The only thing to come out of a Thursday meeting between residents of Country Club Estates and Slidell officials is they agreed to disagree.

Even though City Engineer Donna O’Dell, Mayor Ben Morris and Pinewood Country Club officials said there is no danger from flooding, residents left the meeting fearing construction of a retention pond and the resulting piles of dirt from the hole would increase flooding during a rainstorm.

The retention pond being built between the 14th and 15th holes on the Pinewood Country Club golf course is a $250,000 project funded by the city that is designed to stop street and yard flooding for the residents who live along the perimeter of the golf course. The pond will collect rainwater, and when the level in the pond gets too high, a valve will be opened and the water will drain off slowly into the W14 drainage canal that runs on the eastern edge of the golf course. The pond will be one of several retention ponds on the course and will contain 2.5 million gallons of water. District G Councilman Bill Borchert said this would increase the city’s retention capacity to 10 million gallons of water for that part of the city. “This pond will take 2 million gallons of water off the street,” Morris told the crowd of homeowners gathered at the Pinewood clubhouse.

But it is not the pond that upsets the residents along the golf course. It is the large amount of dirt and mud taken from the pond.

When construction on the pond started last week, some homeowners woke up to mounds of dirt and mud piled up near their back yards. Residents are concerned because their back yards usually flood during heavy rain storms, and they fear the piles of dirt will not only increase the amount of water getting into their yards, and also into their houses.

Borchert and country club officials tried to reassure residents the piles of dirt are temporary and being used to redesign the course. When the project is finished, Borchert said, water will flow toward the retention pond and away from the houses.

But residents, with the memory of the 1995 floods, were not convinced, and want the dirt removed. They fear that adding any sort of elevation to the golf course will increase the potential of water getting into their homes.

So Borchert called the meeting of residents, Pinewood officials and city leaders to try and reach a resolution.

That resolution was not reached Thursday night, and many homeowners left the meeting feeling that when the project is finished, their homes will be in danger of more, not less flooding.

“I was hoping that showing them the plans and bringing in the experts would show the residents there was nothing to fear,” Borchert said, “But I don’t know if they were convinced.”

Morris told homeowners the city saved a lot of money on the project by not shipping out the dirt, and the country club would use the dirt to improve the golf course.

“I wouldn’t do anything to put water in your homes,” Morris said. “The project is to keep water out of your yards and homes.”

O’Dell said when the project is finished there will be 15 more catch basins placed around the perimeter of the course that will divert water to the retention pond before it gets in houses.

“It should be much faster drainage,” O’Dell said.

She added the mounds of dirt will disappear soon as the country club begins its plan to redesign the course. She said the dirt would be compacted and take up less space.

Stan LeBlanc, president of the Pinewood Country Club Board of Directors, said getting water into the pond is what the club needs to irrigate the greens and fairways.

“We want all your water,” LeBlanc said. He added the country club will pay for the maintenance of the pond.

Even Pinewood Country Club golf pro James Lietz assured residents the pond and the dirt will improve the drainage.

“When the project is finished, the lip of the pond will be a foot below the yards,” Lietz said. “The water will flow to the pond.”

But that did not mollify the homeowners. Most were concerned that adding the dirt to bunkers would elevate parts of the course, which would mean more water in their yards. A lot of residents said sheet water flow would still get into their yards.

Resident Tim Stanley said the city did not give homeowners enough time to look at the plans and get their input. He suggested that construction be stopped until engineers do a hydrology report on where the water flows on the course.

But both O’Dell and Borchert said a hydrology report is not necessary. O’Dell said a hydrology report is required only if new dirt is added, and the dirt from the pond is staying on the course.

“When we dig the pond, it will be the lowest point, which means the water will flow to it,” Borchert said.

But Stanley said now is the time to do a study before the project is finished.

“I’m not blaming the city or Pinewood,” Stanley said. “The pond is a great idea, but piling up the dirt is not the right way to do things.”

Borchert called for patience from the homeowners. The pond will be finished in three weeks, and the renovation of the course will take at least six months.

“I understand their fears, but the mounds of dirt are disappearing. That’s where their fear started,” Borchert said.

Some residents like Larry Tedesco wonder if their patience will be rewarded.

“I am patient, but when it is finished and it doesn’t work, are there plans to mitigate the flooding?” Tedesco asked.

Borchert said the situation would be better for the residents.

“The plan calls for every drop of water to go into the ponds,” Borchert said.

But the residents are still leery, and Morris said he is willing to work with anyone to see that their houses do not flood.

The Rev. Robert Aumann’s concern is still the dirt.

“It’s an added pressure. Nothing has changed our fears,” Aumann said. “If nothing improves, I might have to move.”