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HERE WE GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR COMING HERE.
UH, OBVIOUSLY THIS NIGHT IS MEANT TO INFORM YOU AND TO GIVE YOU AS MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON, UH, IN THE COMMUNITY AS POSSIBLE.
UH, WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF TABLES SET UP THROUGHOUT THE, UH, THE BUILDING.
WE'VE GOT, UH, HOUSTON, UH, POLICE DEPARTMENTS ON THE OTHER SIDE, SAN JACINTO RIVER AUTHORITY, UH, TREES FOR KINGWOOD IS OUT HERE AS WELL.
SO WE'VE GOT, UH, QUITE A FEW PEOPLE OUT HERE, SO PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.
WHATEVER QUESTIONS YOU'VE GOT, GO ASK 'EM, SEE WHAT YOU CAN FIND OUT.
AND, UH, HOPEFULLY, UH, EVERYBODY WILL LEARN A LITTLE SOMETHING.
BEFORE WE GET DONE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION TOWARDS THE END OF IT.
UH, WE'VE HAD ONLINE SUBMITTALS OF QUESTIONS HERE FOR ABOUT THREE, FOUR WEEKS.
IF YOU THINK OF A QUESTION, UH, THEN YOU DIDN'T ADD OR ENTER IT BEFORE, UH, MY OFFICE IS BACK IN THE BACK AT THE CORON YAARI, CAN YOU RAISE YOUR HAND? AND ANNIE, YOU AS WELL.
SO IF YOU'VE GOT A QUESTION, YOU CAN SUBMIT IT TO THEM.
WE'LL INCLUDE IT AND TRY TO GET TO AS MANY OF 'EM AS AS POSSIBLE.
ALSO, IF YOU HAVE NOT SIGNED UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER, UH, GET WITH MY OFFICE AS WELL.
THEY CAN SIGN YOU UP FOR THAT.
WE DON'T BOMB YOUR EMAIL WITH ALL SORTS OF STUFF.
UH, WE TRY TO KEEP IT, UH, PERTINENT AS POSSIBLE.
UH, WE SEND OUT A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER FIRST WEEK OF THE MONTH, UH, TYPICALLY THE FIRST TUESDAY EVERY MONTH, AND THEN EMAILS AS NEEDED.
IF WE'VE GOT SOMETHING GOING ON WHERE WE'RE LOWERING THE LAKE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, WE'LL, WE'LL, UH, SEND AN EMAIL OUT TO YOU OUT, BUT I PROMISE YOU WE WON'T, WE WON'T BOMB YOUR EMAILS.
UH, I WANTED TO INTRODUCE MY STAFF.
DUSTIN HODGES IS MY CHIEF OF STAFF, DAMARI PEREZ, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF.
SHE'S ALSO OVER BOOMER TECH SUPPORT FOR ME, SO THAT HELPS ME OUT QUITE A BIT.
UH, SLOAN SWEENEY IS THE SOUTH SECTOR MANAGER.
SHE TAKES CARE OF CLEAR LAKE, UH, ARI RAMIREZ, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, AND THE MOST RECENT ADDITION TO MY STAFF, ANNIE COOK, AND SHE'S COMMUNITY OUTREACH.
UH, SHE'S AT A LOT OF THE MEETINGS OUT HERE, A LOT OF THE PIP MEETINGS, THOSE TYPE OF THINGS.
SO SHE'LL, SHE'LL BE OUT HERE REGULARLY IF, IF YOU WANT TO COME AND TALK TO HER.
AND I KNOW MY WIFE WAS GONNA SHOW UP AT SOME POINT IN TIME AFTER WORK.
I DON'T KNOW IF SHE'S MADE IT OR NOT, BUT IN CASE SHE HAS, SHE'S, SHE'S, UH, HELPING ME OUT ALL SHE CAN.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH WITH THAT.
I ALMOST FORGOT TO INTRODUCE HER LAST YEAR.
I WOULD'VE BEEN IN THE DOGHOUSE.
UH, THANK YOU TO ALL THE OTHER ELECTED OFFICIALS AND REPRESENTATIVES THAT ARE HERE.
JORDAN RAMIREZ IS HERE, AND KING WOOD'S OWN TWILA CARTER IS HERE AS WELL.
AND SALLY FOR THE CITY IS HERE AS WELL.
SO WE'VE GOT THREE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS HERE.
AND KEEP IN MIND THAT THESE ARE ALL AT LARGE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THEY'RE YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS JUST LIKE I AM.
UH, WE TEND TO TAKE CARE OF THIS STUFF IN THE DISTRICT MORE, BUT CERTAINLY IF YOU'VE GOT AN ISSUE OR SOMETHING YOU THINK IS A PROBLEM, FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT FOR THEM AS WELL.
UH, I WON'T BE INSULTED AT ALL IF, IF THEY DO SOME OF MY WORK, THAT'LL BE ALL RIGHT.
SO DAN IS, UH, HELPING US OUT WITH THE DAM, SO GLAD TO HAVE HIM.
UH, SUPERINTENDENT ROGER BROWN IS HERE.
AH, BACK IN THE BACK, UH, HUMBLE ISD SCHOOL BOARD, ROBERT SCARFO, AND ALSO OFF THE SCHOOL BOARD, CHRIS PARKER AND MIKE GRABOWSKI.
SO THREE OF THE SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS ARE HERE.
THAT DOESN'T QUITE MEET UP QUORUM DOES IT.
SO WE SHOULD BE IN GOOD SHAPE WITH THAT.
UH, ALSO WE HAVE JUSTICE OF THE PIECE, LARISSA CORDA, AND I KNOW BOTH LARISSA AND REPRESENTATIVE CUNNINGHAM ARE ON THE BALLOT THIS NOVEMBER.
AND IN FACT, I THINK LARISSA, ARE YOU ON THE VERY BOTTOM PAGE 1 0 3 VOTE FOR ME.
YEAH, SO SHE'S, SHE'S AT THE BOTTOM.
SO, UH, ALSO FROM THE, UH, LAKE HOUSTON, UH, DEVELOPMENT WITH THE TURS CHAIRMAN, TOM BROAD IS HERE, AND TOM WILL BE SPEAKING TO US A LITTLE LATER.
UH, AND THEN LAKE HOUSTON DREDGING DISTRICT, UH, I'M SURE MOST OF YOU HAVE READ BOB RE HACK'S BLOGS AND,
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UH, KNOW THAT THE, THE DISTRICT HAS BEEN STOOD UP.AND, UH, TONIGHT, UH, THE CHAIR, WILLIAM SIMPSON IS HERE, AND THEN KATHLEEN JORDAN AND SARAH BURKEY.
UH, THEY HAVE BEEN DOING QUITE A BIT OF WORK.
WE'RE GETTING THAT THING STOOD UP.
UH, IT'S STILL GONNA BE A WHILE BEFORE WE ACTUALLY GET, YOU KNOW, SHOVELS INTO REMOVE THE SEDIMENT, BUT IT'S ON ITS WAY.
UH, WE'RE GONNA BE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO GET IT AS QUICK AS WE CAN.
AND, UH, THESE PEOPLE ARE HARD AT WORK, SO, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE EVERYTHING THEY'VE DONE VOLUNTEERING FOR THESE BOARDS.
UH, HOUSTON AIRPORT SYSTEM DIRECTOR JIM SESAC, AND ALSO FELLOW KINGWOOD RESIDENT IS HERE.
AND I'VE GOT, UH, ONE OTHER THING I WANT TO DO REAL QUICK.
YOU WANT TO COME ON UP? WE HAVE A PROCLAMATION FOR D PRICE.
UH, D HAS WORKED A LONG TIME IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, DOING A LOT OF DIFFERENT STUFF.
SO, WHEREAS D PRICE HAS DISTINGUISHED HERSELF THROUGH MORE THAN FIVE DECADES OF DEDICATED SERVICE TO KINGWOOD, GIVING HER TIME, KNOWLEDGE, AND LEADERSHIP TO PROJECTS AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE HELPED PRESERVE AND ENHANCE THE CHARACTER OF THE LIVABLE FOREST.
AND WHEREAS THE CITY OF HOUSTON RECOGNIZES INDIVIDUALS WHOSE DEDICATION, LEADERSHIP, AND VOLUNTEER SERVICE MAKES A LASTING DIFFERENCE IN THE COMMUNITIES THEY CALL HOME, WHEREAS RAISED IN HUMBLE, IN A GRADUATE OF HUMBLE HIGH SCHOOL, DEE BEGAN HER LIFE OF SERVICE THROUGH THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE, SERVING BOTH STATE SIDE AND OVERSEAS, AND LATER EARNED DUAL DEGREES IN ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION FROM TROY STATE UNIVERSITY WITH DISTINCTION.
WHEREAS THROUGH HER YEARS OF SERVICE WITH THE KINGWOOD SERVICE ASSOCIATION, INCLUDING SERVING AS PRESIDENT, DEE HAS HELPED IMPROVE AND PRESERVE KINGWOOD PARKS, TRAILS, AND PUBLIC SPACES, INCLUDING EAST END PARK, NORTH PARK RIVER, GROVE PARK, DEER RIDGE PARK, THE CIRCLE OF NATURE ENTRY AT I 69, AND KINGWOOD DRIVE AND OTHER COMMUNITY SPACES.
AND WHEREAS KNOWN FOR HER THOUGHTFUL LEADERSHIP AND DEDICATION, DEE HAS DEVOTED COUNTLESS HOURS TO BRINGING RESIDENTS TOGETHER, SUPPORTING COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, AND HELPING ENSURE THAT KENWOOD'S SHARED SPACES REMAIN WELCOMING, BEAUTIFUL, AND BENEFICIAL TO ALL.
AND WHEREAS THE CITY OF HOUSTON COMMANDS D PRICE FOR HER EXTRAORDINARY COMMITMENT TO KINGWOOD AND RECOGNIZES THE LASTING IMPACT OF HER LEADERSHIP, SERVICE, AND VOLUNTEERISM ON KINGWOOD AND THE BROADER HOUSTON COMMUNITY.
THEREFORE, MAYOR JOHN WHITMEYER, MAYOR OF CITY OF HOUSTON, HEREBY PROCLAIMED SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2026 AS D PRICE DAY.
THAT'S WHAT
D THERE'S A LOT OF TIMES I DON'T WANNA SAY ANYTHING AND I TRY TO WALK AWAY.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS BEFORE WE START, I GUYS 3 1 1, MAKE SURE IF YOU HAVE ANY ISSUES, YOU SEE ANY ISSUES, CALL IT INTO THREE ONE ONE.
UH, I CALL 3 1 1 QUITE A BIT ON STUFF.
I SEE, UH, I KNOW IT CAN BE A PROBLEM BECAUSE SOMETIMES YOU GET ROUTED TO THE COUNTY BECAUSE OF WHERE WE LIVE.
IT'S RIGHT ON THE EDGE OF THE, THE CITY LIMITS.
UH, SO THERE IS ANOTHER PHONE NUMBER.
IN FACT, I'VE GOT THAT SAVED IN MY PHONE INSTEAD OF DIALED IN THREE ONE ONE, I CALL THAT.
SO, YOU KNOW, PLEASE, WHATEVER YOU SEE, CALL IT IN AT THREE ONE ONE.
THAT HELPS US GET THINGS DONE.
UH, IF WHEN YOU GET A SERVICE REQUEST NUMBER, IF YOU WILL EMAIL OUR OFFICE AND, UH, WE CAN FOLLOW UP ON IT AND TRY AND MAKE SURE THAT IT GETS RESOLVED IN A TIMELY MANNER, UH, IT WOULD REALLY BE BENEFICIAL TO EVERYBODY.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T KNOW ABOUT SOMETHING UN UNLESS SOMEBODY TELLS US OR WE HAPPEN TO DRIVE BY IT.
UM, FOR EXAMPLE, HERE, I THINK ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO, BOB ACK CALLS ME AT 11 O'CLOCK AND SAYS, FRED, THEY'RE DUMPING FILL IN, IN, IN THE FLOODWAY.
AND, YOU KNOW, I GO OUT THERE AND SURE ENOUGH, UH, THAT THEY'VE GOT PHIL THAT THEY'RE PUTTING IN THERE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, UNLESS SOMEBODY CALLS AND I THINK SOMEBODY CALLED BOB TO ALERT HIM ABOUT IT.
SO, YOU KNOW, UNLESS WE KNOW ABOUT IT, THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO.
AND PLEASE DON'T TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT, UH, OH YEAH, SOMEBODY KNOWS ABOUT IT.
'CAUSE A LOT OF TIMES WE DON'T, UH, YOU KNOW, I'LL SEE STUFF SOMETIMES AND, YOU KNOW, DO SOMETHING TO GET IT RESOLVED AND SOMEBODY WILL TELL ME, OH, YEAH, IT'S BEEN THAT WAY FOR TWO WEEKS.
AND THAT'S FIRST TIME I SAW IT AND I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT.
SO OBVIOUSLY WE DIDN'T GET IT TAKEN CARE OF.
UH, WANTED TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE UPDATE ON THE BUDGET THAT WE
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JUST RECENTLY PASSED.UM, THE BUDGET BASICALLY MADE UP GAPS THAT WE HAD IN, IN THE GENERAL REVENUE FUND.
AND, AND THE, THE FINANCES FOR THE CITY ARE A LITTLE COMPLICATED.
UH, THERE'S SOME SILOED, UH, AMOUNTS OF MONEY THAT THERE IS.
THE AIRPORT SYSTEM IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BUDGET, AND THAT MONEY ISN'T TOUCHABLE BY, UH, THE CITY AS FAR AS THEIR GENERAL FUND.
UH, THE COMBINED UTILITY FUND IS THE SAME WAY.
AND THEN WE HAVE THE GENERAL FUND, WHICH IS WHAT EVERYBODY TYPICALLY LOOKS AT AS THE BUDGET, BUT ACTUALLY THE AIRPORT AND THE UTILITY FUND ARE PRETTY SIGNIFICANT.
AND IN FACT, UH, WE HAD QUITE A BIT OF ADDITIONAL MONEY THAT WAS IN THE UTILITY FUND, AND THE MAYOR MADE SOME CHANGES INTO, UH, SOLID WASTE AND HOW THEY WERE CLASSIFIED AND MOVED THAT BASICALLY INTO THE UTILITY FUND, WHICH HELPED MAKE UP THE GAP QUITE A BIT.
UH, WE ALSO DID, UH, A RIGHT OF WAY CHARGE, UH, THAT IS COMING OUT OF THE UTILITY FUND AS WELL.
AND THAT'S WHAT CLOSED THE BUDGET GAP FOR US.
AND, AND ALL THOSE, THOSE TWO THINGS, UH, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY YOU LOOK AT IT AND SAY, OKAY, THAT'S, THAT'S A BIT OF, YOU KNOW, MANEUVERING.
ACTUALLY, THAT'S PRETTY COMMON WITH HOW THE REST OF THE STATE WORKS.
SO IT REALLY ISN'T ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY.
AND BY DOING THAT, WE'RE ABLE TO KEEP FROM NOT RAISING TAXES AGAIN.
UH, SO THIS IS THE THIRD YEAR IN A ROW.
WE WILL NOT HAVE A TAX INCREASE.
UM, OH, AND I, I CAN TELL YOU THE MAYOR HAS COMMITTED THAT AS LONG AS HE'S THERE, THAT'S WHAT HE'S WORKING TOWARDS.
AND, UH, HE'S ALSO GOING OUT AND GETTING A LOT OF FUNDING FROM THE STATE.
AND, UH, REPRESENTATIVE CUNNINGHAM WAS OBVIOUSLY A HELP WITH THAT, ALONG WITH, YOU KNOW, OUR STATE SENATOR CREIGHTON, WHO'S NO LONGER HERE NOW, AND IT'S, UH, SENATOR LIGON.
UM, AND THEY GOT QUITE A BIT OF MONEY FROM DC AS WELL.
UH, SO, YOU KNOW, THE MAYOR'S DOING EVERYTHING HE CAN TO TRY AND, UH, BRING SOME ADDITIONAL DOLLARS INTO THE CITY SO WE DON'T HAVE TO RAISE TAXPAYER OR TAXPAYER RATES.
UM, LEMME SEE, OH, THE, THE BUDGET.
ALSO, WE'VE GOT, UH, FIVE, UH, HOUSTON POLICE CADET CLASSES THAT ARE GONNA BE FUNDED.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE EMERGENCY SERVICES AND CRIME IS, UH, HIGH ON THE MAYOR'S LIST.
AND, AND THAT'S NOT CHANGING AT ALL.
UH, WE DID NOT DEFER ANY OF THE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE OBLIGATIONS.
AND IN FACT, UH, WE SETTLED THE LAWSUIT, WHAT WAS IT A YEAR AGO, UH, FOR AS FAR AS THE DRAINAGE FEE AND MORE MONEY IS ACTUALLY GOING INTO WHAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE GOING INTO IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SO THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT MORE MONEY SPENT ON ROADS AND DRAINAGE AND, AND THAT TYPE OF STUFF.
UH, WE ALSO, UH, HAD $11 MILLION THAT'S GOING TO IMPROVE 25 NEIGHBORHOOD PARKS.
AND AGAIN, THAT MONEY CAME FROM THE STATE.
REPRESENTATIVE CUNNINGHAM WAS INVOLVED WITH IT, ESPECIALLY FOR, UH, DYLAN DUNCAN MEMORIAL STATE, UH, SKATE PARK, WHICH IS RIGHT DOWN THE STREET.
AND, UH, IN FACT, I THINK BEFORE I GOT ELECTED, I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT WAS THERE.
SO I'M NOT SURE IF EVERYBODY KNOWS THERE'S A SKATE PARK RIGHT OVER THERE, UH, NEXT TO THE CAR WASH.
AND, UH, WE GOT MONEY TO, UH, UPDATE THAT ALONG WITH A COUPLE OTHER PARKS IN MY DISTRICT, AND THEN A LOT OF OTHER PARKS THROUGHOUT THE, THE REST OF THE CITY.
UH, I HAD A QUESTION ALREADY TODAY ABOUT STATION 1 0 1.
UH, THEY ORIGINALLY HAD CLOSED THAT DOWN FOR MOLD ABATEMENT.
UH, THEY GOT IN THERE TO DO IT.
THEY FOUND THAT THEY ACTUALLY HAD SOME ASBESTOS IN THERE, SO THAT DELAYED GETTING THAT, UH, BACK INTO SERVICE.
AND IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE DONE BY THE END OF THE MONTH.
SO WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS, WE SHOULD BE, THAT SHOULD BE OPENED BACK UP.
UH, THE APPARATUS HAD BEEN MOVED TO, UH, 1 0 4, AND THEN ALSO TOO, IS IT SUMMER WOOD? IS THAT CORRECT? DUSTIN? 65.
SO THAT'S WHERE THE EQUIPMENT IS NOW.
AND, UH, KIND OF SPEAKING ON THE, THE FIRE STATIONS WHILE WE'RE AT IT, UM, THE FIRE STATION IS THE 1 0 1 AND 1 0 2 ARE GONNA BE, OR NO, 1 0 1 0 1 0 4 ARE GONNA BE COMBINED.
AND THAT IS GONNA BE ON KINGWOOD DRIVE DRIVE, UH, A LITTLE WEST OF WHERE IT CURRENTLY IS, UH, OVER BY WHERE THE CHASE BANK IS.
THAT PROPERTY OVER THERE, UH, THE ARCHITECT IS ALREADY WORKING ON IT.
UH, WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH IT.
THAT SHOULD BE DONE TWO, THREE YEARS.
UM, BUT, UH, IT IS IN THE WORKS IN THE QUEUE, AND THAT'LL BE THE FIRST FIRE STATION WE'VE HAD BUILT BY THE CITY IN KINGWOOD.
UM, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN TO THE, THE FIRE STATIONS THAT WE HAVE.
UH, THEY WERE ALL BUILT AS VOLUNTEER FIRE STATIONS BEFORE KINGWOOD WAS A PART OF THE CITY.
THEY WERE NOT MEANT TO HOUSE PEOPLE 24 7.
UM, YOU KNOW, 1 0 1 WAS IN TERRIBLE SHAPE, UH, THREE YEARS AGO.
UH, THEY ACTUALLY SLEEP IN A MODULAR UNIT, AND WE GOT THAT MODULAR UNIT REPLACED A YEAR AND A HALF, TWO YEARS AGO.
BUT IT WAS, IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER.
UM, YOU KNOW, ASKING THE FIREFIGHTERS TO LIVE IN THAT WAS, UH, A BIT MUCH, UH, I TOURED IT, UH,
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BEFORE I GOT ELECTED.AND, UH, THEY HAD HOLES IN THE FLOOR THAT THEY HAD JUST COVERED WITH, UH, RAW SHEETS OF PLYWOOD WHERE THEY TAKE A FOUR BY EIGHT SHEET OF PLYWOOD, CUT IT IN HALF, AND THEY PUT THAT DOWN ON THE FLOOR TO KEEP 'EM FROM FALLING THROUGH IT.
SO THEY DID GET THAT MODULAR SWITCHED OUT.
UM, KIND OF AMAZED ME HOW LONG THAT TOOK, BUT, UH, THEY GOT THAT DONE.
AND, YOU KNOW, LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING A NEW FIRE STATION BUILT, THAT'S GONNA BE REALLY NICE TO, TO ACTUALLY HAVE ONE RIGHT WHEN YOU COME INTO KINGWOOD.
UM, WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT, UH, UH, ABOUT THE MEDIANS? UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF WORK ON THE MEDIANS.
UM, WE'VE OBVIOUSLY TAKEN A LOT OF THE, UH, UNDERBRUSH AND THAT, THAT OUT.
AND IN FACT, UH, COUNCILWOMAN CARTER PUT TOGETHER QUITE A BIT OF MONEY SHE HAD FROM HER OFFICE BUDGET THIS YEAR.
AND, UH, SHE HELPED US OUT A LOT WITH THAT.
APPRECIATE, UH, THERE'S BEEN SEVERAL PEOPLE THAT VOLUNTEERED THAT ARE HERE TODAY.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR COMING OUT THERE AND HELPING US.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE FIRST YEAR OUR OFFICE JUST KIND OF PUT IT TOGETHER WITH THE VOLUNTEERS AND GOT SOME PEOPLE FROM, FROM PARKS AND SOLID WASTE, UH, THAT, THAT CAME OUT, WORKED OVERTIME AND, AND HELPED US.
UH, THE SECOND YEAR WE HAD A LOT OF MATCHING GRANTS, AND THAT'S WHERE THE CITY WILL MATCH WHAT THE COMMUNITY IS DOING UP TO $5,000.
UH, AND IT'S, IT'S GOT A NUMBER OF, UH, CRITERIA IT HAS TO MEET IN ORDER TO, TO GET PAID.
IT'S GOTTA BE, YOU KNOW, FOR PUBLIC OR AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC TO USE.
UH, IT'S GOTTA BE DONE BY AN ORGANIZATION THAT IS, UH, 4 0 1 C3, UH, BUT, UH, CHRIS BLOCK HAS REALLY HELPED OUT WITH THAT A LOT AND, UH, GETTING TOGETHER.
AND CHRIS, UH, HAS GOTTEN TO BE AN ABSOLUTE EXPERT ON COMPLETING THE APPLICATIONS AND THE FORMS. AND, UH, THAT'S BEEN A HUGE HELP.
AND I THINK, UH, WE HAD ABOUT 11 OF THOSE THAT WE DID LAST YEAR ALONE.
SO IT, IT'S BEEN REALLY GOOD AND, AND IT, IT ISN'T ALL GEARED TOWARDS, YOU KNOW, WORKING THE MEDIANS.
IN FACT, ELM GROVE, I KNOW PUT UP A DISPLAY SIGN THAT THEY HAD.
UM, AND THAT SIGN LOOKED REALLY NICE.
UM, SO AGAIN, THAT'S A WAY WE CAN GET SOME OF OUR TAX DOLLARS SPENT IN OUR COMMUNITY, UH, THROUGH THAT.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S BEEN REALLY NICE AS WELL.
UM, WE'VE HAD A LOT OF, UH, ACTIVITY WE'VE DONE THROUGH THE, WHAT'S CALLED SWAT, IT'S, UH, STORM WATER ACTION TEAM.
UH, WE HAD A PROJECT THAT WENT OUT FOR SAND OUT IN SAND CREEK, WHERE THEY REPLACED, UH, THE SEWERS AND UPSIZED THEM SO THAT THEY GET MORE, MORE DRAINAGE IF ANYBODY HERE LIVES IN ONE OF THOSE, UH, HOMES THAT, THAT HAD THE, THE, UH, CONSTRUCTION.
I APOLOGIZE FOR HOW LONG IT TOOK.
AND, UH, HOPEFULLY IT'LL PREVENT ANY FLOODING FROM, FROM HAPPENING.
UH, THE SWAT IN DISTRICT E HAS SPENT ABOUT $16 MILLION SINCE 2017, SO WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO, TO DO THAT AS WELL.
UH, I WANTED TO TALK FOR A SECOND ABOUT OUR, UH, COUNCIL DISTRICT SERVICE FUNDS.
UM, WE SPEND QUITE A BIT OF THAT.
I'VE, WE HAVE DISCRETIONARY AMOUNT.
THE, THE DISTRICT COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE QUITE A BIT OF DISCRETIONARY MONEY.
WE'VE GOT ABOUT A HALF MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR THAT WE CAN SPEND TOWARDS THINGS IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEN THERE'S ANOTHER HALF MILLION THAT IS TIED TO METRO THAT, THAT WE CAN DO WITH THAT, AND THAT'S WHAT DOES, UH, THE PANEL REPLACEMENTS AND THAT TYPE OF THING.
UH, BUT WE SPENT ABOUT $300,000 ON SPECIFICALLY CRIME, UH, WITH HPD OVER TIME AND, AND THAT TYPE OF STUFF.
SO, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, HELPS US OUT QUITE A BIT.
AND HP D'S GONNA BE HERE, UH, TO TALK ABOUT THAT AS WELL.
AND, UH, SO WITH THAT, I WANTED TO, UH, KIND OF BEFORE WE GET INTO THE PRESENTATIONS, WANTED TO HAVE, UH, THE ELECTED OFFICIALS GET A CHANCE TO SPEAK.
AND, UH, FIRST UP, I'VE GOT CHARLES CUNNINGHAM.
SO CHARLES, I WANNA SAY GOOD EVENING TO EVERYONE, AND IT'S, UH, SUCH A PLEASURE TO BE OUT TONIGHT.
I WANT TO, UH, BASICALLY THANK ALL THOSE THAT LIVE IN DISTRICT 1 27.
IF YOU LIVE IN 1 27, THEN I AM TRULY APPRECIATIVE OF YOU GUYS LETTING ME BE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE.
UH, I'M GOING TO JUST START OFF WITH JUST BASICALLY SAYING 2025 WAS A, UH, INTERESTING YEAR IN THE LEGISLATURE.
THERE WERE ABOUT 9,000 BILLS THAT WERE INTRODUCED, AND WE ENDED UP PASSING ABOUT 1300 OF THEM.
UH, YOUR REP WAS INVOLVED IN 172 OF THOSE BILLS, AND WE ENDED UP GETTING 52 OF THEM PASSED.
WHAT I WANNA TALK ABOUT, THOUGH, IS SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT STUFF, BECAUSE AS A STATE REP, MY GOAL IS TO PROTECT MY DISTRICT, AND THAT MEANS PROTECTING KINGWOOD.
AND SO I WAS ABLE TO WORK ALONGSIDE COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER WORK ALONGSIDE, UH, THE MAYOR, WORK ALONGSIDE, UH, COMMISSIONER RAMSEY.
AS WE LOOKED AT ALL THE AREAS, UH, THAT, THAT WERE AFFECTED BY WHATEVER IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN, ROADS, THE
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WATERWAYS, THE TRIBUTARIES.AND I'M GONNA STOP RIGHT THERE.
AND I WANNA SAY, I WANT TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO THREE PEOPLE IN PARTICULAR.
I HEARD CHRIS BLOCK'S NAME BEING MENTIONED.
CHRIS, WHERE YOU AT? WAVE YOUR HAND.
IS HE THERE? THERE'S CHRIS OVER THERE.
AND WHERE'S BILL MCCABE? I SAW HIM EARLIER.
THREE, THESE THREE GENTLEMEN HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH ME SINCE 2022 ON HOW WE ADDRESS OUR, NOT ONLY WATER QUALITY, BUT OUR FLOODING ISSUE.
AND IT'S WITH THEIR HELP THAT I'VE BEEN ABLE TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE FORWARD.
AND THEN, THEN I SEE MY, UH, PREDECESSOR DAN HUBERTY.
WHERE'S DAN? OH, YEAH, THERE HE IS.
NO, YOU KNOW, DAN WAS ALSO INSTRUMENTAL BECAUSE AS WE LOOKED, AS I WAS GETTING READY TO TRANSITION, DAN, WHAT DO WE NEED IN 1 27? AND, AND HE OUTLINED SEVERAL THINGS.
AND SO WITH THE HELP OF THE COMMUNITY, NOT ME ON MY OWN, WITH THE HELP OF THE COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, WE WERE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD, FINALLY, GET A DREDGING BILL PASSED.
YOU'VE MET SOME OF THE DREDGING MEMBERS HERE.
NOT ONLY THAT, WE GOT AN ADDITIONAL, THIS, THIS LAST SESSION, 50 MILLION, UH, TO HELP GO TOWARD THE FLOODGATES.
UH, 5 MILLION FOR THE KINGWOOD DIVERSION DITCH.
AND THEN OF COURSE, THE COUNCIL MEMBER MENTIONED ABOUT THE, UH, MONEY WE HAD FOR THE PARK.
AND OF COURSE, UH, HOW MANY MILLIONS WAS IT FOR THE, UH, THE REDO OF THE PIPES AND THINGS IN THE CITY? WAS THAT LIKE 800 MILLION? WELL, ANYWAY, IT WAS THAT MUCH.
WELL, WELL, THE ORIGINAL NUMBER IN THE HOUSE WAS LIKE 800 MILLION, BUT I THINK WE SETTLED.
AND SO AS WE CONTINUED TO TRY TO REWORK OUR INFRASTRUCTURE, THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE.
NOW, AS WE LOOK FORWARD, UH, TO NEXT SESSION, UH, LET ME SAY FIRST, UH, THE COMMITTEES THAT I WERE, I WAS ON THIS SESSION.
I WAS ON PUBLIC, PUBLIC, UH, ED SECOND TOUR THERE.
UH, I WAS ON PUBLIC HEALTH, THEN I WAS ALSO ON A SUBCOMMITTEE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, WOMEN AND CHILDREN'S HEALTH.
AND THEN OF COURSE, ON LOCAL AND CONSENT CALENDARS, WHICH REALLY PLAYED A GREAT ROLE IN ME GETTING, ESPECIALLY OUR DREDGING BILL ACROSS THE FINISH LINE, BECAUSE IT GOT KILLED THE FIRST ROUND, WE WERE ABLE TO GO BACK AND GET IT, GET IT BACK ON BOARD, AND GOT IT PASSED.
UH, LATER ON THIS SUMMER, THE SPEAKER PUT ME ON THE SUNSET COMMISSION.
AND THE SUNSET COMMISSION BASICALLY REVIEWS AGENCIES AND LOOKING FOR INEFFICIENCIES AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND SO THIS YEAR, UH, MOST OF 'EM ARE IN THE HEALTHCARE, UH, AREA.
AND I'LL REFERENCE ONE, ONE DEPARTMENT, THE DEPARTMENT OF, UH, HEALTH AND HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
THEY HAVE A $50 BILLION BUDGET, BUT THEY AVERAGE 5 BILLION A YEAR IN FRAUD.
AND THAT'S BEFORE YOU EVEN DO ANYTHING.
AND SO, I KNOW SOME OF YOU HAVE HEARD THAT THE GOVERNOR SAYS, I WANT EVERY AGENCY TO LOOK AT CUTTING 3%.
AND I TELL PEOPLE, DON'T LOOK AT THAT AS BEING A CUT.
LOOK AT THAT AS LOOKING FOR EFFICIENCIES, BECAUSE IF I'M LOSING 5 BILLION, I'M, I'M SURE WE CAN FIND 3%.
AND SO AS WE MOVE FORWARD, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING, BECAUSE THAT MONEY CAN BE USED FOR THE PROJECTS THAT WE NEED, NOT ONLY IN OUR, IN OUR COMMUNITY, IN THE DISTRICT, BUT THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND SO WE'RE GOING TO END UP HAVING A SURPLUS.
I'M, I'M, I'M GUARANTEED OF THAT.
WELL, DID I SAY GUARANTEED UHOH? I'M ON CAMERA.
BUT, UH, ONE OF THE OTHER PRIORITIES THAT WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT ALSO IS GOING TO BE, UH, AFFORDABILITY.
UH, THE GOVERNOR HAS TASKED, UH, OUR DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE CHAIR TO LOOK AT IT.
I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW IF EVERYBODY HAS LOOKED AT, UH, THEIR INSURANCE BILL, THEIR HEALTHCARE BILL.
I, IT IS JUST INSURANCE IS JUST, YOU KNOW, WE NEED, WE NEED TO GET A HANDLE ON IT.
UH, I'LL TAKE MY DAUGHTER, FOR INSTANCE.
THIS IS HER SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, UH, UH, IN A ROW OF BEING DROPPED FROM A HOME INSURANCE.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT WE LIVE IN A HIGH, WHATEVER THEY, WHATEVER THEY CALL IT, PRONE HEALTH, NOT HEALTH, WEATHER CARE AREA, UH, THESE COMPANIES COME IN AND COME OUT AND IT JUST CAUSES GRIEF FOR EVERYBODY.
SO WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT THAT.
THE, UH, COMMISSIONER HAS GIVEN THE GOVERNOR A PLAN.
I HAVE NOT HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT IT, BUT WE WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK AT IT.
BUT THAT'S GONNA BE ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND THEN AS WE LOOK AT WHAT'S GOING TO BE ONE OF TEXAS'S NUMBER ONE PRIORITY, UH, THAT'S GOING TO BE MAINTAINING OUR ENERGY DOMINANCE, WE ARE THE ENERGY CAPITAL, UH, NOT ONLY, UH, IN THE NATION, BUT IN THE WORLD.
AND YOU'VE HEARD PEOPLE SAY THAT IF WE WERE OUR OWN COUNTRY, WE'D BE THE EIGHTH LARGEST, UH, COUNTRY IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF REVENUE.
AND SO ENERGY DOMINANCE IS GOING TO BE IMPORTANT.
HOWEVER, WE'RE GONNA HAVE SOME CONCERNS BECAUSE, UH, WE'VE GOT SOMETHING THAT'S CALLED DATA CENTERS THAT ARE BEING TALKED
[00:25:01]
ABOUT.WE'VE GOT ISSUES WITH WATER THAT'S GOING TO BE TALKED ABOUT.
AND SO AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND LOOK AT THAT, WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING VERY CLOSELY ON HOW WE FIND THAT PROPER BALANCE.
SENATOR CHARLES PERRY, WHO IS OVER NATURAL RESOURCES IN THE SENATE, IS CHAIRING THAT, AND HE'S GOT SOME IDEAS ON HOW WE ADDRESS OUR WATER ISSUES.
UH, I WAS IN DC BACK IN MARCH WITH HIM.
UH, WE WERE, UH, SUMMONS TO THE, UH, WHITE HOUSE BY THE PRESIDENT.
AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO KIND OF HALFWAY START DISCUSSING AS WE LOOK FORWARD, HOW ARE WE GOING TO ADDRESS THAT? AND THAT'S GOING TO BE IMPORTANT TOO.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER FLIX MENTIONED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE SAN CENTER RIVER AUTHORITY.
IT'S GOING TO BE IMPORTANT HOW WE ADDRESS NOT ONLY WATER QUALITY, BUT HOW WE ADDRESS OUR FLOOD MITIGATION, TOO.
WE WANT, WE DON'T WANT TO BE WASTING WATER, BUT WE WANNA BE ABLE TO FIND THAT PROPER BALANCE.
AND I'M SURE WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO DO IT, UH, AS I GET READY TO TAKE MY SEAT, BECAUSE FRED TOLD ME THREE MINUTES.
AND SO I'M GONNA SIT DOWN HERE AND, AND, AND BE OBEDIENT.
I, I JUST WANTED TO ADD, UH, AS WE GO BACK IN NOVEMBER, I MEAN, UH, ELECTIONS IN NOVEMBER, AS WE GO BACK IN JANUARY, JANUARY 14TH, WE WILL HAVE PROBABLY, HOPEFULLY 140 DAYS UNLESS, UH, WE CAN'T AGREE WITH WHAT THE GOVERNOR WANTS OR WHAT THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR WANTS.
AND THEN WE'LL CROSS OUR FINGERS ON THAT.
BUT I THINK AS WE, WE LOOK FORWARD WITH IT, ONCE AGAIN, MY GOAL IS TO PROTECT THIS DISTRICT.
AND I WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK IN, DO, LOOK, LOOK FORWARD IN DOING THAT.
AND THAT'S WORKING WITH OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, FLICKINGER, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, CARTER, AND ALSO WORKING WITH OUR COUNTY COMMISSIONER, TOM RAMSEY, AND OF COURSE, WITH OUR MAYOR, UH, MAYOR WHITMEYER.
SO AS I LEAVE, THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, TO, UH, UH, WORK WITH YOU GUYS AND SUPPORT YOU AND REPRESENT YOU IN AUSTIN.
I OMITTED A COUPLE OF PEOPLE THAT I SHOULD HAVE INTRODUCED.
UH, JENNIFER ECKERT WITH STEVE TOTS OFFICE.
THERE SHE IS, RIGHT OVER THERE.
UM, STEVE IS A STATE REP AS OF TODAY, AND RUNNING TO REPLACE DAN CRENSHAW.
HE'LL BE ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER AS WELL.
UM, BUT, UH, HE REALLY HASN'T WASTED ANY TIME.
UH, WE HAVE A CALL, UH, REGULARLY SCHEDULED ABOUT FLOODING, AND, UH, WE'RE ALREADY WORKING ON THAT WITH, WITH HOPEFULLY OUR NEW CONGRESSMAN HERE.
WE'LL FIND OUT IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS.
AND THEN ALSO, CASEY CHRISMAN FROM OUR TOUR BOARD.
CASEY, I DIDN'T SEE YOU WALK IN, SO I MISSED YOU.
UH, NEXT UP IS COUNCILWOMAN TWILA CARTER.
WELL, IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME TONIGHT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN I, I RAN, I TALKED ABOUT FROM KINGWOOD FOR KINGWOOD, AND I'VE BEEN SO COMMITTED TO THAT.
UM, FRED MENTIONED COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER MENTIONED, UH, THE ESPLANADES, AND, YOU KNOW, THE VOLUNTEERS DO A GREAT JOB AND, AND HAVE, WE'VE SEEN SUCH GREAT PROGRESS WITH THAT.
UM, I HAD THE UNFORTUNATE SITUATION WHERE MY CHIEF OF STAFF PASSED AWAY A YEAR AGO LAST WEEK.
AND, UM, AS A, AN AT LARGE COUNCIL MEMBER, WE DON'T, UH, HAVE COUNCIL, UH, DISTRICT SERVICE FUNDS.
WE HAVE REALLY OFFICE AND SALARY.
BUT, UM, AT THE END OF THE YEAR, I HAD A SURPLUS BECAUSE I HAD NO CHIEF OF STAFF, WHICH WAS REALLY BAD.
BUT IN THE END, I WAS ABLE TO, TO, UH, CONTRIBUTE $50,000 TO PARKS OVERTIME TO HELP CLEAN UP THOSE ESPLANADES.
SO IT WAS A, CERTAINLY A, UH, A, A A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR A PARKS DEPARTMENT.
AND, UH, I, I THINK AS, UH, THE WORK WILL CONTINUE, UH, PROBABLY SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF CLEANUP.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO SHOWS UP, COUNCIL MEMBERS JOIN US, AND IT JUST, IT, IT'S A GREAT EFFORT FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
AND, AND CERTAINLY YOU ALL CAN SEE THE IMPROVEMENT.
UM, SO MY PRIORITIES AS, AS THEY'VE BEEN FOR THE PAST COUPLE YEARS, HOMELESSNESS, I WORK, UM, EYEBALLS DEEP IN HOMELESSNESS CAN TALK TO YOU ALL DAY LONG ABOUT IT OUT HERE.
WE ARE VERY FORTUNATE IN THAT WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF HOMELESSNESS, BUT WE DO HAVE SOME INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE HOMELESS.
I TALK A LOT ABOUT THE LADY WHO, UH, IS OVER IN TOWN CENTER A LOT, OR YOU SEE HER OVER IN ON, ON THE WALGREENS SIDE.
I'VE TALKED TO HER ON MANY OCCASIONS.
UM, SHE'S KIND OF NEWER TO THE AREA.
YOU KNOW, I CAN TALK TO YOU ABOUT DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS, UM, SPECIFIC TO OUR AREA, MANY OF WHOM YOU, YOU SEE.
BUT, UM, OUR, UH, EFFORTS DOWNTOWN HAVE, UM, BEEN SIGNIFICANT.
[00:30:01]
OPENED, UM, 3 4 19 EMANCIPATION, BUT I GUESS IT'S BEEN THREE MONTHS NOW, AND IT'S BEEN AT CAPACITY EVER SINCE.UH, WE'RE SEEKING FUNDING, UH, TO HELP SUPPORT, UH, UM, HELP SUPPORT THE EFFORTS ON HOMELESSNESS.
UM, I, UH, SPEND A LOT OF TIME AT FOUR 19 EMANCIPATION.
I'M OVER THERE EVERY, EVERY WEDNESDAY AT THREE O'CLOCK IF ANYBODY'S INTERESTED IN SEEING IT AND LEARNING MORE ABOUT IT, INTRODUCING THE FACILITY TO THE CORPORATE COMMUNITY, AND REALLY WORKING WITH ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE HOUSTON AREA REALTORS, TO GET THEM ON BOARD TO TAKE A LOOK AT HOW CAN WE COLLECT IT, BECAUSE IT IS A COLLECTIVE CITYWIDE EFFORT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ADDRESS HOMELESSNESS IN THE, IN THE PROPER WAY, BUT ALSO TOO, SO THAT WE'RE NOT MOVING THEM OUT OF DOWNTOWN INTO THE SUBURBS.
HAPPY TO TALK TO YOU INDIVIDUALLY, OFFLINE ABOUT THAT, BUT THAT'S REALLY NOT THE CASE.
WE REALLY ARE ADDRESSING THEM, NAVIGATING EACH, EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY.
AND, UM, HARRIS HARRIS, UH, HEALTH IS, UH, ONE OF OUR, OUR BIG PARTNERS, UM, DOWN AT FOUR 19 EMANCIPATION, BUT AS WELL AS MANY OTHER PARTNERS.
SO MY PRIORITIES, UH, HOMELESSNESS, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN MY PUR PURPLE POSTCARD CAMPAIGN.
ARE YOU OKAY IF YOU'VE SEEN A PURPLE BILLBOARD THAT SAYS THAT YOU KNOW, THAT THAT'S A, A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS PIECE.
AND WHAT IT DOES IS DIRECTS INDIVIDUALS TO RESOURCES FOR, UM, RESOURCES NEEDED FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE, SHELTER, ALL TYPES, FOR ALL TYPES OF RESOURCES FOR SURVIVORS, OR AKA VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
AND, UM, I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING YOU ALL DO TO MAKE OUR COMMUNITY BETTER AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO, TO WORK.
YOU REACH OUT TO MY OFFICE ANYTIME, DANELLE'S HERE SOMEWHERE, AND YOU, YOU, I, I THINK SHE'LL ALWAYS ANSWER YOUR EMAIL, BUT KNOW THAT WE WORK, UH, YOU KNOW, LOCKSTEP WITH COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER, AND IF WE ARE AWARE OF IT, THEY'RE AWARE OF IT, BUT WE WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE THINGS HAPPEN.
I'M SUPER EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO BE PART OF THE, YOU KNOW, CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DREDGING DISTRICT THAT IS GOING TO MAKE CONSIDER CONSIDERABLE CHANGES FOR OUR AREA, BUT ALSO, UH, REPRESENTATIVE T'S OFFICE, UM, HAS BEEN VERY GOOD IN, IN STANDING UP THE CALLS.
AND I PARTICIPATE ON ALL OF THOSE BECAUSE I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALL AWARE AND CAN SPREAD THE INFORMATION AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER IN THE EFFORTS.
IF YOU'VE GOT ANY, ANY QUESTIONS, ANY COMMENTS, OR ANY CONCERNS, YOU KNOW HOW TO FIND ME.
MOST OF YOU ARE MY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, OR I GO TO CHURCH WITH YOU, RIGHT? FRED
YOU KNOW, CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT HOW NICE IT IS TO HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE ON CITY COUNCIL THAT IS ACTUALLY FROM KINGWOOD AS WELL.
UH, ADDITIONALLY, SOMEBODY THAT'S LIKE-MINDED.
UH, THERE'S BEEN A FEW OCCASIONS WHERE I THINK, UH, ME AND COUNCILWOMAN CARTER HAVE BEEN OUT ON AN ISLAND BY OURSELVES, BUT IT'S, IT'S IN, UH, GOOD TO HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE WITH IT.
ALSO WANTED TO SAY A LITTLE MORE ABOUT, UH, REPRESENTATIVE CUNNINGHAM.
UM, WHEN WE GOT THAT DREDGING BILL PASSED, ACTUALLY PROBABLY ABOUT A MONTH AND A HALF BEFORE IT GOT PASSED, I WAS TOLD BY THE HOUSTON GOVERNMENT RELATIONS TEAM THAT THAT BILL WAS DEAD.
EXPRESSED IT, UH, VIGOROUSLY TO THE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS TEAM.
UM, WE FINALLY GOT IT TO WHERE IT WAS GOING TO HAVE A VOTE FOR THE SENATE.
AND IN FACT, I GOT A PHONE CALL.
UH, I HAPPENED TO BE DOWN AT THE BEACH FOR THE WEEKEND.
IT WAS MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, UH, MEMORIAL DAY.
WE WERE LITERALLY WORKING THE PHONES, TRYING TO GET THE VOTES TO GET IT PASSED IN THE SENATE.
AND, UH, IT, IT DIDN'T LOOK TERRIBLY PROMISING, BUT, UH, WE MANAGED TO GET A COUPLE PEOPLE ON BOARD AND THEN A COUPLE OF PEOPLE ON BOARD.
AND I THINK IT ENDED UP PASSING UNANIMOUSLY, DIDN'T IT? CHARLES 31.
SO, I MEAN, IT'S, THERE WAS, THERE WAS A LOT MORE THAT WENT INTO IT THAN WHAT YOU REALIZE.
AND CHARLES DOESN'T TAKE ENOUGH CREDIT FOR IT.
HE REALLY GOT THAT THING DONE.
UP NEXT IS ANOTHER KINGWOOD RESIDENT DIRECTOR, CESAC.
ALL RIGHT, GOOD TO BE HERE TODAY.
SO I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A LITTLE, UH, JUST BRIEFING OF WHAT'S GOING ON AT THE AIRPORT, UH, SO YOU'RE AWARE.
AGAIN, THE MAYOR IS ALWAYS AFTER US MAKING SURE WE SOLVE THE TRAFFIC PROBLEM AT THE AIRPORT.
RIGHT NOW, I'M PROUD TO SAY THAT WE'VE HAD NO SEVERE TRAFFIC THIS YEAR.
UH, HEAVY TRAFFIC IS EXTREMELY RARE.
AND THEN, UH, MODERATE TRAFFIC IS PRETTY INFREQUENT, SO ALL THINGS ARE GOING GOOD ON THE ROADS AT THE AIRPORTS.
UH, FOR THE, THE, THE KINGWOOD CROWD HERE, UH, THAT I'LL GO TO THE AIRPORT ON WILL CLAYTON, UH, JUST PROUD TO BE, UH, BE ABLE TO SAY THAT, UH, WE'VE REMOVED, UH, REMOVED MOUNT RAMADA, RIGHT? SO IF YOU WOULD GO THERE, THE, THE MOUNTAIN THERE ON THE, ON THE WAY GETTING INTO THERE, MOUNT RAMADA HAS NOW BEEN REMOVED.
UM, SO IT DOES, IT USED TO WAKE ME UP IN THE
[00:35:01]
MORNING WHEN I WAS DRIVING TO WORK, BUT, UH, NOW IT'S NICE AND FLAT THERE.UH, KEN'S WICKEN CONSTRUCTION.
SO THAT INTERSECTION'S GONNA OPEN ON SEPTEMBER 30TH.
UM, AGAIN, A MUCH SAFER OPERATION THERE WITH ALL THE TRAFFIC, YOU KNOW, WITH THOSE CRAZY CROSSOVERS AND THE, THE LEE ROAD, UH, JOG.
UM, SO THAT'S GONNA BE A MUCH BETTER IMPROVEMENT TO WILL CLAYTON.
UM, WE'RE DOING A LOT OF PASSENGER ENHANCEMENT, THE AIRPORT.
UH, NUMBER ONE IS RESTROOMS. UM, SO AT BUSH RIGHT NOW, WE'VE COMPLETED ABOUT, UM, MORE THAN HALF OF THE RESTROOMS THAT WE NEEDED TO DO.
SO A, UH, TERMINAL D IS DONE, UH, TERMINAL A IS, UH, HALFWAY DONE.
UM, AND THEN, UH, UNITED HAS STARTED DOING THEIR RESTROOMS. SO FOR THE AIRPORTS, WE CONTROL THE AIRPORT, OH, THE RESTROOM'S IN A AND D.
UM, AND THEN UNITED'S GOT C, E, AND B.
AND SO UNITED HAS JUST PROVED THEIR, THEIR PLAN TO GO FORWARD.
UM, SO THEY'RE DOING ABOUT $60 MILLION IN RESTROOMS AT THE AIRPORT REDOS.
AND I'M DOING ABOUT 30 BETWEEN BOTH AIRPORTS.
SO ABOUT $90 MILLION IN RESTROOM REDOS AT BOTH AIRPORTS HIGH, PROBABLY MORE ALREADY OF THE MAYOR AND MYSELF AND MY WIFE.
'CAUSE SHE GOES THROUGH THOSE RESTROOMS AND IT'S NOT A FAN.
UM, SO THIS JUST KIND OF SHOWS YOU SOME OF THE, THE, THE, THE CHANGES THAT WE'VE MADE THERE.
SO THIS IS THE WOMEN'S RESTROOM BY GATE A 12, WHICH IS THE DELTA AIRLINES AREA.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE LITTLE GRAPH OVER THERE, YOU'LL SEE THAT WE USED TO GET A LOT OF NEGATIVE FEEDBACK ON, ON THAT RESTROOM.
UM, AND YOU'LL SEE LIKE THE LITTLE BLUES, JUST THE RESPONSES OVER THERE.
AND THEN WHEN WE, WHEN WE OPENED THE BRAND NEW RESTAURANT, YOU CAN SEE HOW SIGNIFICANTLY THE POSITIVES WENT ON THERE.
SO WE WENT TO A 90%, 96% POSITIVE RATING ON THAT RESTROOM.
SO THAT'S ABOUT AS HIGH AS WE GET IN AIRPORT WORLD, UH, FOR RESTROOM POSITIVITY, AND THEN THE VOLUME OF, OF POSITIVITY.
UH, OTHER THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING OUT HERE, UH, NOW TERMINAL E IF YOU GO INTO THE NEW, NEW BUILDING OVER THERE, UH, WE DO HAVE A STAR, BRAND NEW STARBUCKS PRE-SECURITY.
AND THEN ALSO THERE'S A CHILI'S, UH, SATELLITE OFFICE THERE, OR SATELLITE FACILITY THERE.
SO IF YOU NEED A PRE-SECURITY MEAL, NOW WE'VE ADDED THAT, UH, WE'VE GOT NEW SEATING THAT CAME IN.
SO WE'VE GOT SOME NEW SEATING AND TERMINAL A.
AND THEN ALSO IN THE BOTTOM OF THE, THE ORIGINAL TERMINAL D LOBBY.
UH, AND THEN THE EXECUTIVE CLUB.
SO IF YOU'RE DOING INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS OUTTA THERE, WE UP, UH, REDID ALL THE, THE, THE, UM, FURNITURE IN THERE.
UH, THE NEW INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL PERFORMED VERY WELL FOR THE, UH, FIFA EXPERIENCE.
SO WE WELCOME ALL THE WORLD CUP FOLKS IN THERE.
IT WAS, UH, AGAIN, ALL THE AIRLINES ARE NOW IN THAT FACILITY AND IT WORKED OUT REALLY WELL.
UH, AGAIN, HAD A GREAT TIME, UH, BEING IN THAT FACILITY FOR, UH, THE WORLD CUP.
UH, GOT A LOT OF NEW AIR SERVICE.
SO AGAIN, IN THE AIRPORT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ALWAYS GET YOU NONSTOP FLIGHTS 'CAUSE NOBODY LIKES TO CONNECT.
UM, SO WE'VE GOT THE NEW FLIGHT TO ROME, SO YOU CAN GO RIGHT OUT THERE AND ROLL.
UH, GET YOURSELF TO ROME FOR SOMEWHERE AROUND SEVEN, 800 BUCKS, ROUND TRIP.
IT DEPENDING ON WHEN YOU GO, UH, UNITED'S GOT A COUPLE OF NEW MEXICAN DESTINATIONS AND SOME FRONTIERS NOW GOING TO, UH, PUERTO RICO.
UH, AGAIN, SOME MORE AIR SERVICE THERE.
SO UNITED GOING TO SANTA DOMINGO, DE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, UH, CARNA AND CROCK VENEZUELA IS NOW COMING BACK FOR US, WHICH IS GOOD.
VERY IMPORTANT TO THE OIL BUSINESS THAT'S IN THIS MARKET, BEING ABLE TO GO OPEN UP VENEZUELA AGAIN.
AND THEN AGAIN, A BUNCH OF THE OTHER AIRLINES CONTINUE TO ADD SERVICE AT THE AIRPORT.
AND THEN UNITED BROUGHT IN A LOT OF SMALLER DESTINATIONS, UH, DOMESTICALLY.
SO AGAIN, TRYING TO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO GO NONSTOP.
'CAUSE NOBODY WANTS TO GO THROUGH DALLAS, RIGHT? EXACTLY.
UM, SO YOU KNOW, ALL THE IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE DO OVER HERE, WE GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT WE PROVE TO THE MAYOR THAT WE'RE, WE'RE MAKING A DIFFERENCE HERE.
SO WE COLLECT A LOT OF DATA ON THIS.
UM, SO WE TRACKED THE OVERALL, YOU KNOW, UM, BENCHMARK OF HAPPINESS OF THE, UH, THE CUSTOMERS HERE.
AND YOU CAN SEE BEFORE THE MAYOR STARTED, A LOT OF PEOPLE WEREN'T VERY HAPPY WITH THE AIRPORT.
AND SO WE KIND OF WHIPPED US INTO SHAPE AND SAID, HEY, LET'S DO THINGS.
AND I WILL TELL YOU RIGHT NOW AT THE 3.9, UH, WE ARE AT BOTH AIRPORTS NOW ABOVE OUR PIERS, RIGHT? SO H HOBBY IS MEASURED AGAINST A BUNCH OF MEDIUM SIZED AIRPORTS AND BUSHES.
MARRIED, UH, MEASURED AGAINST A BUNCH OF LARGE AIRPORTS.
AND SO WE ARE NOW CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WISE, HIGHER THAN BOTH OF OUR, ALL OUR PEERS.
IF YOU HAVEN'T, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAD A BAD TASTE IN YOUR MOUTH ABOUT PARKING AT THE AIRPORT.
UM, WE'VE DONE A LOT OF CHANGES THERE.
SO NUMBER ONE, WE STOPPED THE TRAFFIC PROBLEMS THAT WOULD GET YOU TRAPPED IN THE GARAGE.
UH, THEN WE CHANGED THE COMPUTER SYSTEMS THAT WERE IN THERE SO THAT YOU HAD THE ABILITY TO ACTUALLY GO IN AND OUT OF THERE WITH THE RESERVATIONS AND IT READS YOUR LICENSE PLATES MUCH SIMPLER, MUCH CLEANER.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE NEW FACILITIES WE SIGNED NEW SIGNS IN THERE AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
SO WE'RE GETTING A LOT OF HAPPINESS ON THERE.
AGAIN, THE TERMINAL C GARAGE GOT A BRAND NEW SIGN PACKAGE IN THERE, SO IT'S MUCH EASIER TO FIGURE OUT WHERE YOU'RE AT, WHERE YOU'RE PARKED, AND HOW YOU NEED TO GET TO THE TERMINALS.
SO I GOT ACTUALLY DIRT ON MY BOOTS 'CAUSE I WAS JUST OVER THERE.
UH, TERMINAL B IS A $2.55 BILLION PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNITED AIRLINES.
UH, AND WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING IS WE'RE GONNA OPEN AND WELCOME OUR FIRST FLIGHTS INTO THERE ON OCTOBER 22ND.
UM, SO VERY, VERY, UH, SHORT TIMEFRAME.
[00:40:01]
IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.UM, YOU KIND OF SEE SOME OF THE INTERIORS IN THERE.
SO I WAS IN THERE, IT'S VERY NICE.
GOT A LOT OF, UH, NEW FACILITIES IN THERE, NEW ARTWORK, NEW UH, RESTAURANTS, A LOT OF LOCAL CONCEPTS IN THERE FROM A RESTAURANT PERSPECTIVE.
AND THEN THEY'VE GOT THE 54,000 SQUARE FOOT UNITED AIRLINES LOUNGE.
SO IF YOU'VE GOT THE LOUNGE CARD IN THERE, YOU'RE REALLY GONNA LOVE THAT LOUNGE UP THERE.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THAT KIND OF COMPLETES MY KIND OF UPDATE FOR YOU.
AND AGAIN, WANNA THANK THE COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT VOTE SUPPORT THE AIRPORT SYSTEM BECAUSE IT TAKES THEIR, THEIR KIND OF, UH, PROVING OUR FUNDING TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THESE, THESE IMPROVEMENTS.
AND AGAIN, JUST A REMINDER, AGAIN, THE AIRPORT SYSTEM TAKES NO TAX DOLLARS FROM THE STATE, UH, OR THE CITY.
UH, BUT WE, UH, PRODUCE ALMOST $2 BILLION ANNUALLY IN TAXES, UH, THAT WE, THAT GET POURED INTO THE STATE AND INTO THE CITY.
SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO BE HERE, UH, REPRESENTING HOUSTON, GIVING YOU THAT NONSTOP SERVICE, THAT WORLD-CLASS EXPERIENCE AND SOME TAX MONEY TO HELP EVERYTHING WORK AROUND HERE AND NOT TAKING ANY FROM Y'ALL.
THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE, JIM.
UM, AND NOW ONE OF THE BIG ONES THAT I THINK EVERYBODY IS LOOKING FOR, UH, UPDATE FROM THE COASTAL WATER AUTHORITY, DAN HUBERTY, GREG ALLINGER, AND THEN ALSO BLACK AND VEATCH, WHO IS THE ENGINEER.
WE'VE GOT CHRIS MUELLER FROM THERE.
WELL, GOOD EVENING, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER.
COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER, THANK YOU.
AND, AND ALL THE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS AND SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS AND EVERYBODY ELSE.
AND, UM, I'M SO GLAD THAT YOU GUYS ELECTED, UH, CHARLES CUNNINGHAM TO BE THE STATE REP.
'CAUSE HE COULD FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET THE DREDGING DISTRICT DONE WHEN I WAS INCAPABLE OF DOING THAT.
SO, UH, BUT, UH, HE'S DONE SUCH A GREAT JOB, UH, FOR US.
I MEAN, THE WORK THAT HE'S DONE HAS BEEN AMAZING.
SO, UM, AND SO I KNOW THAT, UH, WE, WE THINK ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE'RE AT.
AND SO TODAY'S UPDATE, UH, THAT WE'RE ABOUT TO GIVE YOU, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE VERY PLEASED, UH, TO TALK ABOUT OUR PLANS, WHERE WE'RE AT.
AND, UH, THE, THE, THE GENTLEMAN BEHIND ME ARE THE BRAINS.
THEY GOT ALL KINDS OF INITIALS BEHIND THEIR NAMES, UH, BUT THEY'RE VERY SMART AND THEY'VE BEEN THOUGHTFUL ABOUT THIS, THIS PROCESS AS, AS WE'VE GONE FORWARD.
UM, AND, AND I WANNA, I WANNA LAY THIS OUT FOR YOU IN A, IN A WAY THAT I THINK IS SYSTEMATIC.
THIS IS THE FIRST PHASE OF A LONG TERM PLANT.
IN 1951, THE CITIZENS AND THE ELECTED OFFICIALS SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE NEED TO HAVE A WATER SUPPLY, UH, FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND FOR, FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
SO I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT FOUR, FOUR FS, UH, CASEY, I'M, I'M, THAT'S IT.
THAT'S ALL WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
UH, THEY HAD THE FORETHOUGHT TO THINK ABOUT THIS.
AND SO AS I THINK ABOUT THESE GATES, THIS IS THE FORETHOUGHT OF WHERE DOES THIS SYSTEM, THIS DAMN SYSTEM NEED TO GO? AND THEN WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT FORMULATING OUR PLAN, AND YOU'RE GONNA SEE OUR PLAN TODAY AND WHERE WE'RE AT RELATIVE TO THAT.
AND I KNOW THERE'S BEEN QUESTIONS ABOUT WHY ISN'T IT TAKING SO LONG IN 2017, WE THINK ABOUT THIS, 10 YEARS AGO, ROUGHLY, ALMOST 10 YEARS AGO, WE THINK ABOUT WHERE HARVEY WAS AT AND WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY IT TOOK AS LONG AS IT, IT IT TOOK TO GET TO WHERE WE'RE AT.
AND BECAUSE WE HAD A FORMULATED PLAN THAT MADE SENSE.
AND THEN FUNDING, UH, WE'VE, WE'VE GOTTEN SOME FUNDING FROM THE STATE.
WE'VE THOUGHT ABOUT HOW WE'RE GONNA GET THE FUNDING FROM THE STATE.
UM, AND WE'VE EXECUTED ON A PLAN TO BE ABLE TO GET FUNDING FROM THE STATE AS WE GO INTO THIS LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
WORKING WITH REPRESENTATIVE CUNNINGHAM, COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER, THE MAYOR, HAS BEEN UNBELIEVABLY SUPPORTIVE OF OUR OBJECTIVES AS WE GO FORWARD.
AND THEN CERTAINLY SENATOR LIGAN, WHO WE ANTICIPATE WINNING, UH, WILL BE PART OF THAT LONG-TERM PLAN.
AND THE LAST ONE IS FEMA QUESTION MARK.
UM, WE HAVE TO GO BACK AND HOPEFULLY WORKING WITH CONGRESSMAN TOTH, WHO I WORKED WITH IN THE LEGISLATURE, UM, TO IMPART UPON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO THINK ABOUT THIS.
AND I WANT TO PUT THIS IN YOUR BRAIN.
LAKE HOUSTON, THE WATER SUPPLY FOR LAKE HOUSTON.
WE PROVIDE WATER FOR ROUGHLY 7.5 MILLION PEOPLE.
7.5 MILLION PEOPLE, ALMOST 3% OF THE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES.
I CANNOT THINK OF A MORE IMPORTANT PROJECT IN OUR COUNTRY TODAY.
THINK ABOUT THE DEVASTATING IMPACT OF A FAILURE, UH, OF OUR SYSTEM.
SO WE'RE GOING TO PRESENT TO YOU NOW, AND GREG IS GONNA DO THAT.
OUR, OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WHO DOES AN AMAZING JOB FOR US, AND THEY'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT OUR PLAN.
UM, AND SO, AND I, AS I THINK BACK ABOUT THIS, UM, AND YOU MAY RECOGNIZE THE VACATION MOVIES, CHEVY CHASE AND THE VACATION MOVIES LAS VEGAS VACATION.
SO HOLD YOUR DAMN QUESTIONS UNTIL AFTER WE'RE ALL DONE WITH OUR PRESENTATIONS, OKAY,
THANK YOU, UH, DIRECTOR HUBERTY.
AND, UH, THANK YOU, UH, COUNCILMAN FLICKINGER, UH, DISTRICT E OFFICE FOR, UH, HAVING US OUT TO PROVIDE THIS UPDATE TODAY.
[00:45:01]
A VERY IMPORTANT, UH, PROJECT TO THIS COMMUNITY.AND, UM, I DO WANT TO TELL YOU THAT OUR TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING VERY HARD TO DELIVER THIS PROJECT JUST AS FAST AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.
AND, UM, WE'LL GET INTO, UM, SCHEDULE AND SOME OF THE, UH, DETAILS OF THE PROJECT GOING FORWARD.
SO, UM, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, HURRICANE HARVEY.
AND, UM, DON'T, DON'T NEED TO, UH, TELL, UM, MANY OF YOU, MANY OF YOU LIVED THROUGH THIS.
THIS WAS, UM, UH, VERY TRAUMATIC EVENT AND IT, UM, WAS IT, IT CAUSED EXTENSIVE FLOODING ACROSS NOT JUST THE SAN JACINTO RIVER WATERSHED, BUT ACROSS THE WHOLE HOUSTON, UH, REGION.
UM, AND TO PUT IT IN CONTEXT, WHAT WE SAW DURING, UH, HURRICANE HARVEY COMING INTO THE LAKE HOUSTON WATERSHED, UM, 2.6 MILLION ACRE FEET.
SO THAT'S 850 BILLION GALLONS PER DAY COMING, OR, OR, UH, 850 GALLONS, BILLION GALLONS COMING INTO THE WATERSHED.
AND FOR PERSPECTIVE, UM, THAT'S ENOUGH WATER TO FILL AN EMPTY LAKE HOUSTON, 19 TIMES.
IF YOU, IF YOU THINK ABOUT THAT, THE PEAK, UH, INFLOW, 491, UH, THOUSAND CUBIC FEET PER SECOND.
UM, ROUGHLY 500 CUBIC FEET PER SECOND.
THAT'S ENOUGH INFLOW AT THAT RATE TO FILL AN EMPTY LAKE HOUSTON IN 3.3 HOURS.
AND AT THE, UH, UH, HIGHEST WATER SURFACE ELEVATION, 53.1 FEET, THAT'S, THAT'S 10 FEET ABOVE THE NORMAL POOL.
SO AS YOU'RE LOOKING AT THAT, UH, PICTURE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE THERE, THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, THE LAKE HOUSTON DAM AT DURING HURRICANE HARVEY.
AND THAT'S 10 FEET GOING OVER THAT UNCONTROLLED SPILLWAY.
BUT THE OTHER THING TO NOTE IS THE SAN JACINTA RIVER THAT'S JUST DOWNSTREAM OF THAT IS COMPLETELY OUT OF ITS BANKS.
AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, IT'S A SITUATION WHERE THERE'S NOT A LOT OF PLACES THAT WATER CAN GO NORMALLY, THAT'S A 30 FOOT DROP FROM THAT UNCONTROLLED SPILLWAY.
AND YOU CAN, FROM THIS PHOTO IN THE MIDDLE OF HARVEY, YOU CAN BARELY DETECT THAT.
THAT'S A UNCONTROLLED SPILLWAY UP THERE.
UH, ALSO PERSPECTIVE, UH, WE TALKED ABOUT LAKE HOUSTON BEING DESIGNED AND BUILT AS A DRINKING WATER RESERVOIR.
THAT AMOUNT OF, OF WATER, 850 BILLION GALLONS, THAT'S ENOUGH WATER TO SUPPLY THE ENTIRE CITY REGION, HOUSTON REGION, THE 7.7 MILLION, ENOUGH TO SUPPLY THEM FOR FIVE AND A HALF YEARS.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS JUST A, UH, CATASTROPHIC EVENT AND, UM, THE LIKES OF SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE JUST NEVER SEEN HERE BEFORE.
AND THIS, THIS IS THE FLOOD OF RECORD FOR, UH, FOR LAKE HOUSTON.
SO, NEXT SLIDE, UM, WE'LL GET INTO, UM, DISCUSSION OF THE GATE.
SO LITTLE ORIENTATION OF CURRENT, UH, LAKE HOUSTON DAM.
YOU HAVE EARTH AND EMBANKMENTS ON, UH, BOTH THE EAST AND WEST SIDE.
UM, HERE YOU SEE LAKE HOUSTON ON THE NORTH OR, OR ON THE TOP OF THE SCREEN.
UH, YOU SEE THE S CENTER RIVER, UH, ON THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN TO THE SOUTH IN BETWEEN THE TWO EMBANKMENTS IS A 3000 FOOT CONCRETE, UH, CALL IT EMERSON SPILLWAY.
IT'S AN UNCONTROLLED SPILLWAY.
AND SO AS THE LEVEL OF WATER RISES IN THE LAKE, IT SPILLS OVER THIS UNCONTROLLED SPILLWAY AT, AT AN ELEVATION OF 42 AND A HALF FEET.
UM, IN THE CENTER OF THE SCREEN, UH, WE POINT OUT EXISTING GATES.
SO THERE'S SOME SMALL, UM, CONTROL GATES THAT ARE THERE CURRENTLY, UH, TWO TANER GATES AND TWO FLASHBOARD GATES THAT DO OFFER SOME, UH, CONTROL OF THE LAKE ELEVATION.
BUT, UH, PRETTY SMALL IN, IN TERMS OF, UH, CAPACITY THERE.
AND THEN THE NEW PROJECT, UM, YOU CAN SEE, UH, IS PLANNED, UM, JUST ADJACENT TO THOSE EXISTING GATES.
IT, UH, FROM THOSE GATES, UM, FOR THE NEW PROJECT.
AND, UH, DIRECTOR HUBERTY TALKED
[00:50:01]
ABOUT THE CRITICAL ELEMENT OF MAKING SURE THAT WE, UH, DON'T PUT THE EXISTING STRUCTURE AT RISK AS WE'RE INSTALLING NEW GATES.UM, AND THAT'S A, A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE, THE PROJECT THAT IS BEING DESIGNED IS PROTECTION OF THAT EXISTING, UH, SPILLWAY.
AND, UH, FROM HERE, UM, CHRIS IS GONNA COME UP AND PROVIDE SOME DETAILS ON THE, UH, UH, DESIGN ELEMENTS OF THE GATE AND ALSO, UM, SOME OF THE BENEFITS THAT WE'RE REALIZING FROM THE NEW PROJECT.
YOU WANNA GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE? NOT SURE.
SO I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE TECHNICAL, UH, ASPECTS, UH, TO THE DESIGN AND, AND WHAT IT IS THAT WILL BE, UH, BUILT, UM, OUT AT LAKE HOUSTON AND HOW THOSE GATES WILL BE OPERATED, UH, TO REDUCE FLOOD RISK, UM, IN KINGWOOD.
AND SO ONE OF THE FIRST QUESTIONS THAT WE NEEDED TO ANSWER EARLY IN THE DESIGN PHASE WAS HOW BIG, UH, CAN WE MAKE THIS GATE STRUCTURE? UH, HOW MUCH FLOW CAN WE PRACTICALLY RELEASE FROM LAKE HOUSTON AHEAD OF A FORECASTED, UH, STORM? AND OF COURSE, DURING, UH, AN EXTREME PRECIPITATION EVENT, CREATING THUS A BENEFIT UPSTREAM OF LAKE HOUSTON WHILE NOT CREATING AN IMPACT DOWNSTREAM.
'CAUSE YOU HAVE RESIDENTS DOWNSTREAM OF LAKE HOUSTON AS WELL.
SO THAT BECAME KIND OF A SIGNIFICANT BOUNDARY CONDITION OR CONSTRAINT, UH, IN THE ENGINEERING ANALYSIS THAT, UH, GOT US TO WHAT IS AN 11, UH, GATE STRUCTURE THAT HAS THE ABILITY TO RELEASE IN A CONTROLLED MANNER ABOUT 84,000 CUBIC FEET PER SECOND FROM LAKE HOUSTON, WHICH IS ROUGHLY EIGHT TIMES WHAT THE CURRENT ABILITY AT LAKE HOUSTON IS WITH THE EXISTING GATES THERE.
AND SO, UM, SO AGAIN, THE, THE GATE WAS SIZED AND OPTIMIZED REALLY TO MAXIMIZE FLOOD RISK REDUCTION UPSTREAM WHILE NOT CREATING AN ADVERSE, UH, IMPACT DOWNSTREAM.
SO THE GRAPHIC ON THE LEFT, UH, THIS IS A RENDERING OF WHAT THE GATE STRUCTURE AT LAKE HOUSTON WILL LOOK LIKE, UH, WHEN IT IS, UH, CONSTRUCTED.
UH, AND AGAIN, IT'S SUBSTANTIALLY A CONCRETE, UH, STRUCTURE.
UH, THERE'S AN APPROACH CHANNEL ON THE RESERVOIR SIDE THAT ALLOWS WATER TO FILL IN, UH, BEHIND THE NEW GATES AND A DISCHARGE CHANNEL ON THE DOWNSTREAM SIDE THAT DISSIPATES ENERGY DURING THE RELEASE AND RETURNS THAT WATER, UH, TO THE SAN JACINTO.
UM, THE STRUCTURE ITSELF, UH, CONSISTS OF A SERIES OF PIERCE.
UH, THESE ARE THE VERTICAL ELEMENTS, UH, THAT YOU SEE, UH, IN THE GRAPHIC THAT ACTUALLY HOUSE, UH, THESE RADIAL GATES.
AND THESE GATES ARE FABRICATED FROM STEEL.
IT'S A STEEL SHELL THAT'S REINFORCED WITH, UH, BEAMS, UH, AND CONNECTED TO RADIAL ARMS, UH, THAT ARE ANCHORED INTO THOSE PIERS, UM, THAT ALLOW THOSE THINGS TO OPEN, UH, AND CLOSE AND DIRECT FLOWS APPROPRIATELY.
UM, IN ADDITION, UH, YOU'LL SEE THERE'S A, A BRIDGE ON TOP OF THE GATE STRUCTURE.
THIS IS SO COASTAL WATER AUTHORITY AND OTHERS CAN ACCESS THOSE GATES FOR, UH, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.
AND THE WAY IT'S VIEWED THAT THESE, UH, GATES WOULD BE OPERATED.
UH, THERE IS THE POTENTIAL THAT ON A FORECAST OF AN EXTREME WEATHER EVENT, UH, THOSE GATES COULD BE OPENED, UH, TO ALLOW SOME AMOUNT OF WATER, UH, TO BE RELEASED FROM LAKE HOUSTON AHEAD OF AN, THE ARRIVAL, UH, OF AN EXTREME PRECIPITATION EVENT.
AND THEN WITH THE GAUGES, UH, THAT EXIST ON, UH, THE SAN JACINTO, BOTH EAST AND WEST FORKS, UH, THE INTENT DURING A STORM WOULD BE TO OPEN THOSE GATES TO EFFECTIVELY MATCH THE FLOWS THAT ARE COMING TOWARDS LAKE HOUSTON, DOWN THE EAST AND WEST FORKS OF THE SAN JACINTO, UP TO THE MAXIMUM, WHICH IS THIS 84,000, UH, CFS OF RELEASE CAPACITY YOU HAVE WITH THE NEW STRUCTURE.
AND THAT, OF COURSE, AS THE STORM PASSED, THE GATES WOULD BE CLOSED AGAIN TO MATCH THE INFLOWS ON THE EAST AND WEST FORKS OF THE SAN JACINTO TO LAKE HOUSTON.
SO THIS, UM, SLIDE IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH, UH, KIND OF A SUMMARY OF, OF WHAT THE PROJECTED BENEFIT FROM OPERATION OF THE GATES IS.
SO THERE'S ONLY TWO, UH, STORMS THAT ARE, ARE REPRESENTED HERE.
ONE IS WHAT WE CALL A SYNTHETIC STORM, WHICH IS KIND OF A HYPOTHETICAL, UH, STORM WITH A HUNDRED YEAR RETURN
[00:55:01]
PERIOD.UH, WE ALSO HAVE HURRICANE HARVEY, UM, REPRESENTED IN THE GRAPHIC AND WITH THE NEW GATE STRUCTURE.
UM, YOU KNOW, EFFECTIVELY WHAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO IS TAKE ABOUT 20% OF THE HOMES THAT HAD HISTORICALLY FLOODED, UH, DURING HURRICANE HARVEY, UM, OUT OF FLOOD IMPACT.
THAT'S, THAT'S NOT A REDUCTION IN THE WATER SURFACE ELEVATION, OR A SITUATION WHERE I STILL HAVE WATER IN MY HOME.
THAT'S 20% OF THE STRUCTURES THAT ARE NO LONGER IMPACTED BY A HURRICANE HARVEY, UH, SCALE EVENT, IF YOU WILL.
UH, THERE'S OBVIOUSLY MANY, MANY OTHERS THAT THAT BENEFIT FROM THE GATES, BUT YOU KNOW, AGAIN, IF YOU'VE GOT WATER IN YOUR HOUSE, YOU DON'T CARE WHETHER YOU'VE GOT TWO FEET OF WATER IN YOUR HOUSE OR A FOOT OF WATER IN YOUR HOUSE.
BUT THE GATES DO A SIGNIFICANT JOB IN MINIMIZING AND OR REDUCING FLOOD IMPACT FOR VERY EXTREME EVENTS.
AND WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE OTHER THINGS, UH, THAT ARE BEING DONE IN THE COMMUNITY, THE DREDGING DISTRICT WORK THAT HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT IS DOING, UH, IT, IT'S PART OF A, UH, A BIGGER PLAN THAN JUST THE GATE PROJECT ITSELF TO REDUCE, UH, FLOOD RISK IN KINGWOOD.
IS THIS YOURS OR MINE, GREG? OH, THIS IS MINE.
YEAH, I GUESS ONE OTHER THING JUST TO, JUST TO REFERENCE, UM, UH, FOR Y'ALL, MAYBE NOT AS IMPORTANT AS THE PRIOR SLIDE, UH, WITH THE FLOOD RISK BENEFIT, BUT THIS GATE STRUCTURE IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT TO, UH, COASTAL WATER AUTHORITY IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, UH, FROM ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE, AND THAT'S THE FLEXIBILITY IT GIVES THEM WITH FUTURE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF, OF THE FACILITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS AN OLD, UH, DAM DATING BACK TO THE EARLY 1950S.
IT'S IN NEED OF MORE OR LESS CONSTANT, UH, REPAIR, UH, AND OR REHABILITATION.
THE GATE PROJECT GIVES COASTAL WATER AUTHORITY, THE ABILITY TO DIVERT FLOWS AROUND WHAT WOULD BE, UH, AREAS OF WORK, UH, IN PARTICULAR ON THE CONCRETE, UH, STRUCTURE THAT THEY NEED TO UNDERTAKE, UM, FURTHER.
AND AS PART OF, YOU KNOW, WHAT MAY BE A LONG TERM OR LONGER TERM REPLACEMENT, UH, FOR THAT CONCRETE, UH, STRUCTURE, THE ANDERSON SPILLWAY GREG REFERRED TO THIS, AGAIN, GIVES THEM THE ABILITY TO DIVERT FLOWS AROUND THE WORK AREA AND ALLOW THAT WORK TO BE CONSTRUCTED IN THE DRY.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT, UH, OF THE GATE PROJECT.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO GREG.
UH, ANOTHER IMPORTANT PART OF THE UPDATE IS, UM, FUNDING AND SCHEDULE.
SO, UH, THE FUNDING FIRST, UM, WHERE WE STAND, UM, THE AMOUNT OF CONSTRUCTION FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED FOR THIS, WE'RE, WE'RE AT $120 MILLION.
AND, UM, 80 MILLION OF THAT IS, UH, FROM THE STATE LEGISLATURE.
REPRESENTATIVE CUING CUNNINGHAM MENTIONED THE 50 MILLION.
THERE'S ACTUALLY A, UH, PREVIOUS, UM, 30 MILLION, UH, APPROPRIATION BACK IN THE, UH, 86TH LEGISLATURE.
SO WE HAVE 80 FROM THE STATE LEGISLATURE.
THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS 20 MILLION CONTRIBUTION, AND THEN HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL HAS A $20 MILLION CONTRIBUTION.
THE CURRENT ESTIMATE ON THE STRUCTURE, AND THIS IS, UM, WE'RE AT THE, THE 90% DESIGN, UH, MILESTONE, THAT, THAT ESTIMATE IS 315 MILLION TO, UH, BUILD THIS PROJECT.
SO, UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT THAT LEAVES A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT GAP IN AVAILABLE FUNDS TO BE ABLE TO, TO BUILD THIS STRUCTURE.
UM, THERE IS SOME FEMA MONEY THAT IS, UM, ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROJECT.
WE DON'T KNOW RIGHT NOW IF THAT, IF WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO ACCESS THOSE FEMA FUNDS.
UM, IT, IT, UM, IT REQUIRES, UM, DOING SOME BENEFIT COST ANALYSIS AND MEETING A CERTAIN, UH, THRESHOLD WITH FEMA.
SO, UM, PUTTING, JUST PUTTING THAT ASIDE, WE'RE AT ABOUT A $200 MILLION, UM, UH, GAP TO, TO BUILD THE PROJECT, UM, COASTAL WATER AUTHORITY.
WE'VE BEEN ENGAGING CLOSELY WITH THE CITY'S, UH, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS TEAM, UM, DEVELOPING A STRATEGY GOING FORWARD WITH HOW TO FILL THIS GAP.
UH, WE PLAN TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE LOCAL DELEGATION AND, UM, REPRESENTATIVE CUNNINGHAM AS WE'RE MOVING TOWARD THAT, UH, NEXT SESSION.
THAT'S, UH, JUST AROUND THE CORNER IN JANUARY.
AND, UH, ON TOP OF THAT, UH, COASTAL WATER AUTHORITY, WE HAVE HIRED OUR OWN,
[01:00:01]
UH, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS LEAD, UM, FIRST, FIRST, UH, GR THAT, THAT WE'VE HAD.AND, UH, HE WILL BE WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE CITY TEAM TO, UM, WORK ON FILLING THAT GAP APP.
WE'VE BRIEFED THIS, UH, PREVIOUSLY STARTED OFF WITH THE CONCEPT OF THE GATES AND THE EARTH AND EMBANKMENT BACK IN, UH, AUGUST OF 24.
UH, PROCEEDED ON WITH THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING AND THE NECESSARY FIELD WORK, UM, THROUGH AUGUST OF LAST YEAR.
AND SINCE THEN, WE'VE BEEN DEVELOPING THIS DETAILED DESIGN.
SO 30%, 60, WE'RE AT THE 90% MARK, UH, TODAY.
AND, UM, WE'LL BE FINISHING UP THAT WORK THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2027.
UH, PRIOR TO THAT, THERE IS A, UM, INVOLVED PERMITTING PROCESS WITH ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS IN THE STATES, UH, TCEQ ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY.
WE'RE GONNA BEGIN THAT PERMITTING WORK IN DECEMBER.
UH, BUT IT IS, IT'S ABOUT AN A YEAR AND A HALF PROCESS TO WORK THROUGH THAT.
UM, AND SO WITH PERMITS IN HAND BY, UH, SECOND QUARTER 2028, THIS IS A TWO AND A HALF YEAR, UH, CONSTRUCTION PROJECT.
SO THAT BRINGS THE PROJECT IN AT A TAIL END OF, UH, 2030.
SO,
UM, BUT LET ME JUST CLOSE IT OUT BY SAYING THIS.
UH, WE, WE'VE GOT THIS SMARTEST PEOPLE ON THE PROJECT.
UH, WE'VE GOT THE SUPPORT OF THE MAYOR, SUPPORT OF THE COUNCIL, UH, SUPPORT OF OUR LEGISLATIVE BODY, AND CERTAINLY, UH, IN, IN CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'D HAD WITH THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR'S OFFICE, SPEAKER'S OFFICE, THEY'RE WELL AWARE OF WHERE WE'RE AT IN OUR PLANNING.
THEY'RE WELL AWARE OF WHERE WE ARE AT IN OUR, UM, UH, REQUIREMENTS OF WHERE WE'RE AT.
WE HAVE HAD MULTIPLE CONVERSATIONS.
WE ARE AT THE LEVEL WHERE WE NEED TO BE TO GET TO THIS PLANNING LEVEL TO BE ABLE TO GO AND EXECUTE UPON THIS STRATEGY.
YOU CAN'T ASK FOR WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW YOU NEED.
AND SO NOW WE KNOW WHERE WE'RE AT AND WE'RE VERY, UH, BULLISH AS AS WE GO FORWARD IN, IN EXECUTING ON THE PROJECT AND HOPEFULLY GETTING IT DONE IN A MANNER THAT MAKES SENSE.
ONE THING THAT THEY DIDN'T SAY TO YOU IS THAT IF, IF WE WERE NOT TO USE FEMA FUNDS, WE COULD ACTUALLY GET THE PROJECT DONE QUICKER.
UM, SO THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT AND GONNA BE TALKING TO THE STATE ABOUT IS, IS WHERE DO WE EXECUTE ON THAT? AND IN WORKING WITH SENATOR PERRY, I JUST SAW HIM LAST WEEK AND, UH, CHAIRMAN, UH, HARRIS, WHO, WHO ARE BOTH RUN BASICALLY THE WATER, UM, UH, COMMITTEES, UM, THEY'RE BOTH COMING TO VISIT US HERE AND WE'VE GOT THOSE SCHEDULED FOR THEM TO COME AND, AND SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING.
NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WATER AND OUR WATER SUPPLY, AND WE ALL RECOGNIZE IT AS TEXANS.
AND EVERYBODY AT CWA AND BLACK AND VEATCH.
UM, AND I'M SURE THAT SEEMS LIKE A DAUNTING NUMBER TO GO OUT AND GET.
UH, THE TRUMP CARD THAT WE HAVE WITH THIS IS, IT IS ABOUT WATER.
UM, AS A FLOOD MITIGATION PROJECT, WE WOULD NEVER GET IT FUNDED.
THE FACT THAT IT SUPPLIES SO MUCH WATER, UH, AND WATER HAS CERTAINLY GOTTEN TO BE MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT.
I DON'T KNOW IF EVERYBODY'S WATCHED THE NEWS AND SEEN CORPUS CHRISTI, UH, CORPUS CHRISTI WAS ABOUT OUTTA WATER HERE BEFORE ALL THAT RAIN THEY GOT IN THE HILL COUNTRY.
UH, WATER IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT.
SO I, I'M REALLY CONFIDENT THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO DELIVER THIS PROJECT AND, AND GET IT DONE.
UH, NEXT UP IS GONNA BE THE SOLID WASTE DEPARTMENT, UH, DIRECTOR HASSEN AND RYAN PERELMAN, GO AHEAD, YOU LET ME ADJUST THIS A LITTLE BIT.
UM, I ALWAYS LOVE TO COME UP TO KINGWOOD.
LET'S TALK ABOUT SOME ACTIVE AND PLANNED PROJECTS FOR DISTRICT E.
OF COURSE, YOU GUYS HAVE A LARGE DISTRICT, SO I'M GONNA GO THROUGH THESE AND I'M GONNA MAKE EMPHASIS ON THE PROJECTS THAT ARE IN AND AROUND THE KINGWOOD AREA.
FIRST PROJECT, WE HAVE CHANNEL IMPROVEMENT AND HEART.
SO STREET DIVERSION, THAT TENTATIVE START IS GONNA BE 2028.
WE HAVE, THESE ARE STREET AND DRAINAGE PROJECTS.
MARKET SQUARE GARNERVILLE IS PARK HILL
[01:05:01]
AREA PAVING AND DRAINAGE WITH A, A TENTATIVE CONSTRUCTION START OF 2029.OF COURSE, WE DISCUSSED, UM, THE ONGOING DRAINAGE PROJECTS AND WE HAD A RECENTLY COMPLETED PROJECT ON THE WEST FORK SAN JACINTO, WHERE THEY DID A LOT OF DREDGING THAT, UH, WAS COMPLETED.
THIS YEAR WE HAVE THE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE REPLACEMENT OVER HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT CHANNELS.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS SUB PROJECT ONE, IT'S IN SUBSTANTIAL COMPLETION.
SO BEFORE IT GOES TO FINAL COMPLETION, THEY HAVE SOME PUNCH LIST ITEMS THEY'RE GONNA COMPLETE FIRST, AND THEN THEY'LL GO INTO FINAL COMPLETION.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS SUB-PROJECT TWO HAS A TENTATIVE CONSTRUCTION START OF 2027.
ALL RIGHT, SO WE HAVE A LOT OF WATER AND WASTEWATER PROJECTS.
MAINLY A TON OF WATER PROJECTS COMING TO THE CLEAR LAKE AREA.
WE'LL GO THROUGH THESE REALLY QUICKLY.
WE HAVE A 54 INCH WATER LINE ALONG BELTWAY EIGHT DUFFER LANE PER PER PERIMETER ROAD AND HIGHWAY THREE TO GRAYSON STREET.
THAT'S GONNA BE STARTING IN 20 29 54 INCH WATERLINE ALONG GALVESTON ROAD TO CLEAR LAKE CITY WATER AUTHORITY PUMP STATION NUMBER THREE STARTING IN 2028, THE 42 INCH WATERLINE FROM CLEAR LAKE CITY WATER AUTHORITY PLANT NUMBER THREE TO LEAGUE CITY BOOSTER PUMP STATION.
WE ARE ANTICIPATING THAT TO BE COMPLETED IN 20 28, 36 INCH WATERLINE ALONG MEDICAL CENTER BOULEVARD AND BAY AREA BOULEVARD FROM GALVESTON ROAD TO BEAMER ROAD WITH A TENTATIVE CONSTRUCTION START OF IN 20 28 24 INCH WATERLINE ALONG HIGHWAY THREE FROM FUQUA DRIVE TO DIXIE FARM ROAD.
WE ARE LOOKING TO START THAT ONE NEXT YEAR IN 27 HIGHWAY THREE DISTRIBUTION WATERLINE FROM DIXIE FARM ROAD TO NORTHWEST TEXAS AVENUE.
ALRIGHT, AND WE HAVE A MISCELLANEOUS LARGE DIAMETER WATERLINE IMPROVEMENTS PACKAGE THREE PROJECT THAT'S GONNA BE STARTING IN 27.
LARGE DIAMETER WATERLINE AND ABOVE GRADE CROSSINGS.
PACKAGE THREE, THAT'LL BE STARTING IN 29.
REPLACEMENT PACKAGE FOUR IN 2029, LARGE DIAMETER WATERLINE AND VALVE REPLACEMENT.
PACKAGE THREE IS GONNA BE STARTING IN 2027.
CONDITIONAL ASSESSMENT OF 48 INCH WATERLINE ALONG OLD GALVESTON AND ALLEN GENOA FROM FUQUA TO STEELMAN.
THAT'S GOING TO TENTATIVE CONSTRUCTION START OF 2029.
AND THIS IS CLOSER TO THE KINGWOOD AREA, THE 84 INCH WATERLINE REPAIR, NORTHEAST WATER PURIFICATION PLANT TO SMITH ROAD, WHICH IS GONNA BE STARTING IN 2027.
ALRIGHT, SO THESE ARE YOUR WASTEWATER PROJECTS.
WE HAVE A FORCE MAIN, UH, FROM GOODYEAR TO SCARSDALE LIFT STATION.
THAT'S GONNA BE STARTING IN 2027.
WE ALSO HAVE A FORCE MAIN RENEWAL AND REPLACEMENT FOR HIGHLAND METAL AND BAY AREA LIFT STATIONS, WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETE.
WE HAVEN'T REACHED FINAL COMPLETION YET ON THAT ONE.
THE GRAVITY SEWER LINE ADJUSTMENT PROJECT WILL START IN 2027 AND THE 54 INCH WATER LINE ALONG GENOA RED BLUFF AND EASEMENTS FROM SOUTHEAST WATER PURIFICATION PLANT TO GRON STREET HAS A TENTATIVE CONSTRUCTION START OF 2029.
ALRIGHT, FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE PROJECTS, UM, PLEASE VISIT US@ENGAGEHOUSTON.ORG.
AND, UH, IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE UH, REGISTER.
CALL 3 1 1 IF YOU GOT ANY QUESTIONS OR YOU COULD SEND QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS TO ENGAGE HOUSTON.ORG.
OKAY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S GONNA TAKE ME ABOUT THREE MINUTES TO ADJUST THIS MIC BACK DOWN TO MY HEIGHT.
I'M LARRY SSON, CHIEF SOLID WASTE FOR SOLID WASTE, AND OUR MEMBER OF HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS TEAM.
JUST WANTED TO TELL EVERYBODY THAT WE RECEIVED, UM, A BLESSING IN DISGUISE IN JULY, AND THAT'S CALLED BEING COMBINED WITH HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS IN A COMBINED UTILITY SYSTEM.
UH, I'M HERE TO TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT THE $5 FEE.
SO THE $5 SOLID WASTE ADMINISTRATIVE FEE THAT'S GONNA BE ON YOUR CURRENT UTILITY BILL.
THAT'S FOR RESIDENTS THAT WE PICK UP CURBSIDE SERVICE FOR.
LET ME TELL YOU WHAT THAT JUST DONE FOR WORDS.
I WANT TO THANK THE COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT ARE HERE.
[01:10:01]
MEMBER FLICKINGER, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER.THIS WAS MUCH NEEDED FOR OUR DIVISION WITHIN PUBLIC WORKS, SO IT'LL GIVE YOU SOME INSIGHT.
I STOOD BEFORE YOU APPROXIMATELY ONE YEAR AGO WISHING THAT I HAD THE BUDGET THAT HOUSTON AIRPORT HAD AND COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ AS WELL.
UM, I REALLY WISH THAT I HAD THE BUDGET THAT HOUSTON AIRPORT HAD JUST TO GET OUR CORE SERVICES DONE.
UH, ONE THING THAT WE STRUGGLED WITH WAS BUDGET.
WE WERE GOING OVER ON OVERTIME.
WE HAD INEFFICIENCIES WITHIN OUR OPERATION.
UH, WE WERE UNDERSTAFFED, YOU CAN THINK OF IT, YOU NAME IT.
OVER THE PAST EIGHT TO NINE MONTHS, WE'VE SEEN A DRAMATIC CHANGE.
WE'VE ONLY BEEN IN THE COMBINED UTILITY SYSTEM FOR APPROXIMATELY THREE TO FOUR MONTHS.
AND I CAN TELL YOU LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE GOTTEN THE CALLS.
THE MOMENT THAT THAT $5 CAME OUT AND WE MISSED A SERVICE, WE GOT A CALL
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE MAYOR WILMAR AND THESE COUNCIL MEMBERS WANT TO ENSURE THAT WE DELIVER A SERVICE THAT CAN BE REPUTABLE AND RESPECTED THROUGHOUT THE CITY, NOT ONLY IN THIS CITY, BUT OTHER CITIES AS WELL.
SO THE FUNDING PROVIDES DEDICATED DOLLARS TO MODERNIZE COLLECTION TRUCKS, IMPROVING ROUTING, SUPPORTING STAFF SO SERVICE CAN BECOME MORE PREDICTABLE AND ON TIME.
WHAT THIS $5 FEE DOES, IT ACTUALLY GENERATES ABOUT 24 MORE MILLION DOLLARS THAN WE HAD BEFORE.
$24 MILLION IS NOT A LOT OF MONEY TO SOME PEOPLE.
TO US IT'S LIKE HITTING THE LOTTERY.
UH, THIS MONEY WILL ACTUALLY GO TO IMPROVING THE SERVICES FROM HEAVY TRASH TO COLLECTION TO YOUR YARD WASTE, TO EVERY CORE SERVICE THAT WE PROVIDE, AND WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.
ONE THING A LOT OF PEOPLE ASK US ABOUT IS OUR HEAVY TRASH COLLECTION.
UH, WE'RE OPERATING ABOUT A 75% COLLECTION DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF SHORTAGE THAT WE HAVE WITH STAFF WITH THIS NEW $5 FEE.
IT GIVES US OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY ON A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.
WE JUST HIRED ON A CONTRACTOR THAT GAVE US AN ADDITIONAL SEVEN CREWS.
SO WE EXPECT FOR YOUR YARD WASTE AND HEAVY TRASH TO BE COLLECTED ON TIME.
I THANK EVERYBODY NEEDS, GET A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THAT.
SO AGAIN, THE HEAVY TRASH COLLECTION SCHEDULE.
WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE? DUSTIN IS VERY ACTIVE FOR YOUR COMMUNITY.
LET ME VERY ACTIVE FOR YOUR COMMUNITY.
DUSTIN REACHES OUT ALL THE TIME.
HEY, THIS RESIDENT DID RECEIVE THEIR HEAVY TRASH COLLECTION.
WHAT'S GOING ON WITH IT? WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW IS WE'RE TAKING A DEEP DIVE IN HOW WE RENDER OUR SERVICES, AND THAT'S WHAT, UH, THE REASON THAT WE ADDED ON EXTRA CREWS FOR US CONTRACTS.
TO PUT IT IN PERSPECTIVE, I HAVE 28 CREWS AND I HAVE 28 ROUTES.
THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT OF CREWS THAT I CAN PRODUCE IN HEAVY TRASH EVERY DAY IS 28.
THAT'S IF EVERY SINGLE PERSON COMES TO WORK.
I WISH IN A PERFECT WORLD THAT WAS IT, BUT THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN.
SO WE'RE BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL EVERY SINGLE DAY THAT WE COME TO WORK WITH THIS NEW $5 FEE IT GIVES US, GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET THOSE ADDITIONAL CREWS FROM A CONTRACT SO THAT WE CAN DELIVER ON TIME SERVICE.
THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT FOR MY PRESENTATION.
WE HAVE A TABLE SET BACK THERE IN THE BACK, MR. DESMOND ALLEN'S RAISING HIS HAND.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL BE, UH, FEEL FREE TO COME AND ASK.
UP NEXT, IT'S GONNA BE TOM BROAD, REAL QUICK ON THE TRASH.
THE RECYCLING COMPANY THAT THE RECYCLING GOES TO FOR THE ENTIRE CITY IS BACK IN THAT BACK CORNER.
UH, THE CITY SPENDS A LOT OF MONEY ON TRASH THAT IS TAKEN TO THE RECYCLING PLANT.
THE RECYCLING PLANT GOES THROUGH.
IT GETS EVERYTHING THAT CAN BE RECYCLED.
AND THEN WHAT'S LEFT OVER, WE HAVE TO TURN AROUND AND HAUL AGAIN TO THE DUMP.
UH, SO TO THE TUNE OF A COUPLE OF MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR WE SPEND ON THAT.
AND THEY'RE BACK THERE IN THE BACK.
IF YOU'VE GOT QUESTIONS ON WHAT'S RECYCLABLE, WHAT IS NOT, UH, THEY'LL TELL YOU WHAT ITEMS THEY GET THE MOST THAT CAUSES THEM THE MOST PROBLEMS. SO PLEASE, UH, REACH OUT TO THEM AND, UH, SEE WHAT THEY GOT TO SAY.
UH, IT'S GREAT TO BE HERE TODAY.
I THINK WE'RE BEHIND SCHEDULE.
UM, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS PROJECT, CREATING A ROAD THAT DOESN'T FLOOD AND THAT ALSO WE CAN USE AS AN EVACUATION POINT.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS ROAD FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.
HOW LONG? WELL, WHEN WE FIRST STARTED OUR PLANNING, I WAS RUNNING MARATHONS,
UH, I'M HOPING WHEN WE FINISH NEXT MARCH OR
[01:15:01]
APRIL THAT UH, I CAN COMPLETE A WALK-A-THON, BUT I KNOW HOPE IS NOT A STRATEGY.I AM CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF THE LAKE HOUSTON REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, ALSO KNOWN AS TS 10.
AND WE CURRENTLY SPONSOR TWO TWO NORTH PARK DRIVE PROJECTS AND A REGIONAL DETENTION BASIN PROJECT.
LET ME FIRST BEGIN BY TALKING ABOUT THE NORTH PARK, UH, NORTH PARK DRIVE PROJECT.
THE NORTH PARK DRIVE PROJECT, THE SECTION THAT YOU CURRENTLY SEE UNDER CONSTRUCTION, AS YOU CAN SEE WHEN YOU DRIVE THROUGH NORTH PARK, WE ARE ABOUT 75% COMPLETE AND WE OUGHT TO BE SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETED WITH, WITH THIS PROJECT BY, UH, APRIL OF 2027.
THIS, UH, THIS FIRST PROJECT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME, UH, COMING, CONSIDERING THAT, UH, THE MAGNITUDE OF VOLLE BRASS TO DO, CONSTRUCTING AN ALL WEATHER EVACUATION POINT OUT OF KINGWOOD THAT DOESN'T FLOOD.
I WILL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF THE DIFFICULTY.
IT TOOK US TWO YEARS AND 11 MONTHS TO CONSTRUCT A STORM SEWER WATER DRAINAGE SYSTEM THAT MEETS FEDERAL STANDARDS AND THAT WILL PREVENT FLOODING ALONG NORTH PARK.
THIS IS, UH, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT KINGWOOD RESIDENTS HAVE, UH, HAVE REQUESTED FOR YEARS, AN EVACUATION ROUTE OUT OF KINGWOOD.
WE NEEDED TO COMPLETE THAT PART OF THE PROJECT ON THE FRONT END BECAUSE OUR BRIDGE THAT WE ARE GOING TO BUILD OVER THE RAILROAD TRACKS AT LOOP 4 94, THAT BRIDGE IS ESSENTIALLY SIX LANES OF IMPERVIOUS OR WATERPROOF.
IT'S A WATERPROOF SURFACE, AND WE COULDN'T BUILD A BRIDGE UNTIL WE HAD A PLACE FOR ALL THAT WATER TO GO.
WE EVEN HAD THE BOARD INSTALL STORM WATER PIPES UNDERNEATH THE RAILROAD TRACKS.
UH, THAT WAS A LIFE EXPERIENCE, BUT WE GOT IT DONE AND WE ARE MOVING INTO THE EXCITING PHASE OF CONSTRUCTING THE BRIDGE THAT WILL GO OVER THE RAILROAD TRACKS.
I THINK THAT DESERVES AN APPLAUSE.
WE ARE COMMITTED, I SHOULD SAY, COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER IS COMMITTED TO KEEPING TWO LANES OF NORTH PARK, BOTH EAST AND WEST BOUND OPEN TO COMMUTER TRAFFIC AT ALL TIMES, BUT STILL HAVE ENOUGH AREA LEFTOVER FOR A CONSTRUCTION ZONE FOR THE CONTRACTOR.
NOW, YOU'VE NOTICED, I'M SURE THAT THE INTERSECTION OF LOOP 4 94 AND NORTH PARK HAS STILL NOT BEEN OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
OUR CONTRACTOR NEEDS THAT AREA TO BUILD THE BRIDGE COLUMNS.
THESE BRIDGE COLUMNS HAVE VERY DEEP UNDERGROUND PIERS THAT WILL HOLD UP THE COLUMNS.
IN FACT, THESE, UH, PIERS, WE HAD TO BUILD NINE OR, UH, DRILLED 90 FEET, 90 FEET BELOW GROUND.
NOW, ONCE THOSE BRIDGE COLUMNS ARE SECURED, WE CAN OPEN THE INTERSECTION.
SO SOON WE WILL BEGIN CONSTRUCTING THE BRIDGE COLUMNS AND THE CAPS THAT GO ON TOP OF THE COLUMNS THAT SUPPORT THE BRIDGE BEAMS. HAVE I LOST YOU? OKAY.
IN OCTOBER, WE EXPECT TO START HANGING BRIDGE BEAMS, BEGIN INSTALLING STREETLIGHTS ON TOP OF THE BRIDGE AND BEGIN PAINTING THE BRIDGE.
AND THAT ACTIVITY, OF COURSE, WILL TRIGGER CLOSING LANES AS WELL.
BY NOVEMBER, MOST OF THE MAJOR CONSTRUCTION SHOULD BE COMPLETED.
WHAT I MEAN IS, IS THAT EVERYTHING EAST OF THE NEW BRIDGE, EAST OF THE NEW BRIDGE, ALL THE WAY TO RUSSELL PALMER, FROM 4 94 TO RUSSELL PALMER FOR THE FIRST TIME WILL BECOME A SIX LANE ROADWAY WITH SIDEWALKS AND STREETLIGHTS.
I'VE, I'VE, UH, BEEN TOLD HOWEVER, THAT THE STREETLIGHTS WON'T BE TURNED ON UNTIL THANKSGIVING.
THE FIRST ONE ON THE EAST SIDE OF RUSSELL PALMER WILL BE ILLUMINATED FIRST AND THEN THE MIDDLE SECTION CLOSER TO KING'S MILL.
AND THEN THE THIRD CIRCUIT ON THE BRIDGES WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE BRIDGE IS CONSTRUCTED.
[01:20:03]
THAT IS PHASE ONE.PHASE TWO IS THE SECTION OF RUSSELL PALMER EASTWARD TO WOODLAND HILLS, AS THEY SAY IN THE CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS.
WE ARE AT 30% DESIGN PHASE FOR PHASE TWO.
AND THIS FALL WE WILL BEGIN ACQUIRING THE RIGHT OF WAY.
WE NEED TO EXPAND NORTH PARK FROM RUSSELL PALMER TO WOODLAND HILLS.
NOW FINALLY, WE'VE CREATED SOMETHING NEW FOR OUR BUDGET THIS YEAR.
THIS IS THE REGIONAL DETENTION BASIN PROJECT.
IT'LL BE LOCATED WHERE BEN'S BRANCH AND THE KINGWOOD DIVERSION DITCH MEET THIS BASIN, WHEN IT'S COMPLETED, WILL HOLD APPROXIMATELY 90 ACRE FEET OF WATER, WHICH WILL HELP REDUCE DOWNSTREAM FLOODING ON BOTH THE DIVERSION DITCH AND BEN'S BRANCH.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS GOOGLE THE LAKE HOUSTON REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY AND YOU CAN SEE PLANS FOR PHASE ONE, PHASE TWO, AND THE DETENTION BASIN PROJECT.
THE WEBSITE ALSO HAS A THREE WEEK LOOK AHEAD FOR OUR CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS.
IN OTHER WORDS, YOU CAN SEE WHAT WE'RE PLANNING TO DO FOR THE NEXT THREE WEEKS.
IF YOU EVER COMMUTE ON NORTH PARK, EVERYTHING I'VE DISCUSSED TODAY, WE DISCUSS FIRST OUR BOARD MEETINGS AND YOU'RE ALWAYS WELCOME TO ATTEND.
WE MEET HERE AT THE KINGWOOD COMMUNITY CENTER, SECOND THURSDAY OF THE MONTH, 8:00 AM NINE MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR, AND WE SERVE STARBUCKS.
YOU CAN FIND, UH, THE BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE ON OUR WEBSITE, AND IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR A CONCERN, YOU CAN SEND IT TO THE EMAIL ON THE WEBSITE AND WE HAVE AN ADMINISTRATOR AND HE WILL GET BACK TO YOU.
NOW, ONCE AGAIN, OUR WEBPAGE IS LAKE HOUSTON RA.COM, LAKE HOUSTON RA.COM, AND OUR EMAIL ADDRESS IS INFO@LAKEHOUSTONRA.COM.
THE TIER BOARD, WE'RE ALL VOLUNTEERS.
WE'RE APPOINTED BY THE MAYOR AND WERE CONFIRMED BY THE HOUSTON CITY COUNCIL.
THE OTHER MEMBERS, I THINK CASEY CHRISMAN IS IN THE VERY BACK WAVING.
THE OTHER MEMBERS ARE BILLY BEATIE WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, PHILIP IVY, DR. MARTIN BASSEL DUA, AND AMY BERTRAN.
SO PLEASE COME VISIT US AT OUR MONTHLY BOARD MEETING, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL BE HERE AFTER THE TOWN HALL.
WE'VE GOT, UH, CHIEF SKELTON AND CAPTAIN FLORES, WHO IS STATIONED OUT HERE AT THE KINGWOOD STATION.
I'M ASSISTANT CHIEF JAMES KEL.
I'M ACCOMPANIED BY CAPTAIN FLORES.
LIEUTENANT GOLDWATER, DCO BARNETT, DCO BARNETT.
UM, ON BEHALF OF CHIEF DIAZ, IT IS A PLEASURE TO BE HERE TONIGHT.
UM, CAPTAIN FLORES IS GONNA GO OVER SOME CRIME STATS, BUT BEFORE WE START, I JUST WANT TO COMMEND EVERYONE IN THE ROOM BECAUSE THIS IS A GREAT TURNOUT AND IT SHOWS ME THAT YOU TRULY CARE ABOUT YOUR COMMUNITY.
AND HPD IS COMMITTED TO GIVING YOU THE QUALITY SERVICE.
NOW, IF YOU HAVE NOT MET YOUR CAPTAIN HERE, THIS IS CAPTAIN RAPHAEL FLORES.
I'M GONNA BRAG ON HIM FOR JUST A MINUTE.
I'VE KIND OF PICKED HIM WHEN HE PROMOTED.
UH, HE'S ALSO A CAPTAIN IN THE ARMY, IF YOU CAN BELIEVE THAT.
SO HE'S GONNA TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OF YOU GUYS.
HE'S DONE AN EXCELLENT JOB HERE, UM, AND BRINGING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER AND SHOWING WHAT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT CAN DO IN THIS AREA.
SO, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, CAPTAIN FLORES.
UH, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TONIGHT.
UH, THANK YOU TO THE ELECTED OFFICIALS HERE TONIGHT.
COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER FOR, FOR HOSTING THIS FORUM, UH, CHIEF SKELETON.
UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP TO OUR DEPARTMENT.
AND, UH, AGAIN, I'M RAFAEL FLORES, CAPTAIN OF THE KINGWOOD DIVISION.
I HAVE, UH, LIEUTENANT GOLDWATER, SERGEANT.
SO, UM, MEMBERS OF OUR CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM AT KINGWOOD.
UH, I ASSUMED COMMAND IN JANUARY OF 2026, UH, NOT THAT LONG AGO.
I'VE BEEN WITH THE DEPARTMENT FOR ABOUT
[01:25:01]
18 AND A HALF YEARS.AND, UH, WITH A PRIMARY FOCUS ON PATROL OPERATIONS ACROSS ALL THE RANKS.
UH, BEFORE I PRESENT OUR LATEST UPDATES AND CRIME STATISTICS, I JUST WANT TO MENTION THAT, UH, OUR SUCCESSES AT KENWOOD, UH, ARE BUILT ON THE TRUST AND PARTNERSHIP THAT WE HAVE WITH YOU, WITH THE COMMUNITY.
SO, UH, I THANK YOU ALL AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THIS CONTINUED PARTNERSHIP.
UH, SO LET'S, UH, TAKE A LOOK AT OUR DATA.
SO THIS MAP, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE TO UNDERSTAND, UH, WHAT WE COVER.
UH, WHAT I'VE NOTICED IS, UH, THAT SOME PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN KINGWOOD SEEM TO THINK THAT ALL WE PATROL IS LIKE THE KINGWOOD TOWN SQUARE
UH, AS YOU CAN SEE, IF YOU GO TO THE WEST, THAT'S THE 59 CORRIDOR JUST NORTH OF, UH, OF UMBLE.
UH, THEN IN THE MIDDLE YOU HAVE A TA CASITA.
YOU OF COURSE HAVE THE LAKES, AND AT THE BOTTOM YOU SEE THE BELTWAY.
AND THEN TO THE EAST, YOU HAVE HUFFMAN.
UH, THE FIRST PATCH YOU SEE UP IN THE, IN THE TOP, THAT'S OUR, OUR STATION.
THE OTHER PATCH YOU SEE TO THE EAST, THAT'S, UH, LAKE PATROL, WHICH ARE OVER THERE IN THAT TABLE.
SO, UH, WE, WE COVER ABOUT 70 SQUARE MILES, VERY LARGE AREA.
AND WE ALSO HAVE THE ENTIRETY OF THE WILDERNESS PARK UP NORTH.
YEAR TO DATE DATA, UH, IT COMPARES 2025 TO 2026, AND THE TIMEFRAME IS JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 15TH, WHICH IS, UH, LAST WEEK, I BELIEVE.
SO, UH, OVERALL, UH, AND I'LL EXPLAIN THIS LINE BY LINE.
SO, UH, AGGRAVATED ASSAULTER DOWN, OVERALL VIOLENT CRIME IS DOWN, WHICH IS GOOD.
UH, OUR AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS ARE DOWN 26%.
UH, THOSE TEND TO BE MAINLY FAMILY VIOLENCE RELATED OR A DOMESTIC TYPE OF ISSUE.
WE'VE ONLY HAD 10 SO FAR DOWN, 37.5%.
SEXUAL ASSAULTS, YOU SEE, THEY WENT UP A LITTLE BIT, AND I'LL EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT.
KIDNAPPING, WE'RE UP BY ONE AND THANKFULLY, MURDER, HUMAN TRAFFICKING WE'RE AT ZERO.
UM, I WANNA TALK ABOUT THE SEXUAL ASSAULTS.
SO, UH, MOSTLY OF, MOST OF THEM ARE FAMILY VIOLENCE OR DOMESTIC RELATED.
UH, IT'S NOT, UH, TARGETS OF OPPORTUNITY OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
UH, SOME ACTUALLY DID NOT OCCUR IN OUR CITY.
UH, BUT THE OFFICERS KNOWING THAT THAT SEXUAL ASSAULT IS A SERIOUS CRIME, THEY STILL DID THE REPORT.
AND THAT REPORT'S GONNA GET REFERRED TO THE APPROPRIATE AGENCY.
SO WE HAVE SOME OF THOSE THAT ARE COVERED ON THERE.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE SOME, WE DO HAVE HOSPITALS IN OUR AREA.
SOMETIMES THE COMPLAINANT DOES NOT KNOW WHERE THE INCIDENT HAPPENED ELSEWHERE IN HOUSTON, OUTSIDE OF KINGWOOD.
SO IN THOSE INSTANCES, WE USE THE, THE ADDRESS OF THE HOSPITAL AS A LOCATION.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, IT COMES UP ON OUR END, ON OUR STATISTICS.
SO GIVEN THAT, OH, AND THE KIDNAPPING, IT WAS ALREADY INVESTIGATED, IT DID NOT HAPPEN.
SO WITH THAT INFORMATION, WE'RE ACTUALLY ALL AGREEING ACROSS THE BOARD.
THIS SAME, IT'S OUR NON-VIOLENT CRIME.
WE'RE DOWN OVERALL, WHICH IS GREAT COMPARED TO 20 25, 20 26.
UH, I WANNA TALK ABOUT THE AUTO THEFTS, WHICH SHOW AN INCREASE.
UH, OUR TEAM, UH, MADE AN ARREST RECENTLY, A MAJOR ARREST, UH, UH, WITH SUSPECTS INVOLVED IN, IN A LARGE AUTO THEFT TYPE OF A ENTERPRISE.
AND WE EXPECT THOSE NUMBERS TO START GOING DOWN.
UH, THE BMVS BURGLARIES OF A MOTOR VEHICLES, BURGLARIES OF A BUILDING, UH, BURGLARY OF HABITATION, FRAUDS, THEFTS.
AS YOU CAN SEE, EVERYTHING HAS GONE DOWN, WHICH IS GREAT.
UH, SOME THINGS THAT ARE BEHIND THESE NUMBERS.
UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF SHOPLIFTERS.
UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF GROCERY STORES, A LOT OF DEPARTMENT STORES IN OUR, IN OUR JURISDICTION.
UNFORTUNATELY, IT'S A LOT OF SHOPLIFTING.
THAT'S WHAT'S REFLECTED UP HERE.
UH, WE HAVE BUSINESSES THAT REPORT SHOPLIFTING AS WELL.
AS FAR AS OUR FRAUDS, WE HAVE THE SCAMS, YOU KNOW, THE TEXT MESSAGES, PEOPLE FALL FOR THAT.
UH, I I IDENTITY THEFT, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
UH, FOR BURGLARIES OF A BUILDING, UH, A LOT OF OUR STORAGE FACILITIES IN OUR AREA ARE THE ONES THAT ARE REPORTING THE BURGLARIES OF, OF A BUILDING.
AND THEN FOR AS FAR AS BURGLARY OF A HABITATION, THERE'S NO REAL PATTERN.
UH, THE GOOD THING IS THAT OUR COMMUNITY'S GETTING BETTER AND BETTER ABOUT SHARING VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THESE SUSPECTS.
AS YOU, AS YOU'VE ALL SEEN, LIKE ON GRIZZLY'S HOOD NEWS, THINGS OF THAT NATURE, THAT'S VERY HELPFUL FOR THESE GUYS, UH, TO GET FOLLOW-UPS, TO PUT THESE GUYS BEHIND BARS.
SO OVERALL VIOLENT AND NONVIOLENT CRIME OVERALL, THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE DECREASING, UH, THIS YEAR, NEXT SLIDE.
AND ALL OF THAT DATA IS REFLECTED ON THIS MAP.
THIS IS A CR, THE, THE, WE CALL IT A, A CRIME MAP.
ALL THE STUFF THAT I JUST REPORTED, ALL THE NUMBERS, IT'S REFLECTED ON THIS MAP.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, THE 59 CORRIDOR, A LOT OF PROPERTY CRIMES IN THAT AREA.
THERE'S A LOT OF BUSINESSES, HOSPITALS, UH, UH, A LOT OF SHOPLIFTERS, A LOT OF ACTIVITY ON THE 59 CORRIDOR, WHICH IS THE BRIGHT RED SPOT UP THERE.
UH, THE RED IN THE MIDDLE, THAT'S, UH, KINGWOOD TOWN SQUARE.
A LOT OF ACTIVITY, A LOT OF BUSINESSES.
AND THEN DOWN THERE WE HAVE, UH, SUMMER WOOD.
[01:30:01]
IF YOU'VE BEEN DOWN THERE, YOU KNOW THAT BY THE BELTWAY.THERE'S A LOT OF BUSINESSES, A LOT OF, UH, PARKING LOTS, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
AND, UH, SO THAT'S THE DATA REFLECTED ON A, ON A MAP.
AND I WILL NOW BE TURNING IT OVER TO SERGEANT SNI AND LIEUTENANT GOLDWATER OF THE CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM.
UH, I JUST WANNA REMIND EVERYBODY, WE HAVE OUR TEAM HERE, UH, COME AND FILL OUT A RIDE ALONG FORM.
I KNOW SE SEVERAL OF YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN IN OUR PIT MEETINGS.
UH, PLEASE COME AND JOIN US AND, AND, AND LET US SHOW YOU THE GREAT JOB THAT OUR, THAT OUR OFFICERS ARE DOING, UH, FOR KINGWOOD.
I'M THE SUPERVISOR FOR THE KINGWOOD DIVISION CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM.
UH, A LOT OF YOU IN HERE ALREADY KNOW ME FROM THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS HERE IN KINGWOOD, AS WELL AS PREVIOUS TOWN HALLS THAT I'VE SPOKEN AT.
UH, JUST A REMINDER, WE DO HAVE OUR PIP MEETINGS EVERY MONTH.
UH, WE HAVE SOME FLYERS OVER THERE AT THE DESK.
MAKE SURE YOU ATTEND THOSE PIP MEETINGS.
WE GIVE GOOD INFORMATION, BRING IN GOOD SPEAKERS FROM THE DEPARTMENT, UH, TO KIND OF GIVE YOU INFORMATION ON THINGS THAT WE DO HAVE AVAILABLE.
UH, JUST TO GIVE YOU A QUICK BACKGROUND ON MYSELF, I HAVE NINE YEARS ON THE DEPARTMENT.
I TRANSFERRED TO KINGWOOD DIVISION BACK IN JUNE OF 2024.
UH, WHEN I GOT OUT HERE, I IMMEDIATELY BEGAN PROMOTING THE CONCEPT OF A CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM FOR KINGWOOD.
WE WERE THE ONLY DIVISION IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON THAT DID NOT HAVE A CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM AT THE TIME.
UH, WE KIND OF WENT OUT, RECRUITED THE BEST OFFICERS THAT WE COULD FIND THE MOST HIGHLY MOTIVATED AND PRODUCTIVE OFFICERS FROM ACROSS THE CITY TO JOIN OUR TEAM.
WE STARTED OUT WITH FIVE OFFICERS.
WE HAD A LOT OF EARLY SUCCESS.
UH, WE HAD A LOT OF SUPPORT FROM ALL VIEW IN THE COMMUNITY AS WELL AS COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER.
AND NOW WE'RE AT A POINT WHERE WE HAVE EIGHT OFFICERS, MYSELF AS A SERGEANT, LIEUTENANT GOLDWATER AS OUR LIEUTENANT, AND CAPTAIN FLORES, WHO'S OUR NEW CAPTAIN.
HE'S BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE OF OUR OPERATIONS.
HE'S BEEN DOING A LOT TO HELP US, UH, CONTINUE WITH THE SUCCESS.
SO WHAT I'M GONNA DO NOW IS I'M GONNA KIND OF GO OVER, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DON'T KNOW THE CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM, WHAT WE DO, I'M GONNA CO COVER THE CONCEPT ITSELF OVERALL, AS WELL AS GO OVER SOME OF OUR MOST RECENT ACTIVITIES SO THAT YOU GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW WE OPERATE.
SO THE CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM HERE IN KINGWOOD, UH, WE ARE THE PRIMARY PROACTIVE CRIME FIGHTING UNIT IN THE KINGWOOD AREA.
WE HAVE AN OVERARCHING GOAL FOCUSED ON IDENTIFYING, DISRUPTING, AND SUPPRESSING CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.
AND THE WAY THAT WE DO THIS IS THROUGH THREE MAIN, UH, STRATEGIES OR TECHNIQUES THAT WE USE.
UH, WE CONDUCT PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE INVESTIGATIONS.
WE CONDUCT FUGITIVE, APPREHENSIONS AND WARRANT OPERATIONS, AND WE CONDUCT TARGETED TRAFFIC AND PRO PROACTIVE ENFORCEMENT.
AND I'M GONNA GIVE YOU EXAMPLES, RECENT EXAMPLES FROM THE LAST COUPLE MONTHS OF EACH ONE OF THESE ITEMS THAT WE'VE DONE, UH, IN RECENT TIMES.
UH, BEFORE I GET TO THOSE EXAMPLES, I DO WANT TO POINT OUT ALL OUR ACTIVITIES ARE DATA DRIVEN.
SO EVERYTHING THAT WE DO IS BASED ON IDENTIFIED CRIME TRENDS, UH, INPUT FROM THE COMMUNITY.
WHENEVER WE GO TO THESE COMMUNITY MEETINGS, WE DO HEAR A LOT FROM ALL OF YOU AS FAR AS CRIME PROBLEMS, CRIME TRENDS, THINGS THAT ARE OCCURRING OUT HERE.
AND WE MAKE SURE TO FOCUS ON THOSE.
THAT'S HOW WE CAN, UH, PUT OUR BEST FOOT FORWARD IN TERMS OF SUPPRESSING CRIME.
AND WE ALSO DO WORK A LOT WITH OUR OWN CRIME ANALYSTS WHO ANALYZES THE CRIME DATA AND GIVES US, UM, TRENDS AND OTHER THINGS FOR US TO WORK ON.
UH, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THE FIRST SLIDE HERE THAT I'M GONNA GO OVER, THIS IS AN, AN EXAMPLE OF AN INVESTIGATION THAT WE RECENTLY WORKED.
UH, SO MOST OF YOU BY NOW, YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT HERE IN THE KINGWOOD AREA, ONE OF THE RECENT CRIMES THAT'S BEEN TRENDING A LOT IS BACKFLOW PREVENTER THEFTS.
UH, WE HAD EIGHT INCIDENTS IN THE LAST COUPLE MONTHS OF BACKFLOW PREVENTER THEFTS HERE IN KINGWOOD.
ALL EIGHT INCIDENTS ARE BEING INVESTIGATED BY OUR CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM LOCALLY HERE.
UH, THE FIRST INCIDENT OCCURRED ON JULY 28TH.
IT HAPPENED AT AN OFFICE BUILDING OFF OF KINGWOOD EXECUTIVE DRIVE.
UH, OUR TEAM INVESTIGATED AND CHARGED ONE SUSPECT WITH FELONY THEFT OF MATERIAL BRASS.
HE'S NOW IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY JAIL.
THE PRIMARY INVESTIGATOR ON THESE BACKFLOW PREVENTER CASES IS ACTUALLY OFFICER MARTIN.
HE'S ONE OF, UH, MY BEST INVESTIGATORS.
HE IS THE ONE DOING ALL EIGHT INVESTIGATIONS.
UH, THE SECOND INCIDENT OCCURRED ON AUGUST 27TH AT A SELF STORAGE FACILITY OFF OF MILLS BRANCH DRIVE.
ONCE AGAIN, OUR TEAM LED BY OFFICER MARTIN INVESTIGATED THAT WE CHARGED TWO SUSPECTS WITH FELONY THEFT OF MATERIAL BRASS.
THAT IS THE VIDEO THAT MOST OF YOU PROBABLY SAW ON THE NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
IT'S A VIDEO WITH THE MALE AND THE FEMALE SUSPECT.
HE BREAKS THE BACKFLOW PREVENTER OFF.
YOU SEE WATER SPRAYING OUT LIKE, UH, LIKE WATER FOUNTAIN.
UM, THAT WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS.
WE GOT A LOT OF RESIDENTS CALLING US ABOUT THAT.
UH, OFFICER MARTIN WAS ABLE TO IDENTIFY BOTH OF THOSE SUSPECTS.
UH, ONCE THEY WERE CHARGED, WE HAD WARRANTS ISSUED FOR THEIR ARREST.
THE FIRST SUSPECT WAS ARRESTED.
SHE'S NOW IN HARRIS COUNTY JAIL.
[01:35:01]
THE MALE SUSPECT.HE WAS ACTUALLY RUN OVER IN A HIT AND RUN ACCIDENT IN PORTER AND, UH, KILLED.
UM, SO BOTH OF THEM ARE OFF THE STREET.
IN ADDITION TO THE OTHER SUSPECT THAT WE GOT FROM THE JULY 28TH INCIDENT ON SEPTEMBER 3RD, WE HAD MULTIPLE INCIDENTS HERE IN KINGWOOD.
WE ACTUALLY HAD A TOTAL OF SIX OCCUR IN ONE NIGHT.
UM, THOSE INCIDENTS OCCURRED AT A MEDICAL OFFICE, UH, BANK.
THEY HAPPENED AT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY HERE IN KINGWOOD.
UH, THIS COMMUNITY CENTER, ACTUALLY, THEIR BACKFLOW PREVENTER WAS STOLEN TOO.
UH, THE SUPERMARKET DOWN THE STREET, THE SPROUTS, AND IN A LOCAL, UH, APARTMENT COMPLEX NEARBY, ALL SIX INCIDENTS ALL HAPPENED IN ONE NIGHT.
UH, WE WENT OUT AND ONCE AGAIN, OFFICER MARTIN WAS ABLE TO TRACK DOWN THOSE STOLEN BACKFLOW PREVENTERS TO A SCRAP YARD IN DUCANE.
WE RECOVERED ALL FIVE STOLEN BACKFLOW PREVENTERS.
THERE'S A PICTURE OF 'EM DOWN THERE IN THE BACK OF A PATROL VEHICLE.
UM, BASED ON RECOVERING THOSE STOLEN BACKFLOW PREVENTERS, WE WERE ABLE TO TRACK THAT BACK TO CERTAIN SUSPECTS THAT WENT AND SCRAPPED THEM.
UH, WE USED VARIOUS INVESTIGATIVE RESOURCES TO IDENTIFY THOSE SUSPECTS.
BOTH OF THOSE SUSPECTS HAVE BEEN CHARGED THIS WEEK.
WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF ISSUING WARRANTS FOR THEIR ARREST, AND THEN WE'LL GO OUT AND MAKE THOSE ARRESTS AS WELL.
SO FIRST PART OF WHAT I TALKED ABOUT WAS THE INVESTIGATIONS.
ONCE WE COMPLETE OUR INVESTIGATIONS, WHAT WE DO NEXT IS WE START TO PLAN OUT HOW WE'RE GONNA GO OUT AND MAKE THOSE ARRESTS.
BECAUSE MOST OF OUR INVESTIGATIONS END UP IN THE FORM OF WHAT'S CALLED A TWO V WARRANT.
JUST ANOTHER WAY TO SAY THAT WE'RE ISSUING AN ARREST WARRANT FOR THE SUSPECT'S ARREST.
ONCE THOSE WARRANTS ARE ACTIVE, OUR NEXT JOB IS TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE'RE GONNA GET THOSE SUSPECTS OFF THE STREET.
SOMETIMES THAT'S AS SIMPLE AS TRACKING THE SUSPECT HERE IN KINGWOOD AND MAYBE GOING TO THEIR PLACE OF WORK, PICKING 'EM UP.
SOMETIMES WE FOLLOW 'EM AROUND KINGWOOD, GET 'EM ON A TRAFFIC STOP.
SOMETIMES WE GO TO THEIR RESIDENCE.
AND IF WE HAVE TO HIT THE FRONT DOOR IN AND GO IN AND GET 'EM, WE GO THAT ROUTE.
WE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT VARIOUS TACTICAL OPTIONS THAT WE CAN USE TO GET SUSPECTS IN CUSTODY.
UH, FROM ABOUT A MONTH AGO, WE HAD A SUSPECT HERE IN KINGWOOD.
HE WAS ACTUALLY ALREADY WANTED ON TWO WARRANTS.
ONE FOR ASSAULT ON A PEACE OFFICER, AND ONE FOR EVADING ARREST ON FOOT.
UH, HE WAS LIVING HERE IN KINGWOOD AT HIS MOTHER'S RESIDENCE.
WE STARTED LOOKING INTO HIM BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT HE HAD THOSE TWO OPEN WARRANTS AND HE WAS A KINGWOOD RESIDENT.
UH, UPON LOOKING INTO HIM MORE DEEPER, MY, UH, PRIMARY INVESTIGATOR ON THE, THAT WAS OFFICER DIAZ.
SHE STARTED TO LEARN THAT THE SUSPECT HAD VERY VIOLENT TENDENCIES.
UH, HE HAD A HISTORY OF FAMILY VIOLENCE, UM, ASSAULTING OFFICERS.
AT ONE POINT, HE EVEN CHOKED OUT A POLICE CANINE.
UH, SO THIS WAS A REALLY VIOLENT PERSON.
OFFICER DIAZ GOT WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND, WHO WAS ACTUALLY THE MOTHER OF HIS CHILD, GOT STATEMENTS FROM HER.
TURNS OUT HE HAD BEEN ABUSING HER FOR YEARS.
UH, SHE INVESTIGATED MULTIPLE FAMILY VIOLENCE CASES AGAINST HIM.
SHE ENDED UP FILING TWO FELONY CHARGES AGAINST HIM FOR FAMILY VIOLENCE, IMPEDING BREATH, AS WELL AS CONTINUOUS FAMILY VIOLENCE.
SO WITH THOSE TWO NEW WARRANTS, ALONG WITH THE TWO WARRANTS HE ALREADY HAD THAT PUT HIM AT A TOTAL OF FOUR OPEN AND ACTIVE WARRANTS.
UH, WE STARTED PLANNING OUT HOW WE WERE GONNA ARREST THE SUSPECT.
UH, WE ENDED UP FOLLOWING HIM ON AUGUST 13TH FROM HIS RESIDENCE HERE IN KINGWOOD TO A BAR DOWN IN THE FALL CREEK AREA OFF OF BELTWAY AND MESA, KIND OF IN THE 59 BELTWAY AREA, IF ANY OF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THAT.
HE WORKED AT A BAR DOWN THERE.
UH, WE FOLLOWED HIM INTO THE PARKING LOT.
WE USED CERTAIN TYPE OF TACTICAL OP OPTION THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO BASICALLY CONTAIN HIS VEHICLE BECAUSE WE KNEW HE HAD A VIOLENT HISTORY AND A HISTORY OF EVADING FROM POLICE.
WE SAFELY GOT HIM INTO CUSTODY.
WE TRANSPORTED HIM TO HARRIS COUNTY JAIL.
TURNS OUT LATER THAT NIGHT, HE ENDED UP ASSAULTING TWO HARRIS COUNTY DETENTION OFFICERS.
UH, INJURED BOTH OF 'EM PRETTY SEVERELY.
SO HE GOT ADDITIONAL CHARGES FOR THAT.
THE LAST THING I WANTED TO COVER IS, UH, THIS IS ANOTHER, UM, ONE OF OUR THINGS THAT WE WORK ON QUITE A BIT, WHICH IS TRAFFIC AND PROACTIVE ENFORCEMENT.
WE REGULARLY CONDUCT TARGETED TRAFFIC AND PROACTIVE ENFORCE ENFORCEMENT TO SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS, UH, LOCATIONS EXPERIENCING A TEMPORARY INCREASE IN CRIME.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE CRIME MAP THAT, UH, CAPTAIN FLORES WENT OVER WITH YOU A LITTLE EARLIER, THE HEAT MAP, WE LOOK AT THAT DATA.
ANY AREAS THAT ARE EXPERIENCING, UH, INCREASE IN CRIME FOR WHATEVER THE REASON, WE MAKE SURE TO GO AND CONDUCT PROACTIVE ENFORCEMENT IN THOSE AREAS TO TRY TO BRING THAT CRIME DOWN.
WE ALSO IDENTIFY AREAS THAT HAVE A HIGH NUMBER OF VEHICLE CRASHES AND TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS, AND WE GO OUT AND CONDUCT TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT IN THOSE AREAS.
SO, UH, A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT.
WESTLAKE HOUSTON BRIDGE SPEED LIMIT'S 45.
YOU GOT VEHICLES COMING ACROSS AT 70.
WE HAD A FATAL ACCIDENT OVER THERE.
WE DO QUITE A BIT OF SPEED ENFORCEMENT ON THAT BRIDGE.
I'M SURE A LOT OF YOU HAVE SEEN US OUT THERE.
SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE EVEN GOTTEN STOPPED.
UH, BUT, UM, WE ALSO DO, UH, A LOT OF PROACTIVE ENFORCEMENT IN TERMS OF ON VIEWING THINGS.
[01:40:01]
DRIVE AROUND IN KINGWOOD.WE LOOK FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE TRESPASSING, LOITERING, PANHANDLING.
WE KNOW OF CERTAIN AREAS IN KINGWOOD WHERE THERE'S NARCOTICS ACTIVITY, AND WE WILL PROACTIVELY ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES.
UM, I ALSO WANNA POINT OUT THAT WE DO FROM TIME TO TIME, DO SPECIAL INITIATIVES.
SO IF YOU CAN SEE IN THAT PICTURE UP THERE, IT'S A LITTLE FACEBOOK POST.
A LOT OF RESIDENTS IN THE COMMUNITY ARE WONDERING WHY THEY SAW A BUNCH OF OFFICERS ON ATVS.
UH, AUGUST 14TH, WE DID A SPECIAL INITIATIVE.
WE BORROWED A BUNCH OF ATVS FROM DOWNTOWN, FROM OUR SPECIAL OPERATIONS DIVISION, BROUGHT 'EM OUT HERE.
A LOT OF RESIDENTS IN THE FOREST COVE AREA, KINGWOOD WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE ABANDONED GOLF COURSE, NARCOTICS ACTIVITY OUT THERE, HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS ON THE COURSE.
WE WENT OUT, MET WITH THE COURSE GOLF COURSE OWNER, GOT A TRESPASS AFFIDAVIT ON ON FILE.
EIGHT OF US WENT OUT THERE, RODE THE WHOLE GOLF COURSE, CLEARED OUT ANY TRESPASSERS.
WE DIDN'T FIND ANYBODY THAT WAS REFUSING TO LEAVE.
BUT HAD WE FIND ANYBODY THAT WAS REFUSING TO LEAVE, WE WOULD HAVE, UH, ARRESTED THEM FOR TRESPASSING BECAUSE WE DID HAVE, UH, PROPER AUTHORIZATION FROM THE OWNER.
WE ALSO, THAT SAME DAY WENT THROUGH MILLS, BRANCH DOGWOOD, DUNHAM AND NY AREAS, WHICH ARE ALL, UH, KIND OF HOTSPOT AREAS HERE IN KINGWOOD, UH, FORD NARCOTICS AND OTHER THINGS, UH, OF THAT NATURE.
WE ALSO PASS THROUGH THE ELM GROVE AND SHERWOOD TRAILS AREAS.
UH, SO THOSE ARE KIND OF THE THREE TECHNIQUES THAT WE MAINLY USE TO SUPPRESS CRIME HERE IN KINGWOOD.
JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE NUMBERS AT WHICH WE'RE DOING THESE THINGS, BECAUSE I'VE ONLY GIVEN YOU ONE EXAMPLE OF EACH OF THESE, BUT YEAR TO DATE FROM JANUARY TO THE PRESENT TIME, UH, SO JUST THIS YEAR, WE'VE REVIEWED OVER 1400 CASES.
WE'VE INVESTIGATED OVER 800 CASES.
WE FILED OVER 180 CHARGES, AND THAT INCLUDES OVER 80 NEW FELONY CHARGES AND OVER A HUNDRED NEW MISDEMEANOR CHARGES.
UH, WE HAVE EXECUTED OVER 375 WARRANTS.
THAT INCLUDES 200 FELONY WARRANTS AND OVER 175 MISDEMEANOR WARRANTS.
ON THE PROACTIVE SIDE OF THINGS, WHICH IS WHAT I KIND OF JUST TALKED TO YOU ABOUT, WE'VE ISSUED OVER 560 CITATIONS.
WE HAVE ALSO DONE OVER A HUNDRED SEIZURES OF HANDGUNS, RIFLES, NARCOTICS, AND MOST OF THOSE NARCOTICS INCLUDE, UH, MARIJUANA, METHAMPHETAMINE, POWDERED COCAINE, AND PRESCRIPTION PILLS.
THAT'S GENERALLY WHAT WE'RE FINDING OUT HERE.
UM, SO, UH, JUST TO GIVE YOU A SUMMARY, UM, I BASICALLY PROVIDED YOU WITH A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF WHAT THE CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM DOES.
I GAVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES OF OUR TACTICS IN THE PAST TWO AND A HALF YEARS THAT, UH, I'VE BEEN OUT HERE.
CRIME HAS BEEN DOWN DOUBLE DIGITS ACROSS THE BOARD EACH OF THOSE YEARS.
UH, SO A LOT OF THE ACTIONS WE'RE TAKING AS A TEAM ARE EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE.
YOU CAN SEE THAT IN THE CRIME STATS OVERALL.
AND, UH, THE GOAL FOR US IS TO CONTINUE WITH THIS, UH, CRIME SUPPRESSION TEAM CONCEPT INTO THE FUTURE.
I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO LIEUTENANT GOLDWATER.
HE'S GONNA GIVE YOU, UH, SOME UPDATES ON SCOTERS AND, UH, E-BIKES.
YEAH, THAT'S HARD TO FOLLOW UP WITH.
UH, TONIGHT, BASICALLY, WE'RE, I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT SCOTERS, BUT, UH, WE CAN'T DO THIS ALONE AS A POLICE DEPARTMENT.
WE NEED UMBLE ISD AS WELL TO HELP US OUT.
AND I INVITED, UH, DCO BARTLEY UP HERE TO TALK A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT THE PROACTIVE STEPS THEY'VE TAKEN TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE SCOTERS AND AND BIKES.
I KNOW EVERYBODY'S READY TO GO.
MY WIFE IS OVER THERE AND, UH, SHE'S READY TO GO EAT.
I'M THE DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY FOR HUMBLE.
UH, I'VE BEEN THERE, UH, FOR A FEW YEARS.
SO MY, I SEE MR. CUNNINGHAM AND MR. HUBERTY.
AND SO SOME INDIVIDUALS I SAW WHEN I FIRST STARTED TEACHING A LITTLE WHILE AGO, MY OLDEST ACTUALLY GRADUATED FROM CAPE PARK HIGH SCHOOL, 22.
AND THEN I ACTUALLY WORKED AT FALLS ELEMENTARY AS AN ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL.
SO I HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF, UH, YOU KNOW, FAVORITISM TOWARD KINGWOOD FOR, FOR THAT REGARD.
BUT REAL QUICK, JUST ABOUT E-BIKES AND E SCOOTERS.
SO WE HAD A SITUATION, RIGHT? I WAS A MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL FOR MANY YEARS, YEARS.
AND THEN GOING INTO THIS ROLE, WORKING WITH THE, UM, D POLICE DEPARTMENT, I HAD A CHANCE TO MEET WITH A LOT OF INDIVIDUALS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, ONE WAS CHIEF, UH, FIRE CHIEF MIKE MULLIGAN.
AND HE SAID, HEY, D'AMICO, UH, ARE Y'ALL DOING ANYTHING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THESE E-BIKES AND THESE ESCHOOLS, THESE KIDS ARE JUST RIDING AND, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE VERY RECKLESS AND DANGEROUS, YOU KNOW? AND SO I SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE ARE WORKING ON SOMETHING.
WE HAVE SOMETHING TO IN PLACE.
AND THEN CONSTABLE MARK HERMAN SENT AN EMAIL TO US AND SAID, HEY, CAN Y'ALL REALLY PUT SOMETHING IN PLACE TO WORK ON SOME THINGS TO ASSIST US WITH REGULATING WHAT THESE KIDS ARE DOING ON THESE E-BIKES AND E SCOOTERS? AND WE'D ALREADY BEGAN TO WORK WITH SOME THINGS.
THE DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT, UH, AND DR. BROWN, THEY REALLY WANTED TO HAVE SOMETHING IN PLACE.
SO WE PUT TOGETHER A PROGRAM WHERE ESSENTIALLY YOU CANNOT RIDE YOUR E-BIKE OR E SCOOTER TO SCHOOL UNLESS YOU GO THROUGH OUR TRAINING PROGRAM.
UH, SO MOBILIZE D.NET/RIDE SMART IS ACTUALLY THE WEBSITE WHERE PARENTS HAVE TO GO TO BE ABLE TO WATCH THE VIDEO WITH THEIR STUDENT, UH, TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND KIND OF THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF BEING ABLE TO RIDE THEIR SCOOTER OR THEIR E-BIKE TO SCHOOL.
WE'VE KIND OF CREATED BOUNDARIES ON WHO CAN RIDE WHAT.
SO ELEMENTARY LEVEL CAN ONLY RIDE E SCOOTERS AT A CERTAIN GRADE.
MIDDLE SCHOOL CAN ONLY RIDE, UH, E SCOOTERS.
I THINK WE ALLOW THEM TO RIDE E-BIKES ONCE THEY GET TO HIGH
[01:45:01]
SCHOOL.BUT WE HAVE SOME THINGS WE PUT IN PLACE.
AND ONCE YOU'VE GONE THROUGH THE SAFETY COURSE, THEN YOU BRING US YOUR PAPERWORK, THEN WE LOOK AT IT, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA MAKE YOU WATCH IT AGAIN IN OUR PRESENCE ON THE CAMPUS.
SO THE KID HAS TO WATCH IT A SECOND TIME JUST IN CASE THEIR PARENT CHEATED.
I MEAN, JUST IN CASE THEIR PARENT DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE TO LET THAT STUDENT WATCH IT, RIGHT? AND SO THEY'LL WATCH IT AGAIN, AND THEN WE GIVE THEM A STICKER AND WE ADD DECALS MADE THAT GOES ON TO THEIR BIKES OR THEIR SCOOTERS, AT LEAST THAT WAY WE KNOW YOU'RE QUOTE UNQUOTE LEGAL, YOU HAVE A PERMIT TO BE ABLE TO RIDE.
AND SO THAT'S JUST OUR FOUNDATION.
SO WE KNOW IT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS.
I CALLED ALL MY PEERS FROM SIDE FAIR TO, ACTUALLY, I WON'T NAME DISTRICT BECAUSE I DON'T PUT 'EM ON THE SPOT, BUT I CALLED ALL AROUND AND NO ONE HAD ANYTHING IN PLACE JUST YET.
UH, SO I'M VERY, VERY EXCITED ABOUT AT LEAST THE PROGRESS WE'RE MAKING SO FAR.
WE KNOW IT'S NOT PERFECT, UH, BUT WE, WE WANTED TO PUT SOMETHING IN PLACE.
I OCCASIONALLY LOOK AT THE HUMBLE IZ PARENT FACEBOOK PAGE AND JUST LOOK AT THE GREAT THINGS THAT THEY SAY ALL THE TIME.
AND SO ONE OF THEM WAS THAT KIDS RIDE SO SAFELY ON E-BIKES AND THESE SCOOTERS THAT WE DON'T NEED ANY REGULATIONS NOW.
I'M JUST KIDDING, RIGHT? BUT NOW WE HAVE SOMETHING, UH, AT LEAST AS A FOUNDATION.
AND I SEE MR. GRABOWSKI STILL HERE 'CAUSE HE, HE'S GONNA WORK WITH ME AND MR. FRY IN PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS TO CREATE A VIDEO THAT'S MORE COMPREHENSIVE, TO REALLY PROVIDE A PSA TO LET KIDS KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THESE THINGS CAN REALLY BE.
NOW, AGAIN, I'M NOT THAT OLD, BUT I USED TO WALK TO SCHOOL, YOU KNOW, IT WAS
I HAD A BICYCLE, BUT IT GOT STOLEN, SO I HAD TO WALK AGAIN.
YOU KNOW, SO THINGS HAPPEN, BUT NOW, MAN, WE GOT KIDS WITH MOTORBIKES AND ALL KIND OF THINGS.
SO WE WANTED TO PUT SOMETHING IN PLACE.
I HAVE TO COMMEND HPD, UH, JUST ON SOMETHING SEPARATE.
AGAIN, WHENEVER WE HAVE AN ISSUE IN THE COMMUNITY, THEY COMMUNICATE WITH US VERY WELL, THEY'LL CONTACT OUR DISPATCH TO LET US KNOW, BECAUSE WE CAN'T DISMISS KIDS IF THERE'S ANYTHING GOING ON INSIDE THE COMMUNITY.
AND THEIR PARTNERSHIP HAS BEEN HUGE.
SO I JUST WANNA APPRECIATE Y'ALL FOR THAT.
AND THANK Y'ALL FOR PARTNERING WITH US.
IF Y'ALL NEED ANYTHING, AGAIN, MY NAME IS DIKA BARTLEY.
I'M WORKING, I WORK WITH THE AMAZING CHIEF SOLOMON COOK.
HE'S BEEN IN LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR 50 YEARS, SO HE KNOWS A LITTLE, A LITTLE THING ABOUT POLICE WORK, SO IN OUR SCHOOL DISTRICT.
SO DEFINITELY, UH, STOP BY OUR OFFICES OR LOOK ME UP, SEND ME AN EMAIL.
SO I'M GONNA LOOK AT THE, WELL, THE PREVIOUS SLIDE REAL QUICK.
SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE GOVERNED BY THE SAME RULES AS THE REGULAR BICYCLE FOR THE MOST PART.
UH, AS LONG AS IT'S PEDAL OR PEDAL ASSIST.
UH, THE E SCOOTER, UH, SOME PEOPLE CALL THEM A, LIKE A, A MOTORCYCLE STREET GANG OVER THE HEV PARKING LOT 'CAUSE WE GET COMPLAINTS ABOUT THAT ALL THE TIME.
BUT THEY DO CONGREGATE OVER THERE AT HCB IN DIFFERENT AREAS.
AND IT MAY BE A LITTLE BIT INTIMIDATING, BUT THEY'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING LIKE LEGALLY WHAT WE COULD, YOU KNOW, ARREST 'EM FOR OR CITE 'EM FOR.
AND OF COURSE, THE MOPEDS AND MOTOR E MOTORCYCLES, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A CLASS M UH, MOTORCYCLE LICENSE.
AND THEN THE E DIRT BIKE, UH, THEY'RE NOT ALLOWED ON THE ROADWAY AT ALL.
SO WE DO GET PICTURES AND VIDEOS ALL THE TIME WHERE YOU SEE AN E DIRT BIKE GOING DOWN KINGWOOD DRIVE OR WESTLAKE HOUSTON PARKWAY, UH, SPEEDING.
AND THAT, THAT'S SOMETHING OUR OFFICERS WILL ADDRESS IF THEY SEE IT.
AND THE NEXT SLIDE, WE HAVE NATIONAL NIGHT OUT.
UH, THIS IS, UH, OCTOBER 6TH IN TWO WEEKS.
UM, SO WE DO A MEET AND GREET WITH ALL THE NEIGHBORHOODS, UH, WITHIN KINGWOOD.
AND FEEL FREE TO, UH, SCAN THE QR CODE, UH, THE LAST SLIDE THAT HAS ALL OUR CONTACT INFORMATION IF Y'ALL WANNA TAKE A PICTURE OF THAT.
UM, AND I'M GONNA LEAVE MY BUSINESS CARD OVER HERE AT THE TABLE AS WELL.
AND THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
UM, WE WILL WRAP UP WITH THE QUESTIONS THAT, UH, WERE SUBMITTED ONLINE AND I THINK WE'VE GOT ONE THAT ACTUALLY CAME IN DURING, UH, THE PROGRAM TODAY.
AND THEN WE'LL GO AHEAD AND WRAP UP.
CHARLES BLAINE WILL BE MODERATING WITH ME.
UH, DON'T KNOW IF ALL Y'ALL KNOW CHARLES.
I'VE KNOWN CHARLES QUITE A WHILE.
UH, CHARLES IS THE PRESIDENT OF URBAN REFORM AND HOSTS THE TEXAS TOMORROW PODCAST THAT COMES OUT EVERY THURSDAY MORNING.
UH, HE'S ALSO APPEARED IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, CITY JOURNAL, FORBES, HE'S, UH, IN THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE ALSO.
HE'S A REGULAR ON, WHAT'S YOUR POINT? SUNDAY MORNING ON FOX 26.
IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED IT, YOU SHOULD REALLY TUNE INTO IT.
IT'S PROBABLY THE MOST INFORMATIVE LOCAL AND STATE SHOW ON POLITICS.
UH, YOU'LL, IT'S REALLY, THEY'VE GOT A, A NICE PANEL.
THEY TYPICALLY HAVE A COUPLE OF CONSERVATIVES, A COUPLE OF LIBERALS, AND THEN, UH, YOU KNOW, BILL KING CALLS HIMSELF RADICALLY MODERATE.
UH, SO IT'S, IT'S A REALLY NICE OVERVIEW AND, UH, YOU'LL PROBABLY GET AS MUCH OUTTA THAT SHOW AS YOU GET OUTTA ANYWHERE.
SO, CHARLES, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND GET GOING.
CAN I, I HOPE EVERYBODY'S AWAKE STILL.
I KNOW IT'S GETTING LATE IN THE EVENING AND DKO SAID YOU GUYS ARE READY TO GO.
SO I KNOW YOU'RE REALLY READY TO GO NOW.
SO WE'RE GONNA RUN THROUGH THESE QUESTIONS AND, UM, AIR YOUR GRIEVANCES AND, UH,
[01:50:01]
COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER IS GONNA ANSWER SOMETHING FOR US.SO WAKE UP, WE'RE GONNA DO THIS AGAIN.
ALRIGHT, SO I'M GONNA START WITH, UM, UH, WE WERE TALKING TO, I THINK IT WAS MICHAEL O'DAY EARLIER, AND HE WAS ASKING YOU WHAT'S ON YOUR TASK LIST FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR.
AND WE HEARD FROM EVERYONE SPEAKING ABOUT, UM, LAKE HOUSTON AND THE FLOODING AND EVERYTHING UP HERE.
BUT, UM, WE DON'T OFTEN HEAR FROM THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBER WHAT YOUR PRIORITIES IN TERMS OF LAKE HOUSTON ARE.
UM, WE OFTEN HEAR FROM THE COUNTY, BUT WE DON'T GET TO HEAR FROM YOU AS MUCH.
SO COULD YOU TALK TO US ABOUT THAT? THE, THE PRIORITIES ARE PRETTY MUCH WHAT THEY'VE ALWAYS BEEN.
UH, NOTHING'S REALLY CHANGED, OBVIOUSLY.
UH, THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO OUR AREA AND FROM THE PRESENTATIONS AND THE QUESTIONS THAT'S OBVIOUS TO EVERYBODY.
AND, AND ALTHOUGH OUR DISTRICT, DISTRICT V HAS ONE OF THE LOWEST CRIME RATES IN THE CITY, UH, OBVIOUSLY ANYBODY GETTING THEIR STUFF STOLEN OR ASSAULTED OR ANYTHING ELSE IS A PROBLEM.
SO WE ALWAYS WANNA FOCUS ON THE CRIME AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
AND THEN LASTLY IS THE INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, THE ROADS, MAKING SURE THE ROADS ARE IN DECENT SHAPE, AND I THINK WE'VE GOT SOME QUESTIONS ON THAT AS WELL.
AND SO OBVIOUSLY THE PUBLIC THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT.
SO YEAH, THOSE ARE THE THREE, THREE TOP PRIORITIES.
SO ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WE GOT IS, DOES THE CITY HAVE THE POWER TO REGULATE AND INSPECT SAND MINING OPERATIONS IN ITS ETJ? WE DO NOT.
UM, REPRESENTATIVE CUNNINGHAM, IN FACT, UH, INTRODUCED A COUPLE OF PIECES OF LEGISLATION TO TRY AND REIGN IN TO SAND MINERS IN THE LAST SESSION.
UH, I WENT UP THERE AND TESTIFIED ON IT.
UH, SOMETHING WE'RE GONNA BE DOING THIS NEXT SESSION IS WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO BE HAVING LAKE HOUSTON DAYS IN AUSTIN TO GO UP THERE AND SUPPORT LEGISLATION THAT IS INTRODUCED THAT WE NEED.
UH, CLEAR LAKE ACTUALLY HAS TWO DAYS.
THEY DO ONE FOR THE CLEAR LAKE AREA AND THEY WANNA DO ONE SPACE DAY, UH, FOR NASA.
AND, UH, AT ONE POINT IN TIME, WE USED TO HAVE THAT IN LAKE HOUSTON YEARS AGO.
UM, BUT WE'RE GONNA BRING THAT BACK AND MANY OF YOU CAN JOIN ME, WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
OBVIOUSLY, WE'LL PUBLICIZE THAT.
UH, YOU CAN GO UP THERE AND SPEAK TO THE INDIVIDUAL, UH, LEGISLATORS AND, UH, IF THEY'VE GOT, UH, ACTUALLY COMMITTEE HEARINGS, WE'LL FIND OUT WHEN THOSE ARE AND IF WE CAN GET PEOPLE UP THERE TO SPEAK ON, ON THAT IN SUPPORT OF IT, IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
YOU KNOW, I SEE IN CITY COUNCIL ALL THE TIME, PEOPLE COME AND SPEAK AND, UH, IT MAKES MORE OF A DIFFERENCE THAN WHAT YOU THINK IT, IT REALLY DOES.
I MEAN, YOU GET 40, 50 PEOPLE COMING UP THERE IN A ROW KIND OF HAMMERING YOU ON WHATEVER TOPIC IT IS.
UM, UNFORTUNATELY FOR COUNCILWOMAN CARTER AND I, UH, USUALLY THE PEOPLE SPEAKING ARE DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED TO WHAT WE THINK IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
UH, BUT IT'S KIND OF TOUGH, UH, HEARING THOSE PEOPLE ONE AFTER ANOTHER AND, AND THEN HOLDING TO WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT AND WHAT I BELIEVE MY CONSTITUENTS THINK IS RIGHT AS WELL.
SO THIS ONE'S A TWO PART QUESTION.
IT'S, I DON'T WANNA LIVE IN A SURVEILLANCE STATE, DO YOU? AND IT'S, WHY DON'T YOU ASK RESIDENTS IF THEY WANT TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO BE USED ON FLOCK CAMERAS? I DON'T WANNA LIVE IN A SURVEILLANCE STATE EITHER.
UM, AND THERE'S OBVIOUSLY BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT, UH, THE INVASION OF PRIVACY AND LACK OF PRIVACY.
UH, AND ALTHOUGH I THINK THOSE CONCERNS ARE ABSOLUTELY LEGITIMATE, I THINK THAT SHIP'S PRETTY MUCH SAILED ALREADY AND HAS A LONG TIME AGO.
UM, YOU LOOK AT ALL THE APPS ON YOUR PHONE, UH, I MEAN, IT, IT'S UBIQUITOUS THROUGH OUR LIFE NOW.
I MEAN, YOU, YOU TALK ABOUT SOMETHING AND THEN YOU'RE ON FACEBOOK AND THERE'S AN AD FOR THE THING YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY'S FAMILIAR WITH THIS, BUT, UH, GENERAL MOTORS JUST SETTLED A LAWSUIT FOR I BELIEVE, $15 MILLION WHERE THEY WERE ACTUALLY SELLING THE ONSTAR DATA THAT IS COLLECTED ON YOUR CAR.
YOUR CAR COLLECTS DATA ON YOU, UH, AS YOU'RE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD, YOU'RE TOLL TAG, UH, IF YOU'RE DRIVING DOWN THE, THE FREEWAY AND IT SAYS 10 MINUTES TO WHATEVER INTERSECTION THAT'S COMING OFF OF YOUR TOLL TAG DATA.
UH, I MEAN, THAT'S THE WAY OUR LIFE IS.
AND IF, IF WE WANNA PUSH BACK ON OUR PRIVACY, I DON'T WANNA START WITH SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY HELPS IN PREVENTING AND SOLVING CRIMES.
UH, WE JUST HAD, UH, WHAT A 5-YEAR-OLD GIRL THAT WAS KILLED THE OTHER DAY.
UH, I THINK PROBABLY MOST OF YOU SAW IT IN THE NEWS AND IT WAS REPORTED AS A ROAD RAGE.
ALTHOUGH THE OTHER PARTY'S SAYING THEY DON'T KNOW OF ANY RAGE THAT OCCURRED AND THEY CAUGHT THAT GENTLEMAN USING FLOCK CAMERAS.
I'VE MET WITH HPD, MET WITH HPOU, AND THEY TELL ME THAT WHEN THEY HAVE A CRIME AND THEY ARE GIVEN A PIECE OF INFORMATION THAT INCLUDES THE DESCRIPTION OF A CAR, UH, THE LICENSE PLATE OR PARTIAL LICENSE PLATE, THAT A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE TIME THEY USE FLOCK TO TRY AND TRACK DOWN THE INDIVIDUALS THAT COMMITTED THE CRIME.
NOW, DOES THAT MEAN FLOCK'S RESPONSIBLE FOR SOLVING A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THOSE CRIMES? OBVIOUSLY NOT, BUT IT IS ABSOLUTELY A TOOL.
[01:55:01]
OF THE OTHER THINGS IS THEY TELL ME THAT THE FLOCK ENABLES THEM TO GET TO THE PERPETRATOR QUICKER, WHICH MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN THEIR ABILITY TO PROSECUTE 'EM.AND IN FACT, UH, THE ONE WITH THE GIRL THAT JUST GOT KILLED, THEY PICKED HIM UP IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS.
SO, I MEAN, IT'S REALLY A HUGE BENEFIT TO BE ABLE TO USE THAT.
SO I UNDERSTAND THE CONCERNS, BUT I, I THINK OUR, OUR SAFETY OUTWEIGHS THAT.
CAN WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE SPEEDING ON KINGWOOD DRIVE AND WASTE WESTLAKE? HOUSTON, LIKE HPD SPOKE, SPOKE TO IT EARLIER.
UH, MY OFFICE ACTUALLY PROVIDED FOR, UH, NEW RADAR GUNS.
UH, THEY THEN HAD TO TURN AROUND AND TRAIN, LIKE THE OFFICER JUST TALKED ABOUT, UH, IN THERE.
SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE DOING MORE OF THAT.
UM, WE PUT IN, UH, RUMBLE STRIPS TO TRY AND SLOW PEOPLE DOWN.
WE'VE, WE MADE THE, UH, SPEED LIMIT SIGN LARGER, UH, UN UNFORTUNATELY WITH, UH, THE WESTLAKE HOUSTON BRIDGE.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S A COUPLE TIMES THE FACT IT WAS AFTER AT THE, THE TWO PEOPLE WERE, WERE KILLED IN THAT ACCIDENT.
AND BY THE WAY, THE PERSON THAT KILLED HIM WAS THREE TIMES THE LEGAL LIMIT FOR ALCOHOL.
SO UNLESS WE'D ACTUALLY HAD AN OFFICER STOP HIM FOR HIS DRUNK DRIVING, IT WOULDN'T HAVE MADE ANY DIFFERENCE WHAT WE'VE DONE.
BUT THERE'S A COUPLE INCIDENTS WHERE I WAS GOING OVER THE LAKE HOUSTON BRIDGE AND SOMEBODY FLIES BY ME AND I LOOK DOWN AT MY SPEEDOMETER AND I'M LIKE, I'M GOING 10 MILES OVER THE LIMIT.
I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S REALLY EASY TO DO ON THAT ROAD.
UH, SO YEAH, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO HAVE CONTINUAL ENFORCEMENT TO BE ABLE TO, TO DO ANYTHING WITH THAT.
SO SOMEONE WROTE, WE LOVE THE KINGWOOD RECYCLING CENTER EVERY, BUT IT GETS REALLY FULL SOMETIMES.
HOW CAN WE IMPROVE DROP OFF AT THE KINGWOOD RECYCLING CENTER? ONE OF THE BIG THINGS, IF WE COULD ENCOURAGE AS MANY RESIDENTS AS POSSIBLE TO ACTUALLY BREAK DOWN THE CARDBOARD WOULD BE A HUGE PIECE OF IT.
UM, WE ACTUALLY HAVE VOLUNTEERS THAT GO OUT THERE AND HELP OUT QUITE A BIT AND, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE DOING A LOT OF IT AND REALLY THANK THEM FOR WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
UH, WE ALSO ARE ALREADY PLANNING ON DURING THE BUSIER TIMES.
IN FACT, WE JUST TALKED ABOUT IT IN OUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING LAST WEEK, UH, THE BUSIER TIMES OF THE YEAR, TRYING TO ACTUALLY GET, UH, THE SOLID WASTE TRUCK BACK OUT THERE.
SOLID WASTE HAD A NUMBER OF, UH, EMPLOYEES THAT TOOK THE EARLY THE BUYOUT.
UH, SO THEY'VE BEEN CATCHING UP WITH THAT AND THAT'S WHAT THE DIRECTOR WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT WITH HAVING TO ACTUALLY GET CONTRACTORS.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO PAY CATCH UP WITH THAT A LITTLE BIT, BUT WE'RE CERTAINLY GONNA GET 'EM OUT THERE FOR THE BUSIEST TIMES OF YEAR.
I KNOW WE REALLY HAD A MESS LAST CHRISTMAS, UM, WITH THE HOLIDAYS AND THE WAY THEY FELL AND, AND IT WAS, IT WAS A HUGE PROBLEM FOR ABOUT TWO WEEKS.
SO WE'RE TRYING TO PLAN AHEAD, GET AHEAD OF THAT AND, AND GET SOME, UH, SOME, UH, BACKEND LOADERS THERE THE WHOLE TIME.
SO THEY'LL BE ABLE TO PUT IT IN THAT, WHAT IS THE SHORT TERM ONE TO THREE YEARS AND LONG TERM, THREE TO 10 YEARS PLAN FOR REPAIR AND REPLACEMENT OF THE MAJOR STREETS IN KINGWOOD, KINGWOOD DRIVE, WOODLANDS HILLS DRIVE, LAKE HOUSTON PARKWAY.
UH, THE CITY LOOKS OUT FOR THEIR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS FIVE YEARS OUT ON, ON THE ROAD CONSTRUCTION.
UH, ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS THE CITY DOES TOO, IS THEY ACTUALLY GRADE ALL THE ROADS IN THE CITY.
UH, I, I KNOW EVERYONE HERE SEEMS TO THINK OUR ROADS ARE TERRIBLE.
IF YOU DRIVE AROUND THE CITY, YOU'LL FIND OUT IT'S NOT NEARLY AS BAD AS IT IS IN OTHER PLACES.
UNFORTUNATELY, WE'RE COMPETING WITH THAT.
THE GOOD THING IS THEY'VE ACTUALLY DONE A LOT THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE CITY.
UH, SO AS THEIR ROADS HAVE GOTTEN BETTER, OURS WON'T LOOK QUITE SO GOOD COMPARED TO THOSE.
AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET IT BUMPED UP IN THE, IN THE QUEUE WITH THAT A LITTLE BIT.
AND I, I THINK WE'RE GONNA GET A A LITTLE MORE DONE.
UH, THE COMPLETION OF NORTH PARK'S GONNA MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE TOO.
UH, IT'S GONNA BE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WILL TAKE NORTH PARK INSTEAD OF KINGWOOD DRIVE, WHICH WILL, UH, KIND OF DIVERT TRAFFIC AND EAST TRAFFIC UP ON KINGWOOD DRIVE AS WELL.
'CAUSE NORTH PARK'S GONNA BE A LOT QUICKER THAN, THAN, UH, THE KINGWOOD DRIVE IS.
I GLANCE OVER THERE TO HOPE THAT THE TREES FOR KINGWOOD FOLKS ARE GONE.
'CAUSE THEY MIGHT NOT LIKE THIS QUESTION, WHICH IS, I LIKE THE CLEANUP ON THE MEDIANS, BUT WHY PLANT MORE TREES? WE HAVE A LOT TOO MANY
WELL, AND, BUT YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S FUNNY 'CAUSE I, I'LL GET IT FROM BOTH SIDES ON THAT.
UM, IF YOU GO NORTH ON WOODLAND HILLS PAST KAY PARK HIGH SCHOOL, UH, ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE TO THE EAST IS THE AREA WHERE PERRY HOMES WAS, UH, DOING THAT DEVELOPMENT.
AND IF YOU GO LOOK OVER THERE, THERE'S THOUSANDS OF PINE TREES THERE, 10, 15 FEET TALL AND NOBODY PLANTED 'EM.
THOSE ALL CAME UP NATURALLY AFTER THEY CLEAR CUT THAT LAND.
THAT'S THE WAY THIS USED TO BE.
UH, SO WE'D LIKE TO GET A, A LITTLE MORE CANOPY IN HERE.
UH, AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE'S A LOT OF PINE TREES.
WE STILL GOT ISSUES WITH THE PINE BEETLES.
UH, THERE'S A LOT OF PINE TREES THAT DIE.
IN FACT, WE SPEND QUITE A BIT OF MONEY REMOVING 'EM, TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE DEAD ONES.
UM, SO YEAH, I THINK WE REALLY DO NEED TO, TO PLANT QUITE A BIT MORE.
AND IN FACT, UM, ALTHOUGH WE'VE DONE A LOT OF CLEARING ON THE, ON THE MEDIANS, AND WE'RE STILL GONNA DO SOME OF THAT NEXT YEAR, IN FACT.
[02:00:01]
UH, WHAT IS THE DATE WE'RE GONNA BE DOING AGAIN? DECEMBER 5TH? FIFTH? DECEMBER 5TH.WE'RE GONNA HAVE AN EVENT, UH, OUT HERE TO, UH, CLEAR THE MEDIAN.
SO PLEASE MARK IT ON YOUR CALENDAR.
UH, BUT, UH, WE'RE GONNA BE DOING A LOT OF PLANTING OF TREES ON THE AREAS THAT WE'VE CLEARED AND, UH, SMALL PINE TREES THAT HOPEFULLY GROW.
UM, COMMISSIONER RAMSEY IS ALREADY COMMITTED TO HELPING WATER IN THE TREES.
UH, THE BIGGEST ISSUE WE HAVE WHEN WE PLANT TREES IS KEEPING THEM WITH ENOUGH WATER THAT THEY STAY ALIVE.
UH, COMMISSIONER RAMSEY HAS GOT A NUMBER OF BIG TANK TRUCKS THAT HE'S ABLE TO ACTUALLY WATER 'EM FROM THE STREET.
UH, I SAW IT GOING TO AN EVENT OVER AT TOM'S PLACE AND UH, THEY SEE THIS TRUCK DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND THEY'VE GOT THIS LITTLE LEVER THAT POPS OUT AND THE WATER'S SHOOTING OUT 30 FEET.
UH, SO THAT'LL HELP US OUT QUITE A BIT.
'CAUSE I KNOW TREES FOR KINGWOOD HAS SPENT A LOT OF TIME WATERING TREES, SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN HELP 'EM OUT WITH THAT.
AND COMPLAINING ABOUT TREES IN KINGWOOD, LIKE COMPLAINING ABOUT HOUSTON HAVING TOO MANY BAYOU.
SO I THINK YOU PROBABLY NEED THEM.
THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLAN ACROSS FROM KINGWOOD HIGH SCHOOL CONSISTENTLY STINKS.
WHAT ARE ARE THE PLANS FOR MINIMIZING THE OBNOXIOUS ODOR? IT'S ACTUALLY GOTTEN BETTER THAN WHAT IT WAS A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO.
IN FACT, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF EVERYBODY REMEMBERS, BUT THEY FIRED THE COMPANY THAT WAS OPERATING THE FACILITY.
UH, THEY HAD QUITE A BIT OF AN ISSUE OVER THAT.
UH, WE JUST RECENTLY, UH, PASSED AN ORDINANCE, UH, APPROPRIATING $17 MILLION TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS OUT THERE WE'RE TO DO THAT.
UH, THEY'RE, UH, LOOKING AT, UH, REALLY TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE GONNA REBUILD THAT WHOLE FACILITY OR POSSIBLY EVEN PUTTING UP ANOTHER ONE.
OBVIOUSLY THAT WOULD BE YEARS OUT.
BUT, UH, WE'RE GONNA BE DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN TO, TO KEEP UP WITH THAT.
WHY DOES MY PROPERTY TAX BILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE? EVEN THOUGH THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS NOT RAISED ITS PROPERTY TAX RATE? UH, A LOT OF THAT'S GOTTA DO WITH THE COUNTY.
UH, THE CITY HAS NOT RAISED TAXES FOR THREE YEARS.
THE COUNTY HAS RAISED YOUR PROPERTY TAXES EVERY YEAR FOR THREE YEARS.
AND IN FACT, IF YOU GO BACK OVER THE COURSE OF THREE YEARS, IT'S INCREASED BY 41%.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE SPENDING IS JUST OUTTA CONTROL OVER THERE.
UH, AND I'VE GOT SOME REAL BAD NEWS.
UH, THEY ACTUALLY CLOSED THE GAP THIS YEAR WITH A NUMBER OF ONE-OFFS, AND THE CITY HAS DONE THE SAME THING, BUT THOSE ONE-OFFS AREN'T GONNA BE AVAILABLE NEXT YEAR, WHICH MEANS YOU'RE PROBABLY GETTING A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE FROM THE COUNTY AGAIN NEXT YEAR.
UH, SO YEAH, IT'S, IT'S BEEN A REAL ISSUE.
I MEAN, MAYOR WHITMEYER, WHEN HE FIRST CAME IN, UH, HE DID A, A STUDY WITH ERNST AND YOUNG.
HE ENGAGED THEM AND ERNST AND YOUNG WENT THROUGH THE WHOLE CITY, FOUND A NUMBER OF AREAS WHERE WE CAN IMPROVE EFFICIENCY AND IMPROVE SERVICE AS WELL.
ON SOME OF THEM, UH, THAT'S PART OF THE REALIGNMENT WITH, WITH, UH, SOLID WASTE AND, UH, THE $5 FEE WITH THAT.
UM, AND THEY, ONE OF THE THINGS THEY, THE BIGGEST THING THEY CAME UP WITH IS THAT THEY SAID THE CITY WAS ESSENTIALLY OVERSTAFFED THAT FOR THE SIZE, THE, THE POPULATION OF THE CITY, WE HAD TOO MANY EMPLOYEES.
THAT'S WHY THEY DID THE, THE BUYOUTS.
UH, I BELIEVE THEY HAD 1200 EMPLOYEES THAT THAT TOOK THE BUYOUT.
WE'VE ACTUALLY GOT A FEWER NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES WORKING TODAY THAN WHEN THE MAYOR WHITMEYER STARTED.
UH, BECAUSE OF THAT, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO KEEP THE COST DOWN, WHICH OBVIOUSLY HELPS US IN, IN KEEPING TAXES DOWN AS WELL AND NOT HAVING TO RAISE TAXES.
SO I, YOU KNOW, THE MAYOR'S COMMITTED TO DOING THAT FOR AS LONG AS HE IS THERE.
UH, THERE ARE A LOT OF CHALLENGES, BUT, UH, WE'RE GONNA DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO, TO DO EXACTLY THAT.
I'M GONNA TAKE A CREATIVE LIBERTY AND ASK ONE OF MY OWN.
SO, UM, YOU'RE COMING UP TOWARDS THE END OF YOUR FIRST TERM HERE.
'CAUSE SHORTLY, NOT, NOT IMMEDIATELY, BUT SHORTLY, WHAT IS THE THING THAT YOU'RE MOST PROUD OF HAVING ACCOMPLISHED IN THIS FIRST TERM? AND WHAT IS ONE THING THAT MAYBE OUTSTANDING THAT YOU'RE HOPING TO KIND OF MOVE OVER THE FINISH LINE? WELL, UM, THIS ACTUALLY KIND OF INVOLVES CHARLES.
I DON'T KNOW IF HE WAS PLANNING ON THAT OR NOT.
UM, AND IT'S GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH KINGWOOD FREEWAY MANOR, WHICH IS ALSO PART OF OUR DISTRICT, HAS A HUGE PROBLEM, UH, WITH HOMELESS.
AND THEY ALSO HAVE A HUGE PROBLEM WITH SOME OF THESE HOMELESS INGRATIATING THEMSELVES TO SOME OF THE OLDER PEOPLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
UM, THEY'LL HELP 'EM WITH CHORES AROUND THE HOUSE.
UH, A COUPLE OF 'EM HAVE PASSED AWAY AND THEN THEY TURN INTO SQUATTERS.
AND UH, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THAT I DID AFTER GETTING ELECTED WAS, UH, THE FREEWAY MANOR CIVIC CLUB CALLED US UP AND SAID, HEY, YOU, YOU GOTTA COME DOWN HERE AND SEE THIS.
WE TOOK A TOUR ON A CHURCH BUS, ME AND DUSTIN AND I NEVER FORGET THE LAST HOUSE WE PULLED UP TO.
THERE WAS TWO CONSTABLES THERE AND AN HPD CAR.
THEY OPENED THE DOOR AND THE SMELL JUST KNOCK YOU OUT.
UH, IT WAS JUST GARBAGE EVERYWHERE.
UH, A LOT OF RAW CHICKEN, ALL SORTS OF STUFF.
AND I MEAN, IT WAS JUST ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE.
AND I'M THINKING, GEEZ, WHAT IF MY PARENTS HAD TO LIVE NEXT TO THIS?
[02:05:01]
UM, SO WE HAD THE, THE HOMEOWNERS MEETING AND UH, I SAID, HEY, I GOT A SOLUTION.YOU KNOW, THE OWNER'S DEAD, BEEN DEAD.
NO TAXES ARE BEING PAID ON THIS HOUSE.
WE'LL BE ABLE TO GO AND HAVE IT SOLD THROUGH, THROUGH THE FORECLOSURE SALE ON THE, ON THE PROPERTY TAXES AND YOU KNOW, WILL BE GOOD.
AND COME TO FIND OUT, THERE WAS STILL A HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION ON THIS HOUSE.
PLUS THEY HAD THE ELDERLY EXEMPTION.
THEY ESSENTIALLY OWED NO TAXES EVERY YEAR.
IN FACT, THIS HOUSE HADN'T HAD TAXES PAID ON IT IN 20 YEARS.
SO I CALLED AROUND TRYING TO FIND OUT, OKAY, WHO'S SUPPOSED TO SAY SOMETHING WHEN SOMEBODY DIES TO REMOVE THE HOMESTEAD LIKE SOCIAL SECURITY DOES? AND WE BASICALLY FOUND OUT NOBODY.
UH, SO WE HAD ALL THESE HOMES THAT, THAT ARE OUT THERE THAT HAVE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS ON IT, THAT THEY'RE NOT ENTITLED TO THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION.
THEY SHOULD BE PAYING TAXES AND THEY'RE NOT.
UH, SO I GOT HOLD OF PAUL BENTON COURT, HE ACTUALLY INTRODUCED LEGISLATION TO WHERE, UH, THE, UH, UH, THE APPRAISAL DISTRICTS ARE SUPPOSED TO GO THROUGH EVERY FIVE YEARS AND BASICALLY VERIFY THAT THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION IS APPROPRIATE.
UH, AND THEN CHARLES WENT AND RAN WITH US AND FOUND ALL SORTS OF OTHER ISSUES WHERE, UH, LLCS HAD, UH, HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS, THEY'RE NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE IT.
AND SOME OF 'EM HAD, WHAT, 30 OR 40 HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS FOR ONE LLC.
UM, AND THESE ARE ALL PEOPLE THAT OWE TAXES AND ARE NOT PAYING TAXES, WHICH MEANS THE BURDEN ON THE REST OF US IS SO MUCH MORE.
IN FACT, UH, THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT JUST GAVE HIM A AWARD THE OTHER DAY FOR THE WORK HE DID.
SO THEY DIDN'T GIMME A HOUSE THOUGH.
THEY SHOULD HAVE GAVE ME A HOUSE.
THEY SHOULD HAVE GAVE ME A PIECE OF PROPERTY
SO YEAH, GETTING RID OF THAT AND, AND THAT'S HELPING WITH THE SQUATTERS.
IN FACT, ABOUT FOUR OR FIVE MONTHS AFTER GETTING ELECTED, I WENT OUT AND ACTUALLY TESTIFIED IN AUSTIN PET SPORTS COMMITTEE.
YOU KNOW, I DUNNO WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON AROUND.
REVERSE THAT ON THE, THANK YOU FOR, FOR THE SHOUT OUT THERE.
BUT COUNCIL MEMBER FRED, EVERYBODY, THANK YOU.