Heights council hears concerns about collapsing retaining wall – The Killeen Daily Herald

Several residents of a neighborhood in the Skipcha subdivision went before the Harker Heights City Council on Tuesday to bring attention to a collapsing retaining wall that is threatening their property.

The wall, which is made of wooden crossties, has given way in several spots and shifted away from residents fences, causing significant damage.

One resident who spoke, Jean Flores, gave an impassioned presentation about the problems she and her husband had been dealing with especially with the recent heavy rains and implored the city to help.

Her husband, Dan Flores, presented a lengthy letter detailing the problems with the wall, complete with photos of the damaged yards and collapsing fences along the failing retaining wall.

He noted in the letter that his neighbors fence has fallen and his own fence is leaning. Other neighbors pools are at risk, he said.

I called our insurance company, USAA, and they said they wouldnt cover it, since it was erosion, Flores said.

But Flores also said the problem first started when Astound, a fiber optic company, blew a hole for its line near the Flores back fence in December 2022. By April of 2023, the Floreses noticed large holes in the yard and through the drainage ditch retaining wall where the Astound contractor blew the hole.

Flores called Public Works Director Mark Hyde, who came out to view the damage, along with the contractor contact from Astound. The Astound representative conceded that the fiber optic installation was the likely cause of the damage. But the next day, Flores said, the contractor tried to say it was a city problem, apparently after talking to his boss.

Astound send a landscaper out to make some temporary fixes the next month, but the damage has still been getting worse.

Last month, as heavy rains accelerated the erosion, the Floreses and neighbor Anthony Sniggs went to City Manager David Mitchell, who agreed to discuss the issue at a workshop, which the city held Tuesday.

During Tuesdays meeting, Mitchell clarified the issue of responsibility regarding the retaining wall.

He said the retaining wall was built on the homeowners property when the homes were built 15 to 20 years ago, and it remains the homeowners property.

The city owns the easement between the drainage ditch below the back of the properties and the retaining hall.

However, due to Texas law, all utilities including fiber optic companies have access to the easements to install or service their lines.

Because of this, neither the property owners nor the city had the authority to prevent Astound from installing cable near the fence. However, Mitchell noted that the city has issued a stop-work order in the area of the damaged retaining wall, which is allowable under the law.

In the meantime, residents want to know when the wall will be repaired and more importantly, who will pay for it.

Mitchell quoted cost estimates for replacing the 750-foot length of wall that has given way and it isnt cheap, as residents have found out.

A new wall with pavestone construction would cost about $668,500, and a concrete cast wall would cost $811,750, based on price per linear foot.

Mitchell expressed doubts about whether Harker Heights could legally use city money to pay for repairs to private property.

Well have to talk to our city attorney, Charlie Olson about that issue, he said.

He also noted that opening the door to paying to fix retaining walls on private property could have a domino effect.

Those walls with crossties are all around the city, Mitchell said. If we had to pay to repair a number of them, it would impact our budget and affect other road projects.

He displayed several slides showing walls made of crossties in the Country Trails subdivision, as well as in other areas.

Mitchell noted that the city no longer allows wooden crossties to be used to build retaining walls an ordinance that was changed in 2006.

Councilwoman Jennifer McCann called Dan Flores back up to the podium and asked him to clarify the timeline of the retaining wall problems.

Flores answered that he didnt have any problems with the wall for the first 15 years he lived in the house, but they started cropping up shortly after the fiber optic line drilling took place.

After Flores ran through the sequence of events, noting that Astound kept asserting that the retaining wall issue was a city problem, Mayor Michael Blomquist asked whether the fiber optic company might bear some responsibility in this issue.

Mitchell said this would be another question for the city attorney, and asked the city secretary to add the issue to the closed session the city already has scheduled at its June 4 meeting.

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Heights council hears concerns about collapsing retaining wall - The Killeen Daily Herald