BEAUMONT, Texas — A community health clinic in the south end of Beaumont is filing a lawsuit to block the construction of a detention basin near the clinic's property.
Officials with the Sarah Street Wellness Center announced the lawsuit during a Tuesday morning news conference. The center offers healthcare, event space and a basketball gym that is available to the community.
At issue in the lawsuit, filed against Drainage District Six, is a five acre piece of land that the district is currently excavating on to build a detention basin.
The basin will be dry the majority of the time, but it is designed to hold storm runoff during major rain events and help alleviate home and street flooding, according to Doug Canant, chief operating officer at Drainage District Six.
"We hear a lot about retention ponds. Drainage District Six doesn't have retention ponds. What we have are detention ponds," Canant said.
Detention ponds only hold water temporarily while retention ponds hold water all the time.
A walking trail with parking will be included with the construction of the detention basin and could have other secondary uses such as the Chris Quinn Soccer Fields on Dishman Rd., according to Canant.
The president of the wellness center, Tony Marsaw, said Tuesday he had been asking to buy the land from the drainage district since 2023 so that the center could build a baseball field.
Marsaw says he was "blindsided" when he learned last week, on June 27, 2024, that DD6 was planning on building the detention basin.
"I was caught off guard," he said. "I don't know the need for it. I don't know of any flooding. I've been here for three years, and there hasn't been any flooding. I took the time to talk with neighbors, and they said they hadn't seen any flooding since they've been here."
He and the wellness center contend that the detention basin isn't needed.
In the past three years since he has been at the center, Marsaw says he has seen no flooding in the area. Neighbors of the wellness center have also seen no flooding in the area, according to Marsaw.
Building a baseball field would better serve the community, Marsaw says.
Marsaw has hired attorney, Sarah Doezema.
"There's been no issues previously in this space in terms of flooding," Doezema "Why are you building a retention pond here? Why here, and why now?"
Canant says the proposed project would function like the detention basin off Dishman Road, with soccer fields and a concrete trail. He says it would hold water from surrounding neighborhoods but only in the event of extreme flooding.
"It detains water that would otherwise flow westerly into areas around 11th Street and Fannett Road," said Canant.
DD6 owns much of the land it needs to build the basin, but Canant needs a little more from the wellness center. He hopes to reach a compromise that benefits the community rain or shine.
"I'm sure we would be open [to it] if they want to work out a way to play baseball in this detention basin, I'm sure it would be fine with us," Canant said.
The center is committed to "fostering positive growth and providing safe recreational spaces for the children in our community," according to a news release. A baseball field would also help with crime prevention, according to Marsaw by offering a constructive outlet for kids.
Marsaw also cited the dangers of children drowning in the detention basin.
As of Tuesday, Canant says DD6 has yet to be served with court papers involving a lawsuit.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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