Conflict-of-Interest Ridden Colony Ridge Caught Operating without Permit, Polluting

11/20/25 – Maria Acevedo, a construction expert and environmental activist, observed a Colony Ridge cement contractor, Liberty Paving, operating without a permit. She also documented sediment runoff from the site that violated Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Best Management Practices (BMPs).

The lack of BMPs was polluting the surrounding area, which drains into the San Jacinto East Fork and has required tens of millions of dollars in dredging since the development of Colony Ridge began.

Acevedo reported the alleged violations to the TCEQ, which conducted its own investigation and issued a Notice of Enforcement.

Liberty Paving LLC, the contractor, has done more than $13 million worth of business for Liberty County Municipal Management District #1. Amazingly, the President of MMD #1 owns the paving contractor.

This letter from Attorney General Ken Paxton to members of Congress details a litany of other abuses and ethically ambiguous practices at Colony Ridge in Liberty County. Loopholes in Texas law big enough to drive cement trucks through enable them.

TCEQ Finds No Site Signage or Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan

When TCEQ investigated Acevedo’s complaint, it was not raining, so investigators could not confirm the allegations of runoff that Acevedo’s photos showed. However, TCEQ discovered that Liberty Paving was operating without coverage under the Construction General Permit, required site signage, and a mandatory Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP). Neither was the company employing best management practices.

As a result, TCEQ issued a Notice of Enforcement Letter. TCEQ’s report says that Liberty Paving knew of its responsibilities because of permits issued at other sites outside Colony Ridge, but failed to comply inside Colony Ridge.

What exactly does TCEQ mean when it issues a notice of enforcement for “failure to obtain coverage under the Construction General Permit”? According to ChatGPT, the permit regulates:

• Stormwater runoff from construction activities
• Erosion controls
• Sediment controls
• Pollution prevention practices

Because the site began construction without filing the required notice of intent:

• Any stormwater discharges were unauthorized
• Discharged pollutants, such as sediment, were illegal.
• The operator is out of compliance with the Clean Water Act and Texas Pollution Discharge Elimination System rules
• Even if erosion controls were physically present, failure to obtain the permit still constitutes a violation.

Conflict of Interest?

John Harris, the Colony Ridge developer, lists himself as the president of T-Rex Management, Inc., the general partner of Liberty Paving, LLC. But Harris is also the current president of Liberty County MMD #1.

Minutes of MMD #1 show that in 2023, Harris’ brother was president of the MMD when it approved $13 million in payments to Liberty Paving.

In most states this would be a clear conflict of interest. But Texas allows it if the parties recuse themselves from voting on the contract/payment and disclose their conflicts of interest.

Mr. Harris was evidently present for one vote on paving payments, but absent for another. The minutes do not reflect whether he disclosed the conflict of interest.

That’s pretty academic, however, when four MMD board members have ties to the developer or Harris’ family.

One former state legislator who is an expert on MMDs told me that even if a board member recuses himself, other members of the board know how to vote through winks and nods, i.e., things that don’t get recorded in minutes. He raised some interesting questions. Are bids sealed? Are bids opened in public with all bidders present? And should the vote to accept a bid count if the board member who refrains from voting is necessary to make a quorum?

According to ChatGPT, Texas stands out nationally due to MMDs being allowed to:

• Reimburse developers via taxpayer-backed bonds
• Have developer-controlled boards
• Contract with developer-owned companies
• Reimburse developers for on-site infrastructure, including:
  • Roads
  • Water/sewer
  • Drainage
  • Detention ponds
  • Grading & clearing
  • Engineering costs

Most states allow reimbursement only for:

• True regional infrastructure, or
• Public facilities beyond subdivision boundaries.

Nor do other states allow developers to:

• Form districts they control
• Levy taxes on future residents
• Reimburse themselves for subdivision improvements.

However, it’s standard practice in Texas for:

• A developer to form a MMD or Municipal Utility District
• The developer (or allied consultants) to serve on the board
• The board to hire the developer’s own companies for construction, engineering, landscaping, or management
• Taxpayers or landowners to repay the MMD or MUD through bonds or assessments.

Such practices are widely criticized as ethical conflicts of interest, even if they are not legal conflicts. They enable self-dealing and private gain from public-like financing powers. Yet it’s all technically legal if conflicts are disclosed and abstentions handled properly.

However, the Liberty County Attorney, Matthew Poston told Houston Landing…

“The scandal isn’t what is illegal. The scandal is what is legal.”

Matthew Poston, Liberty County Attorney

Paxton Writes Scathing Colony Ridge Letter to Legislators

In Texas, the Attorney General does not normally police MMD self-dealing. However, two years ago, when illegal immigrant and consumer fraud scandals rocked Colony Ridge creating national headlines, Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote a scathing letter to members of Congress about his offices’ findings.

Among other things, Paxton’s four-page letter details how:

• Colony Ridge practices seem to contradict the intent of Texas lawmakers when they established MMDs
• Minimal down-payment, high-interest loans with little identity verification lure non-citizens across the border
• Fast growth and high crime create burdens on law enforcement, school districts, and neighboring areas
• MMD #1 violates the intent of lawmakers
• How MMD #1 bypasses bank scrutiny of its high risk activities contrary to the public interest
• Unelected, unaccountable leaders are creating unsustainable growth of a “city” by catering to illegal aliens
• How Colony Ridge is swamping taxpayers in the Cleveland ISD which caused it to more than triple in size
• The people of Texas “never assented to the creation of a sprawling unincorporated, ungoverned zone.”

And Paxton didn’t even address Colony Ridge flooding!

For More On Colony Ridge

Consult this post – History of Heartbreak: A Colony Ridge Chronicle. It contains links to more than 75 previous posts with hundreds of photos taken on the ground and in the air. Scanning through them will make you wonder whether Paxton was too kind!

A development that didn’t exist 15 years ago is now 50% bigger than Manhattan … with hardly any flood control, fire hydrants, or police presence.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 11/20/25

3005 Days since Hurricane Harvey