Grapevine Springs-CS 940121DALLAS COUNTY
PUBLIC WORKS
~auuary 21, 1994
Federal Eme~ency Management Agency
500 'C' Street S.W.fRoom 418
Washington, D.C. 20472
Case Nun~o~r 93-06-267R, lt~quest for a Conditional Letter of
Map Revision ou Grapevine Springs in C. oppeJl, T~xas
· Grapevine Springs Park Project
We realize that you ~ probably not f~milinr With this project, therefore, we would ~ to take
the time to present some of the background information about thc Grapevine Springs Park
The Grapevine Sprh~s Park site was acquired by the Dallas County Park Dept. in 1991. It will
be operated and nmintained by the City of COl~ Parks and Reereation Del:mttment. Tbe l~rk
is only 15.5 acres and is located within walking distance of the center of 'oldtown' CoppeU.
The park originally constructed over 50 yeats ago, by the WPA, but fell into di~ and
revel/ed to the original owne~ therefore the reacquisition of the property. The park was the
site of a historic Ii~m__ty siglling betweea ~ Houston a~d the North Texas Igdlnn Tribo$ in 1843
thus circumventing General Santa Ana's scheme to enlist the tribes in a second invasion of
Texas. (Please note that in the State of Texas, Sam Houston is regarded as the father of the
Texas Republic and everything he touched is highly regarded.) It is hoped that the Grapevine
Springs Park will eventually be placed on the National Register of Historic Places, but we would
~ to clean-up the place before applying.
For the last 2 years the Dallas County and ~he City of Coppell have been carefully removing
years of accumulated debris, sodim~nt and undergrowth from th~ Park's native stone features.
Thc park is centered on Grapevine Creek and an old dam forms a shallow pool in the creek
channel. This pool is one of the nntural focal points of the l~rir, however, over the years the
creek has been eroding a new channel south of the pool. This new charnel by-passes the old
dam and the erosion is starting to consume lXUts of the park as well as deposit sediment in thc
creek channel downstream. The erosion in the bypass channel will eventually dra~ the existing
pooL. As part of the lxtrk restoration, we are attemptin8 to return the site to its original
conditions; which includes keeping water in the pool. We have included n site plan with this
letter to help show the situation.
However, the purpose of this letter is not to update FEMA on our local project, but rather we
are writing in response to FEMA's letter dated November 11, 1993 requesting additional data
for the review of the Grapevine Springs Park Erosion Control Project. Specifically, FEMA is
requesting a re-modeling of Grapevine Creek hydraulics (HF.C-2) of both the pre-construction
411 Elm Street Dallas, Texas 75202 653-715'
Federal Emergency Management Agmcy
January 21, 1994
and proposed conditions without dividing th= flood dischargo between tho main and bypass
channels. This ~-modeling is requested for the 10, ~0, 100 and ~00 year discharges and for
the 100 year floodway. Also, r~-mapping of the floodplains and floodway is being requested
for this condition. In addition, a correction in the 10 and ~0 year model's starting wa~ sudaoe
elevation has also been requested, however figs minor con'ectioo can not be made until the larger
issue of the main channel - bYl~CSs channel split flow modeling Verses non-spU! modeling has
been resolved.
We ~ that the information r~que~tad in FEMA's letter dated November 11, 1~3, is to
satisf~ it 'personal tn~.fet~nee' and not to satisfy one of FEMA's re,relations. We believe that
we have provided a technical analysis that best reprcscnts the true conditions for thi~ reach of
Grapevine Creek. We believe that our knowledge of this s/te's unique conditions enables us to
mnt~ this judgement.
We ~luest that the 90 day time peliod be ~ ungl FEMA has had a chance to r~.sp~nd
~o this letter.
If you have any queslions abo~t the pro~ect ple~e contact either Mr. Allen Bud Beene, P.E.,
Director of Public Works of Dallas County at 214/653-7151 or ~ontaot Mr. Ken Griffin, P.I~.,
Coppell's City F.,n~ineer at 214/393-1016. We STRONGLY suggest a dh~ct dialogue be
established between FEMA-Washington and the local jurisdictions on this lxoject. Thank you
for your consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
Director of Public Works
Dallas County, Texas
X¢:
Jack Quarks, FF_,MA Re~ion VI
Neal Chisholm, P.E., Graham Associates