Recently, each homeowner in Trinity Falls received a letter from the MUD regarding illegal yard drains. The intent of the letter was to provide information to homeowners about lot drainage. Just because you received a letter does not mean that you have an illegal drain on your lot. The MUD provides ongoing inspections of all MUD-owned property to ensure that no homeowner is causing damage to such property. This update from the MUD will hopefully provide further clarification about illegal drains.

• Most lots in Trinity Falls drain toward the street. As a reminder, your property line ends at the sidewalk in front of your home. The sidewalk and the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the curb are part of the road right-of-way and are owned by the MUD.
  • Many homeowners/builders/contractors have installed an underground drainage system to help transfer the drainage from the back of the lot to the front.
  • If installed correctly, there should be a “pop-up” drain at least 5 feet from your property line that forces the underground drainage to the surface where it can sheet flow to the street (see attached Exhibit “A” illustrating the correct location of the “pop-up” drain).
  • If your “pop-up” drain was installed between the sidewalk and the curb, then that “pop-up” drain was installed on MUD property without authorization. However, if the unauthorized “pop-up” drain is not causing damage to the sidewalk or curb and not causing erosion on the MUD property, then, at this time, the MUD is not going to ask the homeowner to relocate the “pop-up” drain onto the homeowner’s property. If at any time in the future, the unauthorized “pop-up” drain starts causing damage to the sidewalk or curb or starts causing erosion on the MUD property, then the MUD has the authority to require the homeowner to relocate the “pop-up” drain onto the homeowner’s property.
  • If your underground drainage flows directly into the street through a cutout in the curb, then this curb cutout is illegal. Curb cutouts severely weaken the curb and over time will cause the curb to crumble, which will result in future maintenance costs to the MUD. In addition, discharge from these curb drains on streets with flatter grades may result in the potential for standing water in the street, posing a public safety issue, and has the potential to prematurely degrade the street as the water soaks into and compromises the paving subgrade, resulting in failure of the concrete pavement.
• Some lots in Trinity Falls are designed for the backyard to drain to the rear. If your lot backs up to a greenbelt or park, then a portion of your lot may be designed so that drainage is forced to flow as a sheet (“sheet flow”) across the entire surface of your lot and is dispersed by the vegetation and topography. Sheet flow drainage does not flow through a drainage pipe.
  • The MUD owns and maintains a majority of the common areas behind the homes in Trinity Falls.
  • If your lot has a drainage system that is designed to capture the drainage and force it out the back of your lot then there should be a “pop-up” drain at least 5 feet from the back property line to allow the drainage to sheet flow off the back of your lot. Any outfall pipe that extends into MUD property, is an illegal drain that must be removed.

The MUD encourages all homeowners to walk the perimeter of their property and make certain that their lot does not have any of the illegal drain types discussed above. If you do have an illegal drain, suspect you may have an illegal drain, or have any questions about the drainage on your property, please contact Jody Dellinger, Regional District Manager, at jdellinger@mckinneymud1.com.

The reason the MUD is taking action to have these illegal drains removed is simple – any time the MUD spends money on a repair, all taxpayers in the MUD are paying for that expense. The MUD is trying to avoid instances where all taxpayers are paying for expensive repairs to MUD property caused by one individual homeowner with an illegal drain.

The Dog Park water fountains are off and wrapped due to the upcoming expected freezing temps.

The “Small Dog” Park is for SMALL dogs — under 20LBS only.

Please keep larger dogs in the “Big Dog” Park.

Signs are posted at all entrances.

If someone has a large dog in the small dog area, please do NOT confront that person. Please REPORT it to the Regional District Manager, Jody Dellinger, at 469-243-0028.

Swing by to see the new matting.