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By Meredith Canales - Staff Writer/Northwest Weekly

 

When Christina Rangel, a single mom who lives with her own mother at 5900 El Verde Road, discovered in 2006 that her mother's home, along with roughly 47 others in the area, were part of a proposed buyout plan set in motion by Bexar County, she was none too thrilled.

 

In addition, she said, the city of Leon Valley has done little to fight the buyouts in the last three years, and she is unsatisfied with her city's leadership.

 

The city of Leon Valley, however, disputes Rangel's charge, saying not only have they worked closely with Bexar County, but they believe the majority of the resident's in Rangel's neighborhood are in favor of the buyout.

 

In an e-mail from Rangel to Leon Valley Mayor Chris Riley, dated Oct. 2, Rangel requested a meeting between the residents who are not in favor of the buyout and Riley herself.

 

“(Riley) will not give us a firm answer whether or not she supports the majority,” she wrote. “She and other council members have not met with us since July. They avoid us. They avoid the issue of displacing elderly, some very ill, residents. They address rarely this great issue, so we can't say they never did.”

 

In her response, Riley outlined six points for Rangel, including the fact that a meeting was previously scheduled with Rangel on Sept. 10, and Rangel had to cancel (Rangel replied that school interfered), and that the council and the mayor have asked Bexar County repeatedly to look at other options.

 

“We have a public meeting scheduled on this issue for Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Leon Valley Conference Center,” Riley replied. “All council members should be in attendance as well as other responsible parties.”

 

Also, added Riley, she placed on the Oct. 5 agenda an opportunity to solicit questions from the council for residents who need answers prior to Oct. 27.

 

Bexar County Flood Control Division Manager Art Villarreal said in a previous interview that Leon Valley has done its due diligence in not only looking at every alternative but asking the county to do so. In minutes from a July 21 workshop meeting, the council and city manager asked Bexar County no less than three times to explore other alternatives, including a detention area in the Apple Creek area of San Antonio or in the Huebner Natural Area across Bandera Road from City Hall.

 

Rangel said he wonders why the city is not being bought out, since City Hall lies in the same area as the homes in her neighborhood.

 

“My understanding is that City Hall is just outside the floodway, which is the criteria for the buyouts of the homes along Jeff Loop and El Verde,” said Riley. “I believe City Hall is still in the floodplain. About two to three years ago, at the Huebner Creek Bridge on Bandera road, the drainage level there was lowered by six feet and all throughout the 2007 rainy season, the water was kept mostly within the confines of the creek. In the 1998 flood, what we call the 100 year flood, the water came out of the creek and ran over the road and backed up into City Hall. This is my limited historic information. After the 1998 flood, the county proposed a regional approach to correcting drainage and added a small property tax assessment to our bills, which is funding the drainage improvement along Huebner Creek and throughout the region.”

 

Residents seem sharply divided on this issue. At Rangel's count, she has 21 families who oppose the buyout, six who are for it and many who are undecided. The city, however, said the majority of residents who have approached them are in favor of the buyout.

 

Rose Vera, who lives at 6116 Jeff Loop, said she is afraid for her life when the creek floods.

 

“I went through the 2003 flood, and debris was coming in through my front yard,” she said. “It took us at least a month to clean up. Then the sirens, they go off when it floods, and they're over here trying to get us out. That's happened more than three times. It's like a war zone.”

 

The proposed project would take not only Vera's house but those surrounding it and widen the creek up to an additional 150 to 250 feet, said Villarreal. He also said that too much water drains across Bandera Road down to Huebner Creek and that options to use detention ponds north of Evers Road would not capture enough water to adequately address the Huebner Creek flooding.

 

Rangel and those who agree with her say there are choke points on either side of the wide channel that runs behind their homes. These choke points, they said, are causing the water to back up in the channel behind their homes.

 

“Why can't they clear those choke points?” asked Rangel.

 

Her neighbor, C.L. Cox, who lives at 5712 El Verde Road, said he has one of the biggest lots on the street and has put a lot of money and effort into his home over the years.

 

“The creek is 150 feet wide, and they want to widen it to 350 feet. My land from my front to the back is 999 feet, so if they only need 200 of it, then why do they want to take the other 700 and my house?”

 

Cox estimates the value of his home at $170,000, while Rangel said hers was valued at around $51,000. The San Antonio River Authority is handling appraisals for Bexar County. Representative Steven Schauer said all of the appraisals had not yet come in.

 

“We're using independent appraisers, so we haven't even seen any of the appraisals yet,” he said.

 

While Rangel is despondent over her situation, expressing concern that she and her family will not find a place to live on the amount of money the county will give them for their home, Cox is ready to fight.

 

“If they don't give me what it's worth, I'll see 'em in court,” he said. “I'm not selling my home to be occupied by someone else. They're taking my home. It's a land grab, and I highly resent it. If I have to go to court, I'll go. My wife and I aren't wealthy but there's a lot of aluminum cans out there on the highway.”