Helotes resident urges city help after heavy rains flood Cedar Springs ditch

Helotes — At the June 26 City Council meeting, resident Brian Opplinger described repeated flooding and debris buildup in a ditch that runs past his Cedar Springs neighborhood and asked the council to consider using city funds or authority to address the problem.

Opplinger said the area received “somewhat close to 9 inches in a 24 hour period” during a recent storm and that the ditch now holds debris and standing water upstream and downstream from his property. He told the council the city has collected “a fee in lieu of drainage” from developers and asked whether those funds could be used to address local drainage problems.

Opplinger described a history of work at the site, saying a previous property owner, Lee Bowers of Hill Country Village 2, installed a bridge at a cost he estimated at “somewhere around 60 to $80,000,” and that later TxDOT altered the crossing and removed stone-and-wire debris-capture features installed decades ago. Opplinger said those rock-and-wire devices “used to catch all the debris,” and that their absence contributes to current clogging.

Opplinger said he has worked with his homeowners association and that the HOA plans some remediation, but he asked the city to “get some help across the board with this.” The council did not take action during the meeting; the item appeared during the public-comment (Citizens to Be Heard) portion of the agenda.

No city staff response or formal next steps were recorded on the meeting audio during the Citizens to Be Heard segment. Opplinger identified himself as a 21‑year Air Force retiree who has lived in the area for about 23 years.