Yes, I know. I just wanted to gripe about Patrick. Shutty.

I bolded it for you non reading types

Which court at what level?

AlaskanAg99 said:

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Which court at what level?

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It's currently in the district court now in Harris County.

Mealer contest statement

With the revised court schedule today's will be the first in 3 weeks.

And the newly minted PCT4 commissioner is offering a resolution to recognize Ellis for his efforts for equity and criminal justice reform. Item #11.

Libraries are requesting to drop late fees.

Wow, so Hidalgo and Garcia are butting heads.

When did that happen? Today?
I missed quiet a bit of this mornings court.

Agenda Item #37
Request for discussion and possible action regarding completing the Road and Bridge Subdivision Drainage Program, a component of the 2018 Flood Control Bond Program.

Background and Discussion:
The Road and Bridge Subdivision Drainage Program (Subdivision Program), a component of the 2018 Flood Control Bond Program, consists of 93 projects to address neighborhood street drainage. At the time they were disclosed to the public, many of the projects expected matches from local partners, and many had limited design and undefined scope.

Due to refined scopes and national and state-wide cost escalations, the estimated cost to complete the Subdivision Program has increased from $460M, as estimated in 2020, to $832.2M, as of today. The remaining unfunded amount is approximately $276M, with $125M needed in FY23 to continue to bid out contracts on current schedule.

Recommendation:
Consistent with Commissioners Court direction on January 31, 2023, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in consultation with the Office of the County Administrator (OCA), the Harris County Flood Control District (FCD), the Harris County Engineering Department, and the Harris County Toll Road Authority (HCTRA), recommends the following:

1. Fund to completion all 26 subdivision projects which have advanced into construction phase or beyond.
2. Place 13 projects, with estimated cost to complete of $45M, on hold. These projects no longer have participating partners, or projects have limited impact; they are identified on Table 1 below. The projects may be resumed once partners or additional funding are identified.
3. Place 7 projects, with estimated cost to complete of $59M, on hold. These projects score below 5.0 on the Prioritization Framework and have not yet progressed to procurement. These projects are identified on Table 2 below. They may be resumed once partners or additional funding are identified. In addition, a precinct may choose to use available funding at the precinct-level to complete projects on this list.
4. Direct OMB, HCTRA, and CAO to review surplus HCTRA Revenue and subject to limitations under the Section 284.0031 of the Texas Transportation Code, make a recommendation on additional transfers above what has been approved by Commissioners Court. The mobility transfers could be applied to the subdivision program or other drainage needs.

In addition, Commissioners Court may place additional projects on hold to reduce the amount of HCTRA surplus devoted to the Subdivision Drainage Program, freeing up these funds for alternative uses. A potential list of projects is shown on Table 3. That list of projects is ranked based on the Prioritization Framework. It does not include projects that have entered procurement or construction, and does not include projects that have won a competitive grant. All of the projects that have won competitive grants score above 5.0 on the Prioritization Framework.

Wow, item #518, PCT2 discussion and possible action regarding completion of 2018 flood mitigation bond projects.

They're just starting the discussion portion of individual items. Could be fire.

Jack Klompus said:

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How convenient that most of the projects put on hold are in Precinct 3.

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As someone who lives in Pct 3, you have my attention on this.

So please, elaborate? Explain what you're implying.

And thanks

County is moving forward with spending $100M in ARPA funds for affordable multifamily housing.

Building a corps of county employees to assist with elections. Involves paying an extra stipend for staff to assist in election support, technical, runners, etc...

Ramsey descents. States Tatum reports to the Election Commission, who haven't met in months. Election Commission meets 3 weeks before the election and 3 weeks after, plus quarterly.

Subdivision Drainage Program:
96 projects as part of 2018 Bond.
$792M+$40M in management costs. $276M shortfall.

Some projects are on hold due to lower value or unwilling partners. Such as cities or MUDs who do not have funding to complete the projects.

Then cost escalations limiting available funds.

Ramsey: doesn't agree with ENG scoring processes. Argues that projects on hold should have funding shifted to others are ready to roll but don't have the proper score. Some horse trading on projects and arguing on what should be considered.

I'll have to watch the replay tomorrow, including the morning which had Hidalgo ranting about the Good Old Boys Club and beating the tax rate issue every chance she can.

Thank you

Since we're about <3 years from moving out of this area I - mistakenly and selfishly - haven't paid as much attention as I should have to local governing.

Though I should as I don't want their antics hurting our homes resale value.

AlaskanAg99 said:

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I'll have to watch the replay tomorrow, including the morning which had Hidalgo ranting about the Good Old Boys Club and beating the tax rate issue every chance she can.

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She needs to suck it up, take the L, and try again next year.

Hearing things that City of Houston is revising the building code to allow for granny flats inside city limits. Parking issues will be thing based on requirements based on construction Sq ft. But the fire marshal is going to have a fit due to ability for firetruck to turn around in cul de sacs.

Due to the ETJ, unincorporated HC will also be subject to these codes, however the county can't pass ordinances for UHC so this may be a major issue for several reasons. The major issue is many parts of UHC do not have a water supply, which is going to cause either restrictions OR added building costs.

More to come on this, but it'll be in the papers if new residential outbuilds are approved.

I'm confused here. Are you saying ADU's aren't currently allowed by city code?

I had never heard that.

In Houston they're called "garage apartments" generally. I assume a granny flat is used because they're talking about just a tiny house, like a pool house or something, that wasnt originally a garage or built on top of a garage.

Oh. I thought those were called MIL suites. Same concept though.

I think y'all are talking about Cheryl's burning she-shed

Many names for an additional living unit on a property. But it causes other issues such as fire code, parking etc... the ETJ is an added wrinkle for UHC which will cause other problems.

But in the city, another unit to increase density requires additional parking on the lot, which may not be possible. And # of additional spots is dependent on SQ FT.

Imagine turning your front lawn into parking to meet city requirements. Else it's street parking which causes other issues.

AlaskanAg99 said:

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But in the city, another unit to increase density requires additional parking on the lot, which may not be possible. And # of additional spots is dependent on SQ FT.

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Where did you see this? I built a new garage apartment in 2015 and parking did not come up in the permitting process. Trees did, but that's a whole other matter of stupidity.

Ryan the Temp said:

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AlaskanAg99 said:

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But in the city, another unit to increase density requires additional parking on the lot, which may not be possible. And # of additional spots is dependent on SQ FT.

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Where did you see this? I built a new garage apartment in 2015 and parking did not come up in the permitting process. Trees did, but that's a whole other matter of stupidity.

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It's a proposal, hasn't been adopted yet.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/transportation/article/45-rebuild-txdot-highway-funding-17813741.php

Lawsuits and feet dragging by HC & COH is now resulting in I45 funds from TXDOT being shifted.

"Drivers on Houston freeways likely can relate: Facing a slowdown when it comes to rebuilding Interstate 45, state transportation leaders are shifting gears and changing lanes.

Unable to significantly move ahead with the controversial rebuild until probably 2027, the Texas Transportation Commission is considering taking money it planned to spend in the next four years on I-45 and dedicating it to other projects in the Houston area, citing the need to keep spending now with the expectation that the funding for I-45 will come later."

Other holds on the federal side still exist. Who knows if this will ever get built.

Since court is now every 3 weeks, it was held Tuesday.

Lots of liberal stuff such as installing solar and EVs.

More budget talk, how to raise revenue yet nearly no talk of cutting spending. Massive spending in jails due to courts not processing people quickly enough.

Stated county staff is paid below market value and health care costs are exploding. Thank you inflation.

Due to this, large volumes of staff turnover.

Solution, March of 2022 1% COLA raise and on this court a $500 salary increase. Or $19/check. Which is not going to move the needle for people to stay.

Now discussing ARPA funds are winding down, massive increases to staff are funded through temporary funding. This will cause a big issue for the D'Souza when funds run out and their new and expanded staff will be cut. End result, maxing out tax rates which will have to decline as property values continue to max out at 10%.

Cops asking for $2k raises this year alone.

Heard there is a State Bill to move Flood Control out of county Control to state Control. I don't have the bill#.

Fighting with the GLO on Harvey Funds at $750M which should have been $1.2B. They're running into an issue with time constraints to fund projects as they sat on funds too long in hopes for more matching funds.

Sucks for us Harris County residents but delighted to hear these whiny liberal morons complain and point the finger.

These damned clowns have no ****ing clue what they are doing.

It's amazing how many budget holes have been filled by 1x ARPA funds.

Often the boogie man of No New Revenue Rate. With 4 Dems we know that will not happen.

It was mentioned they're still fighting for the VAR (voter approved rate) but I can't tell if they're still trying to modify the No New Revenue rate that was a forced adoption last summer.

AlaskanAg99 said:

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It's amazing how many budget holes have been filled by 1x ARPA funds.

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Yes, many programs were created via ARPA funds -- early childhood education, rental assistance programs, legal aid programs for vulnerables, reproductive health programs, free wifi, mental health, crime prevention through environmental design, homeless shelters, workforce development, court backlog, and of course, consulting services for the Commissioners' best friends.

Harris County ARPA Funds (harriscountytx.gov)

In today's commissioners court, the County let go the director of Universal Services due to sexual harassment.

Harris County’s Noriega Out as Head of Universal Services Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations https://t.co/vdDFG7Rscg

— Holly Hansen (@hollyshansen) May 16, 2023