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As we start the month of May, the City of Nederland continues to be busy with a number of projects and issues and is starting the process for our next fiscal year.

The City was awarded a Hurricane Harvey CDBG Disaster Recovery Grant through the Texas General Land Office to address drainage issues.

To meet the grant guidelines, drainage improvements were targeted in the following areas:

• Hilldale/Hill Terrace: intersection of Hill Terrace and Ave H to the intersection of Hill Terrace and Highway 365; and the intersection of Ave M and South Hilldale to the intersection of North Hilldale and Hill Terrace;

• Nederland Avenue: intersection of 5th Street & Gage to the intersection of Gage & Boston Ave; intersection of Nederland Ave & 3rd St to intersection of 3rd St & Boston; intersection of Nederland Ave & 1st St to intersection of 1st St & Boston; intersection of Nederland Ave & Texas to intersection of 1st St & Boston; intersection of Gage & Chicago Ave to intersection of Chicago & 1st St; intersection of 3rd St & Gage to intersection of 3rd St & Nederland Ave; intersection of 2nd St & Chicago to intersection of 2nd St & Nederland Ave; and intersection of 1st St & Chicago to intersection of 1st St & Nederland Ave

LJA Engineering was selected as the project engineer, and in October, the City Council awarded the bid to Environmental Allies in the amount of $2,244,583.66. Construction commenced in late December. The contractor made considerable progress on the Hilldale/Hill Terrace component of the project; it is now approximately 60 percent complete.

However, progress has been delayed while work is done to resolve franchise utility relocation issues (electricity, gas, phone, etc.). Unfortunately, progress on the Nederland Avenue component of the project has stopped, and the contractor is no longer on-site. The project engineer must resolve a design issue with the proposed box culverts; they have been aware of this since February.

Construction has resumed on the project, and at this time, the project completion date remains the same (late summer) due to the contractor’s prior progress.

The 2023 Concrete Street Rehabilitation project began last month. The project includes concrete street repairs of Avenue H from 29th Street to the frontage road and South 21st Street from Helena Ave to Detroit Ave. The bid was awarded to Brystar Contracting in the amount of $1,395,135.52 that shall be paid via the Street Improvement Fund.

The City has engaged Soutex Surveyors & Engineering for engineering services related to the 2023 Hot Mix Overlay project.

The planned road projects are Helena Ave from 11th St to the Little League entrance, Gary Ave from 27th St to the concrete by West Chicago, 30th St from Gary Ave to the concrete on 30th St, Memphis Ave from 34th St to Verna, Avenue F from S. 14th St to S. 15th St, S. 5th St from Nederland Ave to Ave H (this project will require coordinated sewerline repair work), S. 7th St from Ave E to Ave H, Avenue E from S. 6th St to S. 7th St, and West Chicago from 27th St to Gary.  The plan is for the road work to start later this summer.

In conjunction with Jefferson County, Precinct 2, the City Streets crew have started work on nearly 3 miles of chip seal road projects: Avenue B (S. 2nd St to S. 5th St), South 4 ½ Street (Nederland Ave to Ave D), Atlanta Avenue (9th St to 11th St), 11th Street (Chicago to Helena), Franklin Avenue (9th St to 11th St), Gary Avenue (17th St to 19th St), Avenue C (14th St to 14 ½ St), Avenue D (S. 27th St to S. 29th St), 24th Street (Nederland Ave to Detroit Ave), Avenue A (20th St to 21st St), Ford (Viterbo to Holmes Road), Avenue E (Hardy Ave to Hwy 69), and 8th Street (Boston Ave to the dead end).

PROPERTY APPRAISALS

Nederland property owners received their proposed property appraisals in April. The appraisal process is independent of the City of Nederland.

Residential property with a homestead exemption with the same owner in previous and current year is limited to an increase in value of no more than 10 percent per year, as long as new improvements were not added to the property, such as a swimming pool, storage building, or additional square footage.

These properties will have both a market value and a homestead cap value, which is the value property taxes will be based on. Taxpayers have 30 days from the date their notice of appraised value was mailed to file a protest with the Jefferson County Appraisal Review Board if they do not agree with the JCAD’s value.

The protest deadline is indicated on the notice of appraised value. If a protest is filed, taxpayers are encouraged to ask for the data JCAD used to appraise their property, which will include comparable sales information. Taxpayers can also submit any documents or pictures to JCAD to support their protest.

Appraisers will review this information to determine if JCAD can resolve the protest informally. If they are not able to, the taxpayer will need to appear for the formal hearing with the Jefferson County Appraisal Review Board.

The City of Nederland has the lowest municipal tax rate in Jefferson County, and last year was the fourth year in a row that the City Council reduced the tax rate.

2023 POOL SEASON

The City has again contracted with the YMCA of Southeast Texas to operate the pool this summer. The first day of OPEN SWIM is scheduled for May 31. Pool party reservations are made at the Nederland Recreation Center (2301 Avenue H) on Mondays thru Fridays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The pool deck was repaired this offseason, and the parking lot in front of the pool was rebuilt this spring.

MISCELLANEOUS

At the end of this month, the City will start the fiscal year 2023-2024 budget process. Any suggestions, concerns or interests in adding, amending or eliminating City services should be addressed to the City Manager’s Office (409-723-1503) as the budget preparation begins.

The week of May 7–13 is PUBLIC SERVICE RECOGNITION WEEK. The purpose of this week is to honor the people who deliver public service to the public. I hope the community understands the tremendous team of public servants at the City of Nederland.

These outstanding men and women are dedicated to our community and to ensuring the highest level of services are provided.

On May 15, the City will hold a special City Council meeting to canvass the general and special election results. At this meeting, Councilman Talmadge Austin will end his 12-year tenure as a member of the City Council. His outlook and experience will be greatly missed.

The week of May 21– 27 is PUBLIC WORKS WEEK. The purpose of this week is to recognize the importance of Public Works services and employees. The City’s Public Works Department encompasses Streets & Drainage, Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment, Solid Waste, Water & Sewer distribution and Animal Control. The City has an exceptional Public Works team, and we thank them for their hard work.

Finally, we want to recognize the Nederland Chamber of Commerce’s Mother of the Year – Mary Russell, as well as all mothers on Mother’s Day. There are no words to properly describe how special moms are to our families and lives.  The best thing we can all do is remind our mom how much we love her. HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

If there are any questions regarding City operations, please contact the City Manager’s Office at 409-723-1503.

Chris Duque is city manager for Nederland. He can be reached at CDuque@ci.nederland.tx.us.