The Southeast Texas Flood Control District (STFCD) held its first meeting of the New Year Monday in Beaumont at the offices of the Southeast Texas Planning Commission. County Judge John Gothia and other members of the Commissioners Court attended the meeting.
Gothia speaking on KOGT’s People in the Know said the General Land Office (GLO) was to join the eight county coalition during the meeting. The coalition plans to start working with the GLO on drainage issues in the area. “We’ll start putting projects together to be able to go ask for money,” Gothia informed.
The purpose of Monday’s meeting was twofold. The first step is to allow the STFCD to study projects that have been done to determine where funds are available for backing drainage projects proposed by the coalition. The other goal is to engineer appropriate projects to address the drainage issues for southeast Texas.
All projects are reviewed and graded by the GLO which Gothia said is understood by the member counties of the coalition. “We know what we think we need to do, but we’ve got to be able to prove what we need to do and show that it’s going to work,” Gothia stated.
During Gothia’s interview on People in the Know he confirmed the Commissioners Court is scheduled to consider the abatement agreement with Chevron Phillips Chemical at its meeting of February 18. Gothia said, “Hopefully, we’ll get a favorable decision, I certainly know that’s what everybody’s talking about, we all want it, and we’re where we need to be.”
Following the Commissioners Court decision on the abatement agreement on February 18 the project goes to Chevron Phillips Chemical which will seek an abatement from the City of Orange. That should proceed rather quickly. Gothia believes a decision could be made as early as the summer of 2020.
Gothia has communicated with Jessica Hill of the Orange County Economic Development Corporation. Hill has been busy handling communications from businesses that are considering Orange County as a site for their facilities. Many of the businesses considering the move to Orange County are connected to the creation of the new chemical plant from Chevron Phillips.
The future is never known for sure, but a new Chevron Phillips plant in Orange County should have a positive impact. “It’s going to open up things for Orange County, it’s going to be a welcome change that we’ve been needing for a longtime, and I think everybody’s going to be excited what’s getting ready to happen,” Gothia expressed.
One concern the county judge has would be traffic in the area where the proposed plant is to be built near State Highway 87 between FM 105 and Chemical Row or FM 1006. Plans are already being discussed by the county and Chevron Phillips to address the traffic concerns that will be a part of the construction process and later the day-to-day operations of a plant there.
The chemical company and the county will work with the Texas Department of Transportation to alleviate the problem. Gothia concluded, “We all know there’s going to be traffic, but they’re working together hand-in-hand on how they’re going to get folks from point A to point B as efficiently as possible.”
Judge Gothia can be heard every Monday morning on KOGT’s People in the Know. The program is aired on AM 1600 each Monday at 7:00 AM.
-Dan Perrine, KOGT-
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