attorney Jack Smith said. He said the Corps of Engineers had ruled the gully a navigable waterway and not a drainage ditch. Wolf pursued the project “through all the red tape,” he said.
City Manager Dr. Shawn Oubre agreed with Smith’s assessment of Wolf for getting the plans approved. Oubre also commended city staff members and U.S. Representative Brian Babin and Lanie Brown with the congressman’s Orange office.
Cooper’s Gully is a natural stream that drains a large part of the city south of Interstate 10 and east of 16th Street. Through the years, it has been enlarged and several sections have concrete lines. The gully takes water eastward to the Sabine River.
The city has a pump station at the east end of the gully at the river. The Hurricane Ike recovery grants have included the city getting a new pump and other equipment. However, the permits to put more concrete in the gully were held up.
The concrete liners will keep back vegetation growth and cut back on cleaning maintenance, Wolf has said. Oubre during past meetings said the lining will help water drain more quickly from 16th Street.
The plans approved by the Corps of Engineers includes several designed plantings of trees at different areas along the gully.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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