$3.8 Million Will Go Toward Flood Control

Despite its tight budget, the Orange County Flood Control District has approved spending an estimated $3.8 million to improve the Moody Creek flood-drainage channel in Cypress.

Mark Christoffels, the city’s public works director, told the City Council that county officials have agreed that Moody Creek needs concrete walls.

“Last January, Moody Creek Channel overflowed at Crescent Avenue in Cypress during a large storm. That resulted in the flooding of properties adjacent to the channel,” Christoffels said in a written report.

“Subsequent to that . . . [city] staff has been working with the Orange County Flood Control District to complete improvements to the channel that were started 10 years ago,” he wrote. “The improvements consist of lining the current earth and rock channel with a concrete wall, thus improving the flow and capacity of the channel.”

The county Board of Supervisors approved the project Dec. 12, he said.

“This project is a significant achievement for the city of Cypress,” Christoffels said, considering the capital improvement budget for the Orange County Flood Control District was cut to $4 million because of the bankruptcy.

Bids for the Moody Creek work are scheduled to be opened Jan. 24. State law requires that local governments approve county-sponsored flood-control projects before the contracts are awarded. The Cypress council, at its meeting Tuesday, unanimously voted its consent.