Government
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ & MELISSA ENAJE
O cials celebrate water plant milestone O cials with the city of Houston and four regional water authorities gathered Dec. 11 to cut the ribbon on a roughly $1.8 billion expansion project at the city’s Northeast Water Puri cation Plant. The details Once the expansion is completed, the plant will treat 400 million gallons of water per day before sending it on to water users, including: the Northwest Harris County, the Central Har- ris County, the West Harris County and the North Fort Bend regional water authorities. According to Houston Public Works Department o cials, Phase 1 will wrap up by March and allow 80 million additional gallons of water per day to be treated. Phase 2 will be completed in 2025 and will allow another 240 million gallons per day to be treated. The four authorities and the city of Hous- ton have partnered on the project’s funding with additional help from the Texas Water Development Board. Harris County approves $4M in eviction legal aid An additional $4 million in federal funding will be used for legal aid and eviction services for qualifying applicants in Harris County’s 16 eviction-handling courts after county commission- ers approved an agreement at a Dec. 19 meeting. The big picture According to Harris County’s O ce of Adminis- tration, the new money brings a total of $8 million for two agencies that handle the legal needs for eviction cases in the county—Lone Star Legal Aid, a nonpro t law rm that provides free legal services, and Neighborhood Defender Services. The rst $4 million was approved in March 2023 using federal American Rescue Plan Act funding. The impact Harris County has been facing an eviction surge after rental assistance programs ended at
Harris County clinic to open $9M health lab The Quentin Mease Clinic, located nearly 3 miles east of the Texas Medical Center, will be on the receiving end of just under $9 mil- lion in federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act. That funding will support the opening of an outpatient gastroenterology lab after Harris County Commissioners Court approved the agreement in December. Why it matters More than 3,000 patients end up waiting for a colonoscopy due to maximum capacity constraints, according to court documents. The money will be used to create additional capacity for colonoscopy procedures and support the purchase of equipment and software licenses, according to county administration o cials.
“Even with our additional eviction dockets, the surge is creating a
bottleneck that impacts our ability to hear all civil cases in a timely manner.” LASHAWN WILLIAMS, PRESIDING JUDGE FOR HARRIS COUNTY CIVIL COURT AT LAW NO. 3
7,371 eviction appeals cases were reported by the Harris County Civil Courts at Law during the rst 11 months of 2023, more than double the prepandemic caseload of 3,568 recorded in 2018.
SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY CIVIL COURTS COMMUNITY IMPACT
the start of 2022, according to a report by the consulting rm January Advisors. While there are 16 JP courts, only four county civil courts hear their appeals. With the additional funding, Harris County residents facing eviction will now be able to meet with an attorney or legal aid representa- tive at all 16 courts.
Harris County leads country in gas-powered lawn pollution An Oct. 30 report by research center Environ- ment Texas found gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment is putting residents’ health at risk. Experts said volatile ozone compounds can bypass lung defenses, damage one’s immune system and even cause premature deaths. Harris County is leading the charge of producing the most pollution from lawn equipment nation- wide, according to the report. What the experts say “It’s a dangerous and deadly pollution,” Environment Texas Executive Director Luke Metzger said. To lessen pollution, Metzger said landscaping businesses and homeowners could consider switching to cleaner, quieter electric lawn equip- ment. He also encouraged local governments to provide incentives for businesses and residents to purchase electric lawn equipment. Bene ts of using the electric equipment include reducing noise pollution, emitting zero emissions
Gas-powered pollution In 2020, Harris County produced as much pollution from gas-powered lawn equipment as 3.8 million cars, leading other large counties.
4M
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2M
1M
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Los Angeles County, California
Harris County
Cook County, Illinois
SOURCE: ENVIRONMENT TEXAS COMMUNITY IMPACT
into the air and saving money over time due to lower fuel and maintenance costs, o cials said. On the other hand Texas passed Senate Bill 1017 in 2023, prohib- iting cities and counties from banning the use of equipment based on its fuel source.
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