Debris sits along the banks of Huebner Creek near the Leon Valley- San Antonio border in this September file photo. Leon Valley officials are still waiting to hear back from San Antonio on cleaning it up, after residents railed city officials at a town hall meeting on flood mitigation. File Photo

A room packed with more than 60 concerned residents and assurances from a District 7 aide did little to remove debris from a creek bed partially blamed for a flooding situation that has now led to buyout talk.

More than 60 Leon Valley residents appeared at a Sept. 29 morning town hall meeting regarding the possible buyouts of their properties for flood mitigation.

After a Bexar County slide show that went through several slides on other projects before getting to the topic at hand, “LC 17,” talk soon drifted to the debris-laden Huebner Creek bed.

“San Antonio ignored the creek for years,” said Walter Ague, policy advisor to District 7 Councilman Justin Rodriguez, afterbeing put on the spot by City Manager Lanny Lambert to address the residents’ concerns.

“It is amazing how long it’s taken us to get a handle on the true effect of the problem.”

Ague assured residents that the following Monday, Oct. 1, he would notify San Antonio officials of Leon Valley’s concerns.

San Antonio officials failed to comment on the issue as of press time, despite repeated attempts since the beginning of October.

However, Leon Valley Mayor Chris Riley said the city and San Antonio talking.

“We are still communicating with Justin Rodriguez’s aide, Walter Ague, on seeing if the COSA can use available funding to clear out the creek between the boundary lines of our cities,” she said.

She added that Lambert met with San Antonio’s assistant manager a few weeks ago and took her to the site of the creek to show her the problems firsthand. About a week ago, he sent the official a follow-up e-mail and has not heard back.

“We are going to stay on this issue, since it is very important for the safety of our residents who live in the area,” Riley said.

Vicki and Guillermo Campos helped spearhead the Leon Valley Ranches petition drive and said they also have not heard back from Leon Valley, which asked the petitioners to give them a month.

“It’s been two months,” Vicki Campos said.

“The creek area behind our house had a superficial fix-up right before they held that meeting on Sept. 29,” she said. “Several of us have been wondering ‘What do we do now?’ or ‘What is the next step?’ ”

The flood control plan, LC 17, is a $52 million project officially approved by Bexar County on Sept. 10 that will deepen Huebner Creek into a channel. The project initially has more than $17 million budgeted for real estate acquisition, but the January estimate is preliminary. If all goes according to plan, the flood plain would be lowered and cleared of an estimated 20 homes.

Riley said at the conclusion of the September town hall that she would take action on the petition signed by 56 residents regarding various flooding concerns.

“… For the most part the problems are the same as those outlined years ago,” says the petition from Leon Valley Ranches residents. The request mentions that two of its recommendations – to maintain Huebner Creek by brush clearing and mowing and to pressure San Antonio officials to keep their side of the creek clear – came out of informal talks with Leon Valley Public Works several years ago.

Concerns became even more relevant after August’s Tropical Storm Erin, and the news of the potential buyouts. Meanwhile, a Leon Valley neighborhood watch program slated to begin in January gives residents a chance to patrol the city for debris, high grass and other code violations.

The LV Now Program, a volunteer code enforcement program, will be charged with keeping Leon Valley “clean, neat and beautiful.” Volunteers will work a number of hours a month, patrolling neighborhood and commercial areas looking for high weeds, tree limbs and other debris. They will then notify the violators or defer to the city’s code enforcement officer.

The program will have no impact on the Huebner Creek situation.

“The city will continue to cut its own weeds and high grass where applicable, but the volunteers may report that an area is becoming a problem sooner than Public Works might know,” said Melinda Smith, community development director for Leon Valley.

She added that the creek situation is being handled directly by the mayor and city manager, not LV Now.

“We will not be requiring volunteers to do ‘creek duty,’ ” she said.

Vicki Campos says while the Leon Valley portion of the creek bed has been mowed recently, gravel and silt remain, as well as tall weeds on either side of the center channel.