CITY & COUNTY
News from Bellaire, West University Place, Houston & Harris County
Harris County Commissioners Court will meet for its regular meeting at 10 a.m. March 14 at 1001 Preston St., Ste. 934, Houston. Meetings are streamed live at www.harriscountytx.gov. Bellaire City Council will meet at 7 p.m. March 6 at 7008 S. Rice Ave., Bellaire. Meetings are streamed at www.bellairetx.gov. West University Place City Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. March 13 at 3800 University Blvd., Houston. Meetings are available via teleconference. Find details at www.westutx.gov. Houston City Council will meet for public comment at 2 p.m. March 7 and regular business at 9 a.m. March 8 at City Hall, 901 Bagby St., Houston. MEETINGS WE COVER HIGHLIGHTS HARRIS COUNTY In a 4-1 vote Feb. 16, Harris County commissioners launched a lawsuit against the state comptroller in response to allegations that the county has defunded law enforcement. On Feb. 10, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released a statement that his o ce had reviewed Harris County’s 2023 budget and found “evidence of a reduction of funding for a law enforcement agency.” WEST UNIVERSITY PLACE Members of the West University Place City Council directed engineers to explore updating the aging water pipeline infrastructure within the entire city at a Feb. 13 meeting. City Manager Dave Beach said the undertaking could cost close to $500 million. Detention sites at the city’s recreation center and Colonial Park and new pipelines along Kilmarnock Ditch are also up for consideration as part of the city’s West Side Drainage Project. City sta hopes to bring a preliminary engineering report back for council consideration by the end of March.
Bellaire City Council requests more data before dog pound decision
BY MELISSA ENAJE
One proposal for a dog pound is a modular structure on First Street. RENDERING COURTESY CITY OF BELLAIRE AGENDA PACKET
Street option would include a $100,000 donation from the Jerry and Maury Rubenstein Foundation, leaving about $35,000 left for the city to fund. The city’s current dog pound on Edith Street can house up to ve dogs in separate fenced enclosures and aver- ages at least three dogs a day. Rebecca Roberts-Newton is one of the founders of the Friends of the Bel- laire Pound, a nonpro t that assists the Bellaire police to nd homes for dogs in the pound. She said the group has been petitioning the city for a new pound since August 2021. Bellaire Mayor Andrew Friedberg acknowledged the decision has taken some time to make. “Speaking for myself, it’s more important we get it right than try to just pick from one option,” he said.
BELLAIRE At a Jan. 23 meeting, Bellaire City Council members failed to make a decision on where to house a new dog pound, instead asking city sta to investigate alternative options. Council members rst asked the city’s police department for sugges- tions for a new location in November 2021. At the Jan. 23 meeting, Chief of Police Onesimo Lopez Jr. presented two options: one on an undeveloped property owned by the city at 1311 N. First St., Bellaire; and one on undevel- oped property owned by Texas Pipe & Supply outside of city limits at 2328 W. Bellfort Ave., Houston. The First Street site would be situ- ated in an industrial center and would cost around $300,000. The Bellfort
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Houston collects just under 800 guns at third buyback event
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ
OFF THE STREETS Houston has hosted three gun buyback events since July.
HOUSTON O cials with the city of Houston and Harris County collected 793 guns during the city’s third gun buyback event Feb. 18 at Alexander Deussen Park in northeast Houston. The event—part of the One Safe Houston initiative launched by Hous- ton Mayor Sylvester Turner in February 2022—allows residents to anonymously trade in guns they no longer want for gift cards. Since the rst event in July, the city has collected more than 2,800 guns. “The success of the two events
demonstrated that people do want a safe space to dispose of their guns. We remove guns that were unwanted and had the potential of falling into the wrong hands,” Turner said in com- ments before the third event. Gift cards ranged from $50-$200 depending on the type of gun, and guns are disposed of by local author- ities, Turner said. The city does not accept 3D-printed versions of guns or ghost guns, which are unserialized or untraceable rearms that can be bought online or assembled at home.
ROUND 1
Date: July 30, 2022 Guns collected: 845
Date: Oct. 8, 2022 Guns collected: 1,208
ROUND 2
Date: Feb. 18 Guns collected: 793
ROUND 3
Meetings are streamed at www.houstontx.gov/htv.
SOURCE: CITY OF HOUSTON COMMUNITY IMPACT
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BELLAIRE MEYERLAND WEST UNIVERSITY EDITION • MARCH 2023
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