CITY& COUNTY
News from Bellaire, West University Place, Houston & Harris County
NUMBER TOKNOW The number of homeless individuals housed under the rst phase of Houston’s Community COVID Housing Program between Oct. 1, 2020 and Jan. 11, 2022 7,040 OTHER HIGHLIGHTS HARRIS COUNTY Five new directors were approved by Harris County Commissioner Court Jan. 25 in an unanimous vote. Christina Petersen was named the ood control district’s executive director. Milton Rahman was unanimously approved for county engineer. Daniel Ramos will lead the o ce of management and budget; Lisa Lin will pilot the o ce of sustainability; and Sara Mickelson will head early childhood initiatives. BELLAIRE The Bellaire City Council approved $150,000 for improvements of the Bellaire Family Aquatic Center at its Jan. 24 meeting. Space to store pool equipment, the installation of shade cover and an extension of the fencing are part of the proposed development. HOUSTON The city announced Jan. 20 the deployment of its second Mobile Ambient Air Monitoring Laboratory to give residents, emergency responders and regulators real-time air quality data. The lab responds to reports of unusual smells, airborne particles, smoke, fumes, outdoor pollutants and emergency situations, such as the 2019 chemical plant re in Deer Park. HOUSTON In a Jan. 6 vote, the city approved the expansion of a pilot program designed to provide instant alerts to police o cers when gunshots are red. The $3.5 million contract with ShotSpotter will run for ve years. The technology works by using acoustic sensing to identify and report gunshots. The contract covers 10 square miles, including parts of South Houston under the pilot program and a second location that has not been announced. Bellaire City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Feb. 7 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. Feb. 14 at 3800 University Blvd., Houston. Meetings are available via teleconference. Find details at www.westutx.gov. Houston City Council will meet at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 8 for public comment and 9 a.m. Feb. 9 for regular business at 901 Bagby St., Houston. MEETINGSWE COVER
Houston approves plans for homelessness center
BY SOFIA GONZALEZ
HOUSTON Two ordinances were passed by Houston City Council Jan. 26 pertaining to the reconstruction and leasing of a navigation center in the Fifth Ward that proponents said will help people citywide transition out of homelessness. The ordinances—both of which passed with a 12-4 vote—approved the funding for the city’s portion of the reconstruction and the leasing agreement between the city of Houston—the landlord—and The Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, which is the tenant. The navigation center, which will be located in a 27,000-square-foot building at 2903 Jensen Drive, will host temporary housing for individuals who qualify, who will have the opportunity to stay for 30 to 60 days before moving on to permanent housing, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said. During this time, those who go will also receive employment and medical assistance, he said. Those in the Fifth Ward who are seeking either medical services or substance use disorder assistance will also have the opportunity to get help, Turner said. “We are being hands on to address the needs of the people and beyond,” Turner said. Those who oppose the center, including some speakers at a Jan. 25 public hearing, said they felt the area is already burdened with issues and the funding for the project should be spent elsewhere, such as either on a recreational center for the children or on addressing a previously
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A building on Jensen Drive will be turned into a homeless services center. (George Wiebe/Community Impact Newspaper)
identi ed cancer cluster in the area tied to a Union Paci c Corp. railroad site. Others expressed concerns that the navigation center would cause residential property values to go down and have e ects on surrounding businesses and infrastructure services. Turner said he plans to meet with the community to monitor the navigation center once it opens. The navigation center is part of the city’s second phase of the Community COVID Housing Program, which will help fund a $100 million initiative to house 7,000 individ- uals. That goal comes on top of the 7,000 people already housed under the rst phase of the program. The city’s portion of the cost is roughly $4.2 million, according to information submitted to the council.
Council OKsMaple Street sidewalkdesign
Bellaire’s 3 new council members take oath of o ce
Council assignments New council members were assigned to boards in January.
BY GEORGE WIEBE
Parks and recreation advisory board: Winfred Frazier
BELLAIRE At a Jan. 24 meeting, the city of Bellaire approved design work for a new sidewalk along the south side of Maple Street between Rice Avenue and Loop 610 West. The work will be done by MBCO Engineering and is expected to cost $82,430. While a date for construc- tion is still to be determined, the design and survey work is scheduled to last roughly six months. Plans initially called for sidewalks on both sides of Maple, but they were scaled down. The new sidewalk will be 4 feet wide and total 2,600 linear feet, according to documents submitted to the council. The scope of work also includes the creation of a tree preservation plan.
BY GEORGE WIEBE
BELLAIRE Following elections in November and runo s in December, three new members of Bellaire’s City Council were o - cially sworn in at a Jan. 3 council meeting. New Council Members Winfred Frazier and Ross Gordon won in November’s general elections and were elected to positions 1 and 3, respectively. Brian Witt won fol- lowing a runo race in December for Position 5. Each new member was assigned a role as liaison to the city’s boards and commissions. Frazier was assigned to the parks and recre- ation advisory board; Gordon went to the board of adjustments; and Witt went to the culture and art board. The remaining council members were reassigned to previous roles.
Board of adjustments: Ross Gordon
Culture and art board: Brian Witt
Environmental sustainability board: Catherine Lewis
Planning and zoning commission: Nathan Wesely
Building standards commissions: Jim Hotze
L.I.F.E. advisory board: Andrew Friedberg
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Meetings are streamed at www.houstontx.gov/htv.
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SOURCE: CITY OF BELLAIRE COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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BELLAIRE MEYERLAND WEST UNIVERSITY EDITION • FEBRUARY 2022
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