Spring - Klein Edition | January 2022

COUNTY

Updates on important issues facing local entities

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TOP COUNTY STORIES TO WATCH IN 2022

Harris County Flood Control District nears biggest spending year yet

Pending lawsuits, county redistricting transitions to be complete in March Following the 2020 decennial census, the Spring and Klein community may reside within an entirely new county commissioner precinct by late March. In a 3-2 vote, Harris County commissioners selected a new boundary map for the county’s four commissioner precincts Oct. 28. County ocials said the deadline to transition responsibility is not until Jan. 1, 2023, but commissioners agreed Nov. 9 to complete the transition by March 31. This plan has drawn criticism from Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey and Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle, as much of Precinct 3 is now considered Precinct 4 and vice versa. Both voted against the proposal and have joined a lawsuit against the county over the redistricting results. A court hearing was held on whether to grant a temporary restraining order preventing Harris County from implementing the map Nov. 29, but the attempt was not successful. Cagle said the goal is to get the lawsuit before the Texas Supreme Court by early January.

BY HANNAH ZEDAKER

MAKING PROGRESS

HARRIS COUNTY Three years after work began on projects outlined in the Harris County Flood Control District’s $2.5 billion bond program, Deputy Executive Director Matt Zeve said 2022 may be the district’s biggest spending year in its history. “We had a 10-year plan, and the way things are mapping out, …we should be done with pretty much everything by early 2029,” Zeve said. “But the vast majority of our spending is happening now.” A majority of that spending will come from completing three federal ood damage reduction projects this year along Brays, Hunting and White Oak bayous—each of which costs more than $100 million, Zeve said. In addition to those projects, HCFCD ocials will submit preliminary ood plain maps in late January to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will issue the preliminary ood insurance rate map in the summer. Brian Edmondson, project manager for HCFCD’s Modeling, Assessment and Awareness Project, or MAAPnext, said the new rates could take eect in 2024. The nearly $30 million eort, which began in January 2019, will be the rst time the entire county’s ood plain has been remapped since 2001. In mid-December, HCFCD ocials also completed the Phase 2 feasibility study of constructing an underground tunnel in Harris County to divert oodwaters, Zeve said. However, the results will not be released to the public until sometime in 2022.

Since Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas Gulf Coast in 2017 and Harris County voters passed a $2.5 billion ood bond referendum in 2018, the Harris County Flood Control District has: Initiated 181 of 181 projects, 19 of which are complete

Received $1.35 billion in partnership funding Completed 667 buyouts with 645 additional buyouts in process

Authorized $578 million in bond funds

In 2022, Harris County residents can look forward to the following accomplishments by the Harris County Flood Control District: LOOKINGAHEAD

Completion of Brays, Hunting and White Oak bayou federal ood damage reduction projects

Public release of Phase 2 ood tunnel feasibility study

Public release of preliminary ood insurance rate map

SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICTCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

debt the county can take on. “Even if we had $100 billion instead of $2.5 billion, we can only go so fast at a time,” Zeve said. “We would love to have all that money because then we’d know we can do what we need to do. But all of our projects take a certain amount of time.” With or without another bond, Zeve said the HCFCD’s budget needs will continue to grow to pay o bond debt and maintain new infrastructure. “Every time we build a new project, we have to take care of it, and every time we have to take care of it, that costs more money,” he said. As of mid-December, the county administrator’s oce was still searching for a new HCFCD executive director. Alan Black will continue to serve in this capacity in the interim.

“We briefed all of the members of Commissioners Court on the results of that study and we got a wide variety of reactions,” Zeve said. “Because of that, we’re not in a place where we can release the results of the tunnel study just yet.” Future projects Outside of the 2018 bond program, the HCFCD received $250 million from FEMA in December to fund sediment removal across eight watersheds over the next ve years. In 2021, HCFCD ocials also com- pleted 10 watershed planning studies, which identied new projects. While Zeve said some elected county o- cials have mentioned the possibility of a second ood bond program, that will depend upon howmuch more

Harris County commissioners approve $35 million campus for youth transitioning out of foster care Harris County commissioners at a Dec. 14 meeting unanimously approved the construction of a roughly $35 million Houston Alumni and Youth Center campus that will include a 41,000-square-foot, 50- unit residential facility for youth transitioning out of foster care. The approximately 3.3-acre campus, which will be located at 3131 Gulf Freeway near downtown Houston, will also include a 17,000-square-foot commercial facility that will house the HAY Center, a program operated through the Harris County Resources for Children and Adults Department that provides resources and services for youth and young adults exiting the state foster care system. Construction of the new campus is expected to begin in the rst quarter of 2022 and is slated to wrap up by the third quarter of 2023. The project is primarily funded through federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds.

Harris County incumbents see challengers ahead ofMarch 1 primaries

BY HANNAH ZEDAKER

led for county judge, including incumbent Lina Hidalgo; eight candidates have led for Precinct 2 commissioner, including incumbent Adrian Garcia; and eight candidates have led for Precinct 4 commissioner, including incumbent Jack Cagle. Registered voters may cast their ballots at any vote center in Harris County during early voting and on election day. For more information, visit www.harrisvotes.com.

Election dates to know Primary elections are held March 1 in Texas.

HARRIS COUNTY More than 120 candidates have led for Harris County positions ahead of the March primaries as of the candidate ling deadline Dec. 13, according to the Texas secretary of state’s website. The winners for each party in the March primaries will determine which candidates will be on the bal- lot in the November general election. Of note, 15 candidates have

Last day to apply for a ballot by mail

Feb. 18

Last day to submit mail-in ballot Early voting

March 1

Feb. 14-25

SOURCE: TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER

SPRING KLEIN EDITION • JANUARY 2022