Talk of the Town Podcast
Talk of the Town Podcast with Kevin Cole and Cameron Cole, where we're about local stories, local leaders, and local impact.
Talk of the Town Podcast
From Railroad Stop To Boomtown In Pearland, Texas
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Pearland’s growth didn’t happen by accident. In this episode, Cameron Cole sits down with former Pearland Mayor Kevin Cole to explore the city’s history from its 1894 founding and pear orchard roots to the infrastructure, annexation decisions, and explosive growth that shaped the Pearland we know today. They also discuss Beltway 8’s impact, the city’s fight to remain independent, the surprising NASCAR proposal, and the community projects helping protect Pearland’s future. If you love local history, Texas growth stories, or call Pearland home, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.
Welcome And What We Cover
SPEAKER_01Welcome to the next episode of the Talk of the Town Podcast. I am Cameron Cole, and this is Kevin Cole, the former mayor of the city of Paris. Yeah, so last week was quite quite the starter, I would say, of our podcast here. So um, but thank you, thank you guys for tuning in for our second
Founding Years And The Railroad
SPEAKER_01episode here. And today we're kind of going to go through just the the history of Parland. You know, we started back in 1894, and here we are in 2026, knocking on the door of 150,000 in-city and and all that. So today we're just going to kind of go through the journey of the city of Pareland.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. I've I've been asked over the years, you know, just kind of how we developed and and and why did we explode as a city and the hyper growth. We were the one of the first cities and well, the first city in Brizzouria County to experience the hyper growth, not just solid growth, but hyper growth and those types of things. And and so I get asked a lot about why did that happen? How did it happen? How did we deal with it and those types of things?
SPEAKER_01Well, in you know, in 1894 is when our city was founded. Uh we mentioned this last week with uh Zelensky, who being one of the first, he was considered to be the chief developer of the 1890s and early 1900s. Right. Of course, we have Zelensky Park here in the uh in the city, in the old town site. Um the city wasn't originally named Pareland.
SPEAKER_00No, uh the first uh original um way back when, even before that, was Mark Belt.
SPEAKER_01And the reason why is because, well, the city of Houston wanted a railroad from Houston all the way down to Galveston, which we have here in the city today. It was kind of a combination between the Gulf, the Colorado, and the Santa Fe Railroad, kind of built that, which kind of sparked away.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so we actually had so the depot that sits next to uh the train depot that sits next to City Hall.
SPEAKER_01Right there on Liberty Drive.
SPEAKER_00Right there on Liberty Drive when it was at the railroad tracks, uh, it was built uh down by the railroad track circa 1907, 1910-ish uh time frame. Uh but even then the stop on the railroad was was the mark belt the mark belt stop.
SPEAKER_01Train depot, train stop deep.
SPEAKER_00Right, right. And so uh so while that really wasn't uh the name of the city, that was what we were known for is the mark belt.
Why Pearland Has No Pears
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_01And uh why are we called pearland?
SPEAKER_00There are no pears. Well, there were. There were. Uh we had pear pear trees uh in the area, and uh if I don't know if you've ever heard about this storm, but I don't know. Just a little bit. The storm of 1900, you know, before they started naming hurricanes with names, they were just the storm of. You know, so the 1900 storm that obviously devastated Galveston and all of that kind of uh thing didn't just devastate Galveston. I mean, that was a massive storm came all the way through destroying all the orchards, pear pear tree groves and orchards.
SPEAKER_01It's not it's my understanding that there were some that were able to rebuild, replant, and it wasn't until there was a massive 1918 freeze that then took the rest of them out and welcome to Texas weather. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Wait a minute and something else will happen.
SPEAKER_01And the rest is history. Right. We don't have any pears since then. Right. And since we're talking about pearland, I know we'll get into the incorporation in a little bit, but the way we spell pearland today combined was not how it was platted.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so if you go back and look at the original plat, that's you know how we uh became a city and you plat land, that's how you create a residential lot and those types of things. Anyway, so on that original plat signed by Zelensky all the way back in 1894, uh pear land is listed on there in two different fashions. And we both and we don't have them at all. So it's listed on there as two words, pear land, okay, and it's also listed on there as pearland hyphenated. So pear, hyphen, land, and we chose neither. We put them together as one word and became pearland. Nope, combined. Now, I I will say it's kind of funny. Uh it's kind of funny. That actually was brought up in the mid-uh 1990s. I was on council uh again, 95 through 98 during that time period. So during that period, we actually had a group of historians here in our city, the Historical Society and others, that wanted us to take Pearland, one word, and make it two words. And I remember the conversation. Every once in a while you'll hear this conversation kind of. Yeah, you'll hear it every once in a while. And I remember being a part of that conversation and finally kind of making the comment we have a lot of work to do as a city because we're every design, every sign stationary, everything else, not just at the city, but every business, would have to be changed. And it was like, you know, we have a lot of other topics to be discussing. Uh, you know, changing how we spell the, you know, in in two words is probably not the highest priority. So kind of got left alone and moved on.
SPEAKER_01So we had, you know, Zelensky, who originally owned around what I think, I believe, 2,500 acres, which is now considered Well, the old town site itself was 480 some odd acres. Right. But he owned about 2,500 acres. Uh of course, we talk about the 1900, the storm of 1900 wiping out the crops uh and the orchards here in Pearl Land. 1918 got the rest of them. Right. And
Orchards Fade And Oil Arrives
SPEAKER_01then in the 1930s is is uh well oil was discovered kind of in the Hastings. Hastings oil fields south between Pearl and Alvin, around 35. So, you know, Pearland was known very early on as for their fruit pear. Of course, they quickly rebounded with oil. Oil. So that was in the 1930s.
SPEAKER_00The Pearland Oilers. Yep. Yep. The mascot was named after uh because of the oil field. There you go. It wasn't, yeah, it's because of right here and they existed before the Houston Oilers existed.
SPEAKER_01Which we'll get to that later.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And
Incorporation And The ETJ Strip
SPEAKER_01then uh finally in 1959, our city was incorporated. Right. Uh any kind of stories or anything?
SPEAKER_00Any feedback on that? Yeah, and and it it took about two years. Well, so they did the incorporation in 1959, and immediately upon uh getting um here, you know, as a city and incorporating as a city, uh, we needed to they did some quote strip annexation. So you have the city and the city limits, and then the area around it is known as its ETJ or extraterritorial jurisdiction.
SPEAKER_01And before you get into that, you know, Houston was looking for land. Right. They they were grabbing land as much as they can back in the 50s and 60s.
SPEAKER_00Right. So they they had this massive expansion of wanting to come down. We know about Clear Lake and all that was as a result of annexation down in that area. Uh you've heard about the annexations in Kingwood and so forth and so forth, so on. All of those types of things, people were very well aware that the city of Houston was very aggressive and wanting to expand its footprint.
SPEAKER_01So what did our You mentioned that the strip, the annexation strip. Right. It was roughly 100 feet wide at the time.
SPEAKER_00So if you go and look at our map and you go look at the ETJ and you go back decades, you had the city of Parland very, very small, but then we had this huge footprint of an ETJ, about 77 square miles out there. And the the founding, not the founding fathers, but the the fathers of our incorporation in 59 and 60 thought it was wise that we go out and put a 100-foot strip of city limits all the way around our ETJ because the city of Houston could not go over that that strip and and come in and and annex us. And so it took about two years. It started in 59 and completed in seven in 1960 this hundred-foot strip all the way around our ETJ. And since that time, uh we've been able to annex kind of off the strip as well as the core. Now, today, um, and and shortly, you know, somewhere between 1960 and you know, the 80s and 90s, uh the state legislature changed some of its rules on how you can annex. And we we would not be able to go and annex a strip around our ETJ anymore. Uh, they've changed some of the rules on annexations uh since that time. But the the fathers uh at our uh of our city at that time, it was a very, very wise move. So Parland could be Parland, Houston could be Houston, and we wouldn't have Houston come and come in. And that strip uh is still out there, it's still intact where it where it needs to be. It might have shrunk a little bit as far as 100 foot. Yeah, we've got we've got a couple of areas where we've shrunk it because you can imagine we've got subdivisions and things that are built where imagine you know a part of your yard is in Hairland strip and then other parts in the ETJ. And so so people don't get uh you know confused with all that and the and the taxing authorities and everything else. Uh we've taken that strip down to as low as one foot in a couple of areas. Could you give me an area? Yeah, so if you go off of Highway Six and the Fort Bend County area right back towards Arcola, right back over in there, there's a subdivision over there where there's homes along our strip, and so they didn't get taxed as being in the city for that hundred foot. We have we have taken it all the way down to one foot. So essentially we're not taxing them for that that one. Interesting, interesting. The back of their life.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So we were incorporated in 1959, a city of Paraland. Right. Do you know the first incorporated city in Brizouria County?
SPEAKER_00The first one was Alvin. Um and that was all the way back in the 1800s when it was incorporated.
SPEAKER_01I think it was 1893 at which is crazy. It's incorporated. A lot of people think, you know, just a little fun fact for you guys, a lot of people think West Columbia, Brizzouria, which is the birthplace of Texas, is the first incorporated cities in Brizouria County. Even though they're part of the Stephen of Falston's uh old 300, right? They they weren't incorporated until much, much later.
SPEAKER_00They were actually incorporated.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But they were huge and and part of back in the 1820s. Uh we all know that. And so it's kind of a fascinating, we actually dig down into the their uh history.
SPEAKER_00It's an incredible um we'll we'll get into some of that history at some point in time.
SPEAKER_01So today, uh just kind of going over my notes a little bit. Yeah, we wanted to we kind of briefly talked about the history, but you mentioned earlier when we first started today, um we grew exponentially.
Growth Math And Early City Planning
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00We didn't just double we quadrupled in a couple years, but we we did. How do we get here? Yeah, so if you actually go back from the incorporation in 59 and 60 in 1960, I'd have to go back and look, but you know, 1,820-ish people to night uh 1970, 64, 44, because I remember that was what was on the sign when I moved here in 77. Which when you moved in 77, you were in the the new neighborhood. Oh yeah, I was in the new neighbor, Wood Creek. Wood Creek. Wood Creek, they're on uh 518, you know, towards Friendswood. Uh the city limits stopped at about uh O'Day Road, Garden Road, somewhere right in that ballpark, uh, and it all the way east. And so the the east versus west of our city at that time was the railroad tracks. Was okay, so if you you either lived west of the tracks and you were a westsider, or you lived east of the railroad tracks and you were an east sider. And that goes back 40 years. That goes that goes back, well, I I moved here in 1977, so next year will be 50 years. So um, and I know I was I wasn't born yet. So anyway, yeah, so my age. But uh but but we moved here in 1977, so best guess was I don't know, nine, ten thousand people. That was that was our population at that point in time. But in 19 uh 80, our population was about 13,000, so doubled in 10 years. 10 years. Okay. It went from there to about 19,000 from 80 to 90. And then it went from 19,000 to um uh about 30-ish, 32,000 in by 2000. So we had strong growth as a city. Um no secret, we're right here next to the city of Houston. You got an airport and hobby airport, you got the med center, job center, downtown, all those kind of things. And so Pareland was always destined to grow. 288 got built in the in the mid-80s. If you go back and look, um, go back and look and and and just pull all this stuff up on Google Earth, and it's I have I've actually done that.
SPEAKER_01I went to Google Earth and I zoomed in on just the city of Paraland. And I think Google Earth can go back as far as 1984 in their time lapse. Right. So not not in their time lapse. You can go back farther, right? But in their time lapse, 1984, and just hit play and just watch the city of Paralleland grow, and it's it's a fascinating. Watch it all progress westward. Yeah. Um, I mean, you have plenty of stories.
SPEAKER_00So also obviously, and I had heard as a kid with my parents talking to neighbors and others, you know, in the in the late 70s and early 80s that uh Pareland was going to go through this massive growth at some point in time, right? And so the city wanted to get ready for it, and you know, and even back in those days, the city was already establishing zoning, establishing comprehensive plans, and those types of things. And so, but we we started seeing in the mid-90s, you know, more and more subdivisions coming into Pearland, uh north and south, up and down, you know, Harkey, up and down Veterans, uh McLean, and places like that. You started seeing. Uh I served on planning and zoning in 1994, and and I remember uh sitting through a bunch of meetings where we talked about zoning, where we talked about platting, uh, but we weren't talking about planning. Planning and zoning. We were doing plenty of zoning. We needed to be talking about planning. And so I remember City Limits ended at Garden Road and raising the question as a as a commissioner going, shouldn't we be annexing City, the city to the west so we can put new development up under city control so we knew what was coming in from a from a well-planned city all the way out there uh on the western edge? And so uh led our city uh our planning and zoning commission to approve a um a potential a potential annexation uh in 1994. Uh we voted on that in 94 uh and or actually in early 95 as a as a commission. Uh I was elected a city council in May of 95, and so I got to vote on that annexation as a commissioner and then got to vote on that as a council member in 95 to go in effect January 1 of 96. And so we did that western expansion, and it was a strip down 518, very, very large, all the way out past 1128, uh, was as far as we went at that point in time. And it was interesting. Uh, you can go back and look, there were some areas out there that were undesirable type development, and we were able to put that under control. I'm sure there's some people listening to this can well pinpoint some of those undesirable. And and and so, and you and once something's built, it's gonna be there for 40 or 50 years and and you're gonna have to live with it. And so we wanted and we knew this expansion was gonna happen. So 288 was already built. Uh 518 and Broadway got extended from Cullen all the way to to 288 in the in the 80s and early 90s and and in the in the 80s. And so uh, but it wasn't 288. So Southwick was already built, Silver Lake was under development. It was all in the mid-90s, correct? Mid-90s, Country Place was coming up. Silver Lake and Southwick actually started in the in the early to mid-80s, and so did so did Country Place. And so those were out there off of 288, and they were they were there, their own places, mud districts that were out there, and all of that. And uh, but that's not what caused our city to explode. Right.
Beltway 8 Lights The Fuse
SPEAKER_00What caused us to explode was the closing of the beltway on the south side in 1996.
SPEAKER_01South side of Houston, north of Pearland.
SPEAKER_00South side of Houston. Because it if it was the last segment, correct? That's correct. At that point in time, well, there was another segment around the east and northeast that needed to be completed. They had the frontage roads, but the freeway section closed in 1996, right here, you know, outside of Pearland. And you can go back and track single family building permits up until that point, and they had always been healthy. Again, we were doubling every 10 years, right? Which doubling in 10 years is a 7.2% growth rate, right? But you then saw it exponentially go up. As soon as that belt was happening. As soon as that happened. And so uh it was because it was now the access, not just north and south, but east and west. So that access and that that driving pattern changed all of it. So it was uh, I mean, we really uh lit on fire. But what's interesting, and I want to talk about this a little bit, some of that history, right? Uh and the and the rest is history. You can go and look on uh Google Earth and watch that thing, you know, fill out and everything else. It's pretty amazing to watch. But somewhere in the 96 to 98 timeframe, so right in that period, uh, it was an interesting thing.
The NASCAR Track That Nearly Happened
SPEAKER_00We almost landed a NASCAR track. So the Cullen family, the Cullen Foundation, Cullen Road, well, I was into Houston, the Cullen family and the Cullen Foundation had commissioned a study uh somewhere around 1990 uh to know what cities in the US could support a NASCAR tract that did not have one. Okay. And so the five cities that they came out with, I do not remember all of the five cities, but I do remember the number one city that could, according to their study, that could support a NASCAR tract that didn't have one was Houston. And so we had talked with members of uh NASCAR, we had talked to members of uh investment groups that were looking to actually put a NASCAR track where Shadow Creek sits right now. NASCAR track where Shadow Creek sits today. Uh so before the developers of Shadow Creek came in, we were actually looking at that. Coincidentally, at the exact same time all of that was happening, if you'll recall the Houston Oilers, Bud Adams, and you know, wanting a new stadium and all those kind of things away from the Astrodome, uh, they were in active talks about how, what, and where. So we actually entered those talks as a city with Bud Adams, because if you'll think about it at the time, he was looking at actually putting his own money into the stadium, okay, not just the taxpayers, but he himself, uh, which also brought in the city of Houston, uh, excuse me, you uh University of Houston and the Cougars into because remember they played in the Astrodot. And so to come into it. Um and he wanted not just a dome stadium, but he wanted a retractable seat stadium. So you have your your your football field laid out like this, and it would retract in to make a basketball arena. So we had conversations with the Rockets. This is all before Toyota, this is all before any of that stuff was built. And so we actually had active talks with NASCAR, big huge parking areas and everything else. What goes with it? Let's put the football stadium, let's make it football and basketball with basketball together. And, you know, and so it we it was active in these talks. I remember going to uh the Houston Livestock Show on Rodeo in the Dome. I was sitting with the city manager and we were watching, you know, the show, and I leaned over and I said, Look around, think about this. Live from Pearland, Texas, Super Bowl, whatever. Because if we land at the NFL Stadium, it's a new one, you're you're you're going to get the Super Bowl. Could you imagine the Super Bowl in Pareland, Texas? Now, we would not have the population that we do today. No, you wouldn't have that happen. Right. But it would be a juggernaut economically. Correct. It would have been unbelievable what would have happened business-wise as a result of that.
SPEAKER_01I'm trying to wrap my head around going to watch the Rockets. You know, who knows? The Oilers would be here still.
SPEAKER_00Correct.
SPEAKER_01We we wouldn't have necessarily the Texans, but and NASCAR. I remember growing up, watched NASCAR growing up. It's kind of fascinating to think about right here in our own backyard.
SPEAKER_00Would have been a phenomenal. But Bud got mad at Bud Adams got mad at the mayor of Houston, uh packed up, took off the Tennessee. Went to Tennessee.
SPEAKER_01Tennessee because he ran off to Tennessee, the other parts of it collapsed with it.
SPEAKER_00Everything fell as a result of it. And um we we now have Shadow Creek. Uh so the developers of Shadow Creek showed up about a year after all of that went south and started buying up that land. And as we say, rest is history.
SPEAKER_01So how fast have we grown? Kind of give us some numbers.
SPEAKER_00So well in just from 2000 to 2010, for example, we grew at 143 percent.
SPEAKER_01If I'm not mistaken, we were.
SPEAKER_00We were almost tripled.
SPEAKER_01We were the fastest growing city in the country or top? One of the tops.
SPEAKER_00We were the number one in Texas for sure. One of the tops in the in the nation during that during that time period. And and again, I served on council from 04 through 2004 through 2010 during that time period. And and I mean, it was every Monday night we were meeting. We were talking infrastructure, we were talking about all those kind of things. And so it's just an amazing uh had how fast we grew. And I will tell you, even the developers at Shadow Creek will tell you, they told us at the time, they'll tell you today, they grew way faster than they ever expected. No one expected that master plan community out there of over 3,000 acres to be built out as quickly as they as they thought. They they we we probably went in in double the time that of their expectation, okay? And uh, but you know, it is what it is. That's just what happens, the proximity to Houston, the housing market, all those kind of things. Um if you'll recall in 2008, we had the downturn because of all of those kind of the the subprime lending and all of that. We had foreclosures as a result of that, uh, and you had to deal with it. But uh the the growth of our city, uh Western expansion, so it was pretty amazing uh watching water and sewer go down 518, next thing you know, it's out at 288. Next thing you know, you know, hops the hops the the freeway out there, and like to say, the rest is history.
Keeping A Small Town Feel
SPEAKER_01So looking back on it now, um just what do you what do you miss about the early 70s and 80s of Paralyn, if any?
SPEAKER_00Oh wow. So like you said, when I moved here in 1977, um, you know, the the the high school where I graduated from high school, Paralleland High School, is where Saab and Junior High West is today. So that was my high school. My stadium was Presner.
SPEAKER_01Well, I remember going to the games, not President and not the rig.
SPEAKER_00And um, and and those types of things. And so I I do miss uh the smallness of that, uh, the togetherness of our of our city. Um, really and truly, everybody knew everybody. Uh it was the largest small town in America. And as it is, and as it continue to grow, it's just amazing at how our city has stayed where we're there, there's a small town feel. And and as mayor, you know, people always ask me, how do you maintain that? Well, you maintain it by taking care of people, taking care of needs, unmet needs with people. That's important.
SPEAKER_01That is absolutely one thing that I've seen, you know, from a personal level, even. Yeah, the the the rallying of the community when something happens. Um whether that's something personal with a within a family member or a natural disaster domain come in. Right. Um, you definitely have those neighbors, the community feel, the tightness that really shows through.
SPEAKER_00I've always told people I've never seen a need go unmet in our city, as long as the need is known. Correct. Okay. Now, because don't don't expect people to meet your need if you don't just let people know it. And just like and I and a personal story with you and Sarah and and the kids in the in Harvey, you guys were living in Friendswood, a block away from the epicenter where Clear Creek and Mary's Creek and Mary's Creek and Cowards Creek all converge. And I mean, you guys got three feet of water in your house, lost everything that you had, and the community, family, and everything else rallied around you, and you guys were set up in another house by the end of that week. Correct. Which was amazing, was a God thing. But it was everybody rallying together to make that happen. That is so what do happens in small towns? If you go to small town America, small town Texas, people know each other, needs get met. Love your neighbor. Love your neighbor, meet your neighbor's needs, get to know your neighbor. You don't have to get to know the whole city. Get to know your neighbor, people on both sides and across the street. Okay? And check in on them. Especially if they're elderly. Just check in. Say hi. Okay? And and be nice with your neighbors. And if there's a need, meet it. Meet it. Pay it forward. That's when pay it forward started. Pay that forward. Why? It'll come back to you tenfold. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And we've definitely felt the love of the community every step of the way. Yeah. One more question before you on this on
Moving A Creek To Stop Floods
SPEAKER_01this one. With the rapid growth of Parreland, um, what was your favorite uh development? If you can point to one. Favorite development or favorite project? Either one.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'll say well, yeah, favorite project.
SPEAKER_00It's not the sexiest of projects, right? I mean, you have projects, buildings, police station, all those kind of things, which is kind of cool. Uh but my favorite project is the Cowards Creek Diversion Project. Okay. And um it I ran on it. I'm trying to figure out what the name is.
SPEAKER_01Divergent.
SPEAKER_00So I'm gonna explain it. So if you go down to Bailey, for anybody that's been around Paraland for decades, Bailey is known as County Road 101. I refer to it as Bailey 101. So that way people who are new understand Bailey. Anyone that's been around here for a while understands 101. So Bailey 101. And Bailey 101, the ditch before it was widened to four lanes on that south side was deep, big, I remember dangerous, dangerous ditch. It was actually Cowards Creek. Okay, it was actually Cowards Creek. So when Bailey was being contemplated in a 2001 bond program to be widened, uh how we dealt with that ditch was not taken into consideration by the engineers on the front end. So as a result, oh, we can't just fill that in. That's a that's a creek. That's a creek. Okay. They were looking at just box covering the whole thing, which exploded the cost. So uh as mentioned, I I served on council 95 to 98, and then I came back in 04. So in 2004, when I ran for election, um as a developer in real estate, I kept looking at that project, going, you have to think outside the box. You gotta think outside the box. And me and some of the people in my development you know company and everything else, we actually looked at it on a map and said, We can move the creek. We could move the creek. Move the creek. Now when I'm when I ran challenging. When I when I ran for election in in 04, I did not tell people to think outside the box and move the creek. I just told people to think outside the box. They would have thought I was nuts if I'd have said move the creek. So got elected uh 63 or 68 percent. I can't remember, I have to go back and look. So I've I've slept since then. Um and and so here we are, and four months in, we're talking about capital improvements projects and everything else. Joe Wirtz was our our project's director and everything else. I'm sitting in a meeting, we're actually talking about Bailey, and I said, Joe, you gotta think outside the box. You gotta think outside the box on the drainage. What are you talking about, well, what do you mean? And I said, I said, Well, Joe, move the creek. I'm all right, what was his initial reaction on that? Okay, so Joe did a Scooby-Doo impression like nobody's business. Okay, he went, huh? Huh? Like that, and the whole room went, What? And I said, Move the creek. There's a path, there's a path forward, move the creek. To his credit, the team went back, four, five, six months later, uh, he came back and said, Mayor, council, we're gonna move the creek. We can move the creek. So if you're driving Bailey today and you get down by uh Ravenwood and West Lee on the north side, there is a ditch that runs south. You can see it. You can see it moving south. That is the diversion. It's the Cowards Creek Diversion Project. So we're moving water and moving the creek south there. It crosses County Road 100.
SPEAKER_01You can really see it in the new development of Matthew Oaks.
SPEAKER_00Well, and and you can see it from an aerial, you can see it built and it angles down, and then there's a large 80-acre detention pond down there. Long story short, it was presented. This is something we could do. We firmed up a project. We had a bond program in 2007. I was up for re-election with it, but in 2007, and a part of that bond program was the Cowards Creek Diversion Project was in that bond program, overwhelmingly voted on by uh our our public and our voters. And so it was it was actually after I left council in uh in 2010 that they got around to actually constructing it, uh, but got it constructed pre Harvey. Yep. So here was what was important. This is why it was so important to me was the acreage between 100 and 101 uh is all out there. Most of that acreage and those homes were in the 100-year floodplain. This project actually moved water out of that and shrunk the floodplain. It shrunk the w water surface elevation at a hundred-year event by over a foot, which is huge. So Harvey then comes and hits and you didn't have flooding in that area because of that project. So that saved structures, it saved people's lives, it saved their livelihoods, it saved their property, and so that is why it it's the it it's by far my favorite project because it had an impact on people's lives.
SPEAKER_01True impact.
SPEAKER_00True impact.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's why we're here um as talk of the town podcast, because we really do want to talk about local impact.
Next Week Teaser And Goodbye
SPEAKER_01Right. And so uh if you want to hear more of those stories, we'll tune into next week because we're gonna kind of dive into more developmental stories.
SPEAKER_00If you really want to know why the Pearl Land Town Center developed and the area around Bass Pro didn't, tune in next week and we'll tell you the story.
SPEAKER_01Well, that does it again here for the talk of the town. My name's Cameron. That's Kevin. We'll see you next time.