NEWS BRIEFS
City of Humble amends emergency response policies
BY HANNAH ZEDAKER
false alarms incurred at an Humble residence or place of business within a 12-month period, the council also voted to switch from a one-time fee for re, burglar and holdup alarm permits to an annual fee. Stuebe said resi- dential permits will be $25 annually, while commercial permits will be $50 annually; permit fees for residents age 65 and older will be waived. To help cover the costs associated with responding to alarms, the city will also begin billing insurance companies for emergency response services following approval by the Humble City Council on June 24. Stuebe noted Humble residents will not be billed for emergency response services. Stuebe said while taxpayer funds support the costs associated with operating and maintaining re stations, apparatus and personnel, they do not necessarily cover the costs incurred from responding to an alarm.
FALSE ALARM FINES After three free false alarms, penalties will be implemented as follows: Burglary-related alarms (residential and commercial) 1-3 false alarms: $50 each 4-5 false alarms: $75 each 7 or more false alarms: $150 each Fire-related alarms (residential) and holdup/panic-related alarms (residential and commercial) 1-3 false alarms: $75 each 4 or more false alarms: $150 each Fire-related alarms (commercial) 1-3 false alarms: $150 each 4 or more false alarms: $200 each
Following an onslaught of false alarms in 2020, the Humble City Council approved several amendments to city ordinances on June 24 related to emergency response services to mitigate the trend. According to City Manager Jason Stuebe, out of 290 re suppression- related alarms the city’s re depart- ment responded to in 2020, 284 were false. Additionally, out of 1,900 total burglar/holdup/panic-related alarms the city’s police department responded to in 2020, 1,417 were false. “We’re spending a lot of time and resources answering false alarms, so we’re trying to get a better handle on the situation,” Stuebe said. In hopes of discouraging false alarms, the council voted to amend its current policy of implementing penalties after ve false alarms in one year to after three false alarms in one year. To better track the number of
SOURCE: CITY OF HUMBLE COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Montgomery County VeteransMemorial Park receives $7M
County creates $833M ood-resilience trust
BY HANNAH ZEDAKER
beyond the 2018 bond. The trust sits at $489 million, but the county will add $343 million by scal year 2030 by increasing the annual transfer from the Harris County Toll Road Authority by 25%, or $40 million, beginning in 2023. “With this ood-resilience trust, we’re taking money that we could have used on other projects,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis said. “We are robbing Peter to pay Paul because we have not gotten the money from the [Texas General Land O ce].” “WE ARE ROBBING PETER TOPAY PAUL BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT GOTTEN THE MONEY FROMTHE TEXAS GENERAL LANDOFFICE .” RODNEY ELLIS, HARRIS COUNTY PRECINCT 1 COMMISSIONER
Harris County Commissioners Court established an $833 million ood-resilience trust at its June 29 meeting to ll the funding gap the Harris County Flood Control District is facing in its $2.5 billion bond program approved by voters in 2018. The Harris County Budget O ce revealed a $1.3 billion shortfall to complete bond projects March 9 due to a lack of partner funds. While the county has chipped away at the funding gap, $951 million in unmet needs remained as of late June. “We’ve done pretty good ... by securing $1.25 billion in partner funding. But we have a long way to go still,” interim HCFCD Executive Director Alan Black said June 29. The HCFCD and the budget department presented recom- mendations June 29 to address the de cit, which were approved, including the creation of a Harris County ood-resilience trust to backstop the bond program and provide for ood-control needs
BY CHANDLER FRANCE
Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park will receive $7 million in state funding, state Rep. Will Met- calf, R Conroe, announced in a press conference June 29. Metcalf said he was able to secure the funding through the budget process in the Legislature. Jimmie Edwards, chair of the Mont- gomery County Veterans Memorial Commission, said the money will fund a visitors education center and the main memorial on the north end of the park. Metcalf also said the Texas Department of Transportation will put up signs on I-45 to direct visitors to the park.
State Rep. Will Metcalf, R Conroe, announced the funding June 29. (Chandler France/Community Impact Newspaper)
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LAKE HOUSTON HUMBLE KINGWOOD EDITION • JULY 2021
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