CITY& COUNTY
News from Harris County and Jersey Village
QUOTEOFNOTE “WHENMY DAUGHTERS ... GROW UPAND THEYARE LOOKING FORA HOME, THEYARE GOING TO LOOK IN OUR CITY, AND THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BE AFRAID TOBUYA HOME HERE BECAUSE OF FLOODING.” ANDREWMITCHAM, JERSEY VILLAGE MAYOR OTHER HIGHLIGHTS HARRIS COUNTY After months of arguments and withheld payments, Harris County Emergency Services District No. 11 and Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services agreed to a $10.8 million budget for the remainder of their contract. The two entities met during an April 1 special meeting after tempers ared during budget discussions. According to ESD 11, CCEMS asked for regular payments of $1.36 million per month or its nal day of service would be April 17. The commissioners eventually agreed to this amount. HARRIS COUNTY Black and Hispanic populations are still being vaccinated by the Harris County Public Health Department at a disproportionately low rate when compared to the county’s population, prompting new initiatives to increase vaccine access for marginalized populations. Initiatives include bringing vaccines to the ZIP codes hit hardest by COVID-19, o ering transportation to appointments for those who need it, visiting homeless shelters and nursing homes to register residents, and setting up a vaccine hotline at 832-927-8787 for individuals without the capabilities to register online. New equity e orts focus on providing the option to register over the phone instead of exclusively online, ensuring residents know the vaccine is free, and removing ID requirements that might discourage uninsured residents or residents living in the country illegally from registering. Jersey Village City Council Will meet virtually at 7 p.m. May 10 713-466-2100 www.jerseyvillagetx.com Harris County Commissioners Court Will meet virtually at 10 a.m. May 11 713-698-1102 www.harriscountytx.gov MEETINGSWE COVER
make a di erence for many years to come,” Jersey Village Mayor Andrew Mitcham said at an April 1 ground- breaking event. The project was conceptualized in a ood recovery study the city embarked on after the Tax Day ood. In an e ort led by City Manager Austin Bleess, the city managed to secure roughly $6 million in grant funding for the projects. As a result, Mitcham said the city’s 180-day reserve fund was not a ected by the project. The bermwill travel around part of the perimeter of the golf course, roughly along the golf cart path with some deviations, o cials said. Golf will continue during construction with minimal interruptions. Both contracts have a length of 300 days, but o cials said they hope to nish work by year’s end.
JerseyVillage breaks ground on golf course ood-control project Jersey Village o cials hosted a groundbreaking April 1 on a ood-control project at the Jersey Meadow Golf Course. (Shawn Arrajj/Community Impact Newspaper)
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ
time, a joint $5.7 million project will be underway to complete drainage improvements on some of the city’s most ood-prone streets, including Wall, Crawford, Carlsbad and Tahoe streets as well as Capri Drive. The city was authorized by the Jersey Village City Council to approve both contracts at a Feb. 22 meeting. “This isn’t something that is just a ash in the pan to make everyone feel good; this is something that will OVERTIME NEEDS A nearly $3 million boost for the Harris County Sheri ’s O ce will help fund overtime pay for o cers in the following departments. Adults special crimes units: Violent crimes unit: Child abuse unit: $655,000
JERSEYVILLAGE In just under ve years since the Tax Day oods of 2016 ooded 238 homes in Jersey Village, city o cials broke ground on a project that is expected to prevent roughly $757,000 in damages during a 100-year storm. The project entails building a 4-foot earthen barrier, or berm, around the Jersey Meadow Golf Course at a cost of $1.3 million. At the same
JERSEY MEADOW GOLF COURSE
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Harris County puts $3M toward law enforcement overtime pay
Commissioners vote to support creation of new criminal district court
$500,000 $500,000 $500,000 $500,000
BY SHAWN ARRAJJ
BY HANNAH ZEDAKER
HARRIS COUNTY With violent crime on the rise, Harris County commissioners unanimously voted to invest $3 million into overtime pay for law enforcement o cials March 30 that is meant to help investigators target several key areas. The approved funding was based on a proposal from the Harris County Sheri ’s O ce that involves invest- ing the money across six units. The plan will involve using “crime analysis to identify hotspots and delayed investigations due to sta ng shortages and caseloads,” according to the proposal. “We want to make sure that the sheri ’s o ce crime reduction units have the resources to prioritize these violent crimes, to go after them and to show them the door to the county jail,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner
HARRIS COUNTY Harris County commissioners unanimously passed a resolution April 13 in support of e orts in the 87th Texas Legislature to create a new criminal district court. If passed, it would be the county’s rst new criminal district court since 1984. Spearheaded by state Rep. Gene Wu, DHouston, the new court would expand the capacity of the county’s criminal court system in hopes of reducing its backlog, which stood at 70,951 total cases pending as of April 8. According to Precinct 3 Commissioner TomRamsey, this is up from a backlog of 47,238 cases at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic inMarch 2020. According to county sta , the new court would cost the county around $800,000-$1 million per year.
Criminal warrants division: Patrol crime reduction unit: Domestic violence advocates: Unit lieutenants: $200,000 $144,828 SOURCE: HARRIS COUNTY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Adrian Garcia, who authored the motion. The funding will not be used to create any new positions. Funds will be dispersed in tranches according to a schedule that will be worked out by the sheri ’s o ce and budget management o ce. Harris County Sheri Ed Gonzalez said his o ce will collaborate with constables to get feedback on what they are seeing in their coverage areas.
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CY FAIR EDITION • MAY 2021
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