Mayor says he's confident Dallas can still beat FEMA remapping

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert says he's been having conversations during the past two weeks with senior officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

"Through those conversations, I have a high confidence level that we're gonna meet the FEMA deadlines," Leppert said during a phone interview this afternoon, asked for comment about doubts raised by a Corps decision this summer that more soil sample testing is needed.

"Clearly we're frustrated by the delay," the mayor said. "We've communicated that to the Corps and told them how important it is that we deal with this issue in a judicious and expedient manor, understanding that we want to get it right."

"We have got to move forward and accomplish some things, just move forward and get this thing done, and the Corps understands that too," he said. "We've had conversations over the last couple weeks, at least I have, with some of the senior members of the Corps, just communicating to them how important it is that we move forward and get things done and that there clearly is a frustration at times when we'll go down one path and be told that's the path that we need to go down, and we'll go down it, and then all of the sudden there's another path."

Leppert said it's important for people to understand that the fixes needed for the levees don't have anything to do with the parks, lakes and toll road planned there.

"This doesn't have anything to do with the project," he said. "If we weren't doing anything with the project, we'd still have to be doing the exact same thing that we're doing now."