Blaze News investigates: Water issues at Colony Ridge and the Texas officials who apparently did nothing about them

Colony Ridge is the fastest-growing land development in all of Texas. Marketing to mainly Spanish-speaking buyers with little credit and often no legal right to be in America, Colony Ridge owners John Harris and his brother, William "Trey" Harris III, have made millions selling small plots of a giant swath of land about a half-hour north of Houston. However, poor living conditions and seemingly unethical business practices have left residents in Colony Ridge and in the surrounding area angry and desperate for help.

A recently released Blaze Originals documentary called "The Real Story of Colony Ridge" — produced by Charles Couger and featuring Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck and his chief researcher, Jason Buttrill — carefully presents many of the problems associated with what some have dubbed "the world's largest trailer park": ramshackle housing, crumbling roads, overcrowded schools, and skyrocketing crime rates.

Here, Blaze News continues that investigation by looking into the apparent drainage and sewage issues in Colony Ridge, as well as some current and former officials who, at best, seem to have ignored these issues or, at worst, enabled them.

'Without constructing adequate drainage or detention facilities': Flooding and drainage issues in and around Colony Ridge

In 2004, Liberty County, Texas, passed subdivision and development rules that, among other things, expressly forbid land development that causes increased stormwater runoff to flow into "neighboring property or into any County drainage ditch, swale easement, culvert," or other drainage areas. Despite these rules, drainage problems seem to have overwhelmed many residents in Colony Ridge and those in the surrounding area, even as CEO John Harris insisted to Glenn Beck that Colony Ridge does not "build lots in a floodplain" and has had only a few "isolated" incidents of flooding since the development was founded a decade ago.

Yolanda Debernardi-Lewis told Blaze News that her Colony Ridge land began to flood almost immediately after she and her husband purchased it in January 2023. Since then, the couple has dumped thousands of dollars to buy massive piles of dirt to absorb all the floodwater that pooled up on their property.

"Each truckload [of dirt] is $435," she explained to Buttrill in the Blaze Originals documentary. "Each truckload doesn't even fill half [of the property]. It fills maybe one-fifth of the land."

Flooding at Debernardi-Lewis' property Composite screenshot of Blaze Originals documentary

Dirt was just one unforeseen expense for the couple. The floodwater also caused problems with the foundation, leading to cracks in their newly constructed mobile home that had just been placed on the property last August.

Two photos of Debernardi-Lewis' home shortly after it was placed on her Colony Ridge property in August 2023Composite screenshot of photos shared with Blaze News

Crack in ceiling molding in December 2023, four months after home was placed on the propertyScreenshot of Blaze Originals documentary

Dirt, repairs, and other issues consumed almost all of the money Debernardi-Lewis and her husband had otherwise earmarked to pay off their land and house. Late last year, Debernardi-Lewis filed a lawsuit against Colony Ridge in the hope of keeping her family's home despite the missed payments. Colony Ridge has notified her that her property is in foreclosure. Her lawsuit is pending.

Flooding isn't just a problem for those living in the development. Michael Shrader, a computer science contractor with a passion for working with raccoons, spent decades living in a house just down the road from Colony Ridge in Plum Grove, Texas. During that time, Shrader and his house endured days of torrential downpour as hurricanes such as Rita in 2005 and Ike in 2008 battered the Gulf Coast of Texas. Despite regional flooding from those tremendous storms, water never crested over the foundation of his home, he told Blaze News.

That all changed in 2017 when Hurricane Harvey struck. Though Shrader said that Harvey caused only moderate rainfall in his area compared with other hurricanes, floodwater soon overtook his property and seeped into his home.

Shrader's home immediately after Hurricane HarveyPhoto sent to Blaze News by Michael Shrader

Over the next two years, Shrader's house flooded on four separate occasions, with water levels inside the home sometimes reaching his knees. Once, he had to spend the night sleeping on his motorcycle underneath the carport to stay dry and keep an eye on his raccoons, he said.

Because Shrader's house was not in a FEMA-recognized flood zone, he never bought flood insurance, he told Blaze News. He was advised when he bought the home in 1994 that he did not need it, and once it began flooding, he was no longer eligible for it. After each flood, he was forced to pay out of pocket for replacement materials such as new flooring, drywall, and cabinets, and he made his own repairs as time, energy, and finances permitted. He estimates that in all, he shelled out more than $30,000 to address flood damages inside his house.

Mold on cabinets following Hurricane Harvey in 2017Photo sent to Blaze News by Michael Shrader

He quickly tired of the overwhelming project, especially since the property was likely to flood again. So he sold his home at a considerable loss in the summer of 2021 and hired an attorney, who then filed a lawsuit against Colony Ridge on his behalf last fall. By paving over wetlands "without constructing adequate drainage or detention facilities," Colony Ridge Development failed to comply with multiple Liberty County "drainage engineering requirements," the lawsuit stated.

"Because of such negligent, sloppy, inadequate failure to comply with rudimentary requirements the City of Plum Grove and MICHAEL WAYNE SHRADER herein, has experienced and continues to experience significant flooding after many rainfall events."

The office of Trey Harris' attorney, Brent Lane, issued a statement regarding Shrader's lawsuit: "In the litigation between the City of Plum Grove and Colony Ridge Development, the Court ruled that, as a matter of law, Colony Ridge Development did not violate County regulations or adversely impact anyone. Management of Colony Ridge Development, therefore, vigorously contests Mr. Shrader's piggyback allegations."

'Very strong fecal contamination': Colony Ridge and problems with raw sewage

Unfortunately, the water issues in and around Colony Ridge extend far beyond alleged poor stormwater draining. Many people in the area have also documented incidents of human waste floating in floodwater and in ditches running along people's property.

A 2019 report from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality substantiated complaints from Shrader and other Plum Grove residents about fecal matter in area streams. That July, TCEQ inspectors spotted employees of a water treatment facility associated with Colony Ridge pumping water furiously out of the intermittent stream of Maple Branch Creek because it required immediate remediation. The water "appeared dark grey, moderately turbid, and a sewage odor was present," the report claimed.

During that incident, up to 48,000 gallons of untreated wastewater spilled into the creek from Colony Ridge sewers and an attending lift station, killing fish and other wildlife, the report determined. Quadvest L.P., the main water provider for Colony Ridge, was ultimately cited for "unauthorized discharge of wastewater which resulted in a documented serious impact to the environment." Quadvest did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

As Maple Branch Creek ran behind his yard, Shrader managed to snap photos around the time of the incident. As he was doing so, a TCEQ representative warned him not to let the water touch his skin or clothing, as it was "very dangerous to human health," he told Blaze News.

Maple Branch Creek from far away and up closeTwo photos sent to Blaze News from Michael Shrader

Maria Acevedo, a land developer who purchased property in Colony Ridge more than five years ago, has likewise repeatedly issued complaints about raw sewage. In June 2020, she even hired a private company that she said found "very strong fecal contamination" in water in a ditch in the southeastern corner of Colony Ridge, according to Reduce Flooding, a website that has been chronicling water problems in the area since Hurricane Harvey struck in August 2017.

While Acevedo, Shrader, and others point to Colony Ridge as the source of the sewage problem, some have blamed the problem on a lack of indoor plumbing in many area homes instead. In their view, area streams and ditches become contaminated because residents living in such homes use buckets as toilets and then deposit the waste in ditches. Blaze News could not verify those reports, but considering the crude condition of many homes — some of which are just tents constructed out of tarps and wood — such residents are likely at least contributing to the issue.

'Continuously failed to follow ... codes and regulations': Louis Bergman and the Colony Ridge water issues

Drainage and sewage are just two of dozens of problems Colony Ridge and other area residents discussed with Blaze News. Rather than go in-depth with others, Blaze News prefers to show the government officials in positions to confront Colony Ridge developers about the manifold complaints against them but who, for whatever reason, have never done so in any meaningful way.

Besides the Harris brothers, the person most responsible for the alleged water problems at Colony Ridge may be Louis Bergman III. Now retired, Bergman spent nearly a decade as the engineer, floodplain administrator, and designated representative for licenses and permits in Liberty County. As such, Bergman was responsible for overseeing county road construction, air quality, water rights and drainage, and platting. Platting relates to the subdivision of land for residential development.

It seems that Mr. Bergman, a licensed professional engineer, was either bad at his job or turned a blind eye to shoddy engineering and construction practices as Colony Ridge continued to expand. Shrader's lawsuit, which names Bergman as a co-defendant, repeatedly calls Bergman "negligent" and claims he "continuously failed to follow building codes and regulations with respect to water flow [and] soil permeability," resulting in the "unauthorized discharge of water" into Shrader's property and other areas of Plum Grove.

Even with those heavy accusations, as recently as 2016, Bergman took pride in the work he did to approve permits in Colony Ridge. That year, he submitted an excessively laudatory affidavit to support Colony Ridge and its various property owners' associations, which had sued former Plum Grove Mayor Lee Ann Penton-Walker for defamation after she publicly questioned whether theirs was a "proper development" in full compliance with county regulations.

Bergman's affidavit not only forcefully denied Penton-Walker's insinuations about Colony Ridge, insisting that the development followed "all applicable regulations and laws related to developing subdivisions in Liberty County," but it touted the character of the Harris brothers and the quality of their work.

"In my experience, Colony Ridge Development has been one of the best land developers," offering "some of the best infrastructure for residential neighborhoods in Liberty County," Bergman gushed.

In the affidavit, Bergman staked his credibility as a professional engineer on the claim that Colony Ridge Development posed no "health, safety, or welfare threat to Liberty County."

'No less than 4 copies ... should exist': Bergman and some missing county records

Despite Berman's glowing affidavit about Colony Ridge, there is evidence that he may have tried to hide some of his work there. Several years ago, the Plum Grove City Council hired an investigative journalist named Wayne Dolcefino to look into the problems associated with Colony Ridge. Dolcefino then contacted Liberty County and asked to view the drainage analysis reports Bergman, who had long since retired by that time, used to approve Colony Ridge permits.

They weren't there.

Liberty County Attorney Matthew Poston later confirmed that at least 19 such reports were missing from the county archives. In January 2021, shortly after Dolcefino and Reduce Flooding reported on the missing documents, Poston announced that his office would launch an investigation about them and other issues connected with Colony Ridge.

"[T]he County is alleged to have provided less than rigorous review and enforcement of subdivision rules," Poston wrote in an email to an attorney representing Colony Ridge, according to documents shared by Dolcefino. "This issue is compounded by a lack of document preservation on the County's part."

The investigation went nowhere. By July 2021, seven months after Poston's announcement, Reduce Flooding began referring to it as an "alleged investigation," as it never produced a report.

In theory, Bergman could have been made to testify under oath about the missing documents, and he was subpoenaed at one point, according to Reduce Flooding. However, Bergman's daughter, Jennifer Bergman-Harkness, is the county district attorney, first elected in 2020, and she has not forced the issue.

Shrader told Blaze News that his legal team requested the missing documents as part of the discovery phase of his lawsuit. To date, none has been produced. "No less than 4 copies of each document should exist, including the copies submitted to Liberty County Commissioners Court," Shrader wrote.

Dolcefino told Blaze News that he did speak to Mr. Bergman on one occasion and that Bergman denied having the documents. Bergman-Harkness' office ignored all of Dolcefino's phone calls.

Blaze News reached out to Bergman, Bergman-Harkness, and Poston for comment but did not receive a response from any of them.

Left: Louis Bergman III | Center: Matthew Poston | Right: Jennifer Bergman-HarknessComposite screenshot of Dolcefino Consulting YouTube video

'There’s not a septic system ... that we’re not supposed to permit': Bergman's successor

As shrouded in secrecy and controversy as Bergman's tenure as county engineer appears to have been, his successor, David Douglas, did little to restore confidence in the office.

By all accounts, Douglas picked up where Bergman left off, authorizing permits to the development despite the complaints against it. For example, in late 2021, Douglas was called to inspect some roads in the Santa Fe section of Colony Ridge that the county would soon begin maintaining. Aside from "little superficial cracks," the roads appeared to be in good condition, Douglas stated at a Commissioners Court meeting that December, Bluebonnet News reported.

The image below is a composite screenshot of a video given to Blaze News from Colony Ridge resident Maria Acevedo. On the video, a woman off camera warns travelers in Spanish to "be careful" driving near the intersection of CR3404 and CR3409, located in the Colony Ridge subdivision of Bella Vista, a few miles away from Santa Fe.

Composite screenshot of video provided by Maria Acevedo

Douglas is not a professional engineer, but he was assigned temporary engineering duties in the county around the time Bergman left. While in office, Douglas was the county administrator for floodplains, permits, and inspections as well as a "designated representative" of the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality, which allowed him to inspect wastewater treatment systems and septic tanks, reported Chron, an online outlet associated with the Houston Chronicle.

"There’s not a septic system installed in Liberty County that we’re not supposed to permit and inspect," Douglas told Chron in January 2019.

As the official tasked with overseeing such critical infrastructure, Douglas played an important role in the development of Liberty County. However, his resume suggests that he may have been ill-suited for the job.

Douglas is no stranger to public-sector work. In the early 2000s, he worked as city manager of Jasper, Texas, about an hour and a half northeast of Colony Ridge. However, by 2005, he found himself embroiled in several controversies, including one involving the city's wastewater treatment facilities, and he retired with a severance package and full retirement benefits.

He didn't remain retired for long. By February 2006, officials in the city of Dayton, Texas, about 25 miles southeast of Colony Ridge, had voted unanimously to hire Douglas to be their new city manager. But some of his work there appears to have been unsatisfactory as well. In fall 2016, after Douglas had been on the job for a decade, the city council and mayor held a special meeting behind closed doors to discuss Douglas' "job performance, duties, responsibilities, and employment," KJAS reported.

Details of that meeting and the improvement plan for Douglas that came of it were never released to the public. However, he soon after left the city manager position in Dayton and took a job with Liberty County, where he was appointed interim county engineering administrator the following year.

Blaze News spoke briefly with Douglas, and he confirmed that he retired from his job at Liberty County about a year ago. When we attempted to ask further questions, he directed us to Melinda Soliday, the current interim county engineering administrator who "took [his] job," he said.

Ms. Soliday confirmed to Blaze News that she replaced Douglas following his retirement in Liberty County and said that she had worked with him in Dayton as well. To her knowledge, all of the work Douglas did for the county, including inspecting roads and drainage areas for permitting, was satisfactory. She claimed to have no knowledge of any his alleged job performance issues in Dayton.

'Robin Hood reverse': Judge Jay Knight and illegal immigration

As important as the county engineering position is, the person occupying it must answer to the Liberty County Commissioners Court, "the governing body of the county." The court comprises four elected commissioners as well as a presiding county judge, a seat Judge Jay Knight has filled since 2015.

As with the court's four commissioners, the judge is responsible for approving county plats, or new residential subdivision plans, and together, the court has repeatedly approved plats for Colony Ridge Development. While the massive growth at Colony Ridge has enriched executives like the Harris brothers, it has also had a hand in furthering illegal immigration.

As its name suggests, Colony Ridge is considered by many to be one of Texas' 1,800 colonias, which the state attorney general's office describes as "substandard housing developments, often found along the Texas-Mexico border, where residents lack basic services such as drinking water, sewage treatment, and paved roads." With conditions resembling those in third-world countries, colonias hold little appeal to most Americans. However, they do attract illegal immigrants because they offer an opportunity to own a piece of American land while enjoying many of the rights and privileges of American citizens and other legal residents.

Though John Harris guessed that only about 10% of Colony Ridge residents are illegal, Liberty County Sheriff Bobby Rader scoffed at such a low estimate. He told Glenn Beck that "the majority" of the population at Colony Ridge — some 50,000 or 75,000 total people — are likely illegal.

When speaking to the media, Judge Knight spouts the views of many conservative Texans regarding the problem of illegal immigration. "It’s very expensive. It’s a mess," he told the Texas Tribune just over a year ago.

"Just because we aren’t on the border doesn’t mean we aren’t impacted," he added.

Yet as one of the few Liberty County officials with the power to approve or deny new plats, Knight has facilitated the expansion of Colony Ridge, thereby helping facilitate more illegal immigration. Because of his alleged efforts to help rich Liberty County residents exploit illegal immigrants, Suellen Sanchez, a former Colony Ridge property owner, described Knight as a kind of foil for Robin Hood.

"He likes to play Robin Hood reverse," she quipped in an email to Blaze News. When asked to explain what she meant by that, Sanchez told us that Knight acts "like he cares" even as he has actually "enabled" Colony Ridge.

Judge Jay Knight bolts for the exit after a Commissioners Court meeting to avoid questions from Wayne DolcefinoComposite screenshot of Dolcefino Consulting YouTube video and Liberty County website

'I think you are having another mental breakdown': Knight gets testy

Unlike some area officials, Judge Knight has at least engaged with county residents about their concerns, even as he evaded questions from investigative journalist Wayne Dolcefino. But some of Knight's interactions with Michael Shrader, who vented on social media about the floodwater and sewage that were destroying his Plum Grove home, can best be described as bizarre.

During one heated Facebook conversation in August 2020, Shrader invited Knight to visit the area and see for himself "the destruction [Trey Harris'] Colonia's have caused" in Plum Grove. "[W]e'd give you a warm welcome, trust me!" Shrader wrote with a smiling emoji.

Knight responded by claiming that Shrader had made a "threat" and that he intended to report him to the county attorney.

Screenshot sent to Blaze News by Michael Shrader

If Knight ever reported Shrader, nothing ever came of it, Shrader confirmed to Blaze News.

During a separate Facebook conversation about the same topic, Knight accused Shrader of having a "mental breakdown." "I think you are having another mental breakdown," Knight wrote. "I can send help to check on you. It's just a phone call away."

As county judge, Knight "presides over all cases involving mental health commitments in Liberty County," the county website states. Though Knight stopped short of recommending Shrader's "commitment," his comment was likely inappropriate, as Shrader then noted.

"Practicing medicine without a license is a crime," Shrader retorted.

At that point, Knight seemed to gaslight Shrader, insisting that Shrader was the one who first "mentioned the mental breakdown."

Screenshot sent to Blaze News by Michael Shrader

Blaze News was able to locate some of their exchanges on Facebook and found that while Shrader did state he "just lost it" after a frustrating phone call with then-interim engineering administrator David Douglas regarding a "storm-water drainage system," he did not mention a mental breakdown in any of the posts read by Blaze News.

Shrader also sent Blaze News a screenshot that indicates that Knight sent Shrader a "new" Facebook message roughly 24 hours after Blaze News emailed Knight, seeking his perspective on the Facebook exchanges with Shrader and other issues regarding Colony Ridge. Shrader has opted not to open the message from Knight, and Knight never responded to the email from Blaze News.

'An advantageous carve-out for the Colony Ridge development': State-level politicians get involved

While members of the Liberty County Commissioners Court probably could have forestalled some of the sprawl of Colony Ridge, their powers are rather limited. As Glenn Beck notes in the Blaze Originals documentary, "On the surface, what John Harris is doing at Colony Ridge is entirely legal," and even the governing body of the county cannot completely prevent legal activity, no matter how unsavory.

However, state Sen. Robert Nichols and state Rep. Ernest Bailes, two Republicans who represent the area, likely could have used their influence in Austin to assist constituents who have been sounding the alarm about Colony Ridge for nearly a decade. And in fact, Nichols and Bailes did effect change in the area, though not in the way these frustrated residents had hoped.

In 2017, Nichols and Bailes proposed changing Texas law so that rural developments like Colony Ridge could establish their own municipal management districts, quasi-governmental entities with the power to levy taxes and issue tax-exempt bonds. As such, Nichols and Bailes created "an advantageous carve-out for the Colony Ridge development to act virtually as its own city," Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claimed in a letter to Congress last October.

The board of the first Colony Ridge municipal management district was almost immediately packed with relatives and friends of the developers, and these allies worked quickly to approve contracts from businesses with ties to the Harris brothers — and Rep. Bailes. According to the Daily Wire, Colony Ridge awarded a "major" land-clearing contract to R&T Ellis, owned by Bailes' cousin Randy Ellis.

Even with the appearance of a good ol' boys' club at Colony Ridge, angry residents have repeatedly reached out to Bailes and Nichols for help. Maria Acevedo has been particularly vocal, sending emails to officials at the county and state levels, all seemingly to no avail.

• "I UNDERSTAND THAT RT ELLIS IS FAMILY WITH OUR STATE REP ERNEST BAILES BUT THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. I DO NOT CARE WHO YOU ARE RELATED TO. WE HAVE LAWS," she wrote in May 2020.
• The following month, Acevedo fired off an email with pictures apparently showing raw sewage in the area. "Somebody please explain why does Ernest Bailes create [a municipal management district] for William Henry Harris III (Trey)," she wrote in part. "Look at these pictures. This is absolutely [disgusting]. Ernest Bailes you have on your profile TCEQ board member. I made a report to the epa, tceq, and the water board. Ernest Bailes and Liberty County does not stop the developer because WE ARE SPANISH! Tomorrow I am contacting the State of Texas to step in."
• "Liberty County is creating these problems and State Rep Ernest Bailes and Senator Nichols are creating more [House bills] for Liberty County. What is really going on here?" she said in December 2020.

In an email to Blaze News, Suellen Sanchez summarized why so many partially blame Bailes and Nichols for the problems at Colony Ridge. It is not as though "they have not known about Colony Ridge," she told us. "... Ernest Bailes was asked to help Plum Grove with Colony Ridge[,] and he acted like if he was going to help and left them hanging."

Left: Rep. Ernest Bailes | Right: Sen. Robert NicholsComposite screenshot of Texas legislature websites

Regardless of the accusations against Bailes and Nichols vis-à-vis Colony Ridge, AG Paxton may have his own axe to grind with the representative and senator. Last May, Bailes and 120 other members of the Texas House voted to impeach Paxton for alleged bribery, obstruction of justice, and misappropriation of public resources. The Senate ultimately voted to acquit Paxton, but Nichols voted to convict him on 13 of the 16 articles of impeachment.

Aside from an automatic response email, Bailes did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment. A representative from Sen. Nichols' office sent us a copy of a statement Nichols gave to the state Senate Local Government Committee for a hearing about Colony Ridge last October that he did not attend. That letter has been included in full below:

Thank you Mr. Chairman for allowing me this statement as I had previous commitments and am unable to attend the hearing today as the committee takes up a discussion on the Colony Ridge Development. As you all are aware, this development is in the district I represent and I have visited it as recently as this month. In 2017, I sponsored two bills alongside Representative Bailes to create both a municipal utility district and a municipal management district in the area of Colony Ridge, which at that time had existed as a development for over 6 years. Both the local officials and the developer agreed that having these districts would result in improved building standards and setbacks. The districts' footprint encompasses only a portion of the development as it stands today.

It is my practice since I've been in the Senate to require resolutions of support from impacted local entities for any local bill I file, and this bill was not an exception. These bills were passed with resolutions of support from the county commissioners' court and the City of Plum Grove. The intent of these districts was to give local officials more tools in the toolbox to ensure responsible development that serves the community interest. To that end, representatives placed by the school district and county commissioners court were given a majority interest in the initial boards of both the municipal management district and the municipal utility district.

I will say that as a lifelong conservative I believe strongly in private property rights and the promise that property ownership holds for hardworking families.

"The Real Story of Colony Ridge" is available exclusively to BlazeTV subscribers. To become a subscriber, click here. The official trailer for the documentary can be seen below.

The Real Story of Colony Ridge | Blaze Originalswww.youtube.com

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