HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — For nearly half a year, Harris County commissioners have asked for an update on 2018 flood bond projects, and after missing last month’s deadline, ABC13 was told a presentation is coming soon.
In 2017, the Greater Houston Partnership said Hurricane Harvey caused $125 billion in damages in Harris County. A storm that sent a foot of water in David Skaggs’ northwest Harris County home.
“It ruined anything that was sitting down low,” Skaggs recalled. “Family pictures and things that you don’t even think about.”
To help mitigate with future storms, county leaders proposed a $2.5 billion bond for projects. It was passed by voters.
Some of the bond was supposed to go towards subdivision drainage projects. Skaggs’ Norchester neighborhood was one of those supposed to receive $11 million for drainage improvements.
“A few years ago, they give us a little talk about how they had allocated money and they were going to do certain things out here and they haven’t done anything, and I don’t know why,” Skaggs said.
For months, county commissioners have been asking questions about these projects too. A few years ago, the subdivision drainage program was moved from the flood control district to the engineering department.
The flood control district oversees the 2018 bond projects. Since February, commissioners have asked leaders from both departments for an update on all projects.
In March, Commissioner Rodney Ellis grew frustrated when he asked why certain projects that scored higher were passed over by others.
“I don’t go off that often, but that was just shocking to me,” Ellis said. “We could come up with a million reasons why you did it, ‘Oh, we did this. We had to do that.’ But at the end of the day, try explaining that to voters.”
During the March meeting, commissioners voted to get an update from the departments on flood projects at a future meeting.
“What I’m hearing is in May you’ll both come back with your expert recommendations, brutal honesty, radical transparency, and you will tell us where we are on all of these,” Commissioner Lesley Briones said.
However, no presentations took place in May. Commissioners meet again this Thursday.
There’s still no presentation on the agenda. The flood control district told ABC13 commissioners’ offices agreed to push it back to the June 26th meeting.
The agency plans to present recommendations that could bring big cuts to projects that were once part of the 2018 bond project. “There will impacts,” flood control district executive director Tina Petersen said back in March. “There will be tradeoffs and there will be opportunities.”
Exactly what the recommendations are, we may not find out until the end of June, nearly six months after commissioners started asking for them.
The flood control district sent ABC13 a statement regarding the delay:
Since the Harris County Commissioners Court motions earlier this year, the Flood Control District has continued to advance projects supported by the 2018 Bond Program. Teams are actively engaged in a variety of construction and design efforts throughout the county. As of the last reporting period, approximately $3.245 billion in bond funding had been spent or committed to projects currently underway, contributing meaningful progress for Harris County communities.
As a collective decision, all Commissioners Court offices and the Flood Control District agreed to pause formal presentations of 2018 Bond Program data to Court until the June 26 meeting. We are preparing a report for the June 26 Commissioners Court meeting to that end. The Flood Control District has spent the last several months evaluating the 2018 Bond Program to substantially complete the program as efficiently and effectively as possible for the residents of Harris County.
It’s also important to clarify that the Subdivision Drainage Program, overseen by Harris County Engineering Department (HCED), operates independently from the 2018 Bond Program. The Flood Control District is not involved in the funding, management, or reporting of that program and cannot speak to its internal processes or timelines.