Ramsey Sounds Alarm Over Deadline That Could Cost County $250 Million

1/9/2026 – On 1/8/2026, Precinct 3 Commissioner Tom Ramsey put Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) on notice that he is concerned about HCFCD’s ability to meet state and federal grant deadlines for an estimated quarter billion dollars of flood control projects. Missing the deadlines could possibly result in the loss of funding.

Ramsey cautioned the court, “If we don’t meet the deadline, $250 million is at risk.” 

Ramsey said he plans to discuss the progress of the projects in every Commissioners Court meeting between now and the February 28, 2027, deadline.

The projects are being funded by Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR). The grants originate from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), but are administered by the Texas General Land Office. Project deadlines have already been extended twice and HCFCD has been warned in writing not to ask for more extensions.

The eleven CDBG-DR projects include:

Ramsey’s estimate of $250 million at risk differs from the total grant value of $322 million. He must conservatively assume that at least some of the projects can be completed and are therefore not at risk. However, he didn’t say which he thought were safe.

Typical Timetables

It typically takes 3-4 months to advertise a project for bids, approve the winning bidder, and sign the contract. Once the contractor mobilizes for the job, it can easily take another year or more to complete it. For example, the Mercer Basin on Cypress Creek was started in 2022 on an expedited basis. It was expected to take a year. But it was not yet complete at the end of 2025. So you can see Ramsey’s concern.

In contrast, most of these projects will have less than a year for construction unless HUD grants another extension. In the past, Commissioners have expressed reservations about starting projects they may not have money to complete.

Flood Control’s Reaction to Concerns

Regardless, Flood Control District Executive Director Tina Petersen expressed confidence that she could make the February 2027 deadline.

She thanked Commissioner Adrian Garcia for the recognition that HCFCD is getting seven projects amended into the GLO’s Action Plan. But those are CDBG-Mitigation projects, not CDBG-Disaster Relief projects, which have a much tighter deadline.

Without distinguishing the difference, she then segued to Disaster Relief. She thanked Garcia again for recognizing that the Brookglen bid had just been approved. Brookglen IS a DR project.

She then addressed Ramsey’s concern. “We do have a plan for moving forward with the remainder of the projects,” said Petersen without offering specifics. “Right now, we have four projects out for bid that were originally supposed to be going out this month, but we were successful in expediting the schedule and pushing fast and pushing hard with the cooperation of our purchasing director to get those out in December.”

Petersen continued, “So, we are moving ahead of schedule right now. We have an additional, I believe, five projects left to get out in Quarter One. And right now, we are on track to do so.”

Petersen Points to Process Improvements

Petersen then shifted the discussion to process improvements. “We are working closely to identify places where we’re having challenges and then working collaboratively to make sure that we chase those issues down.” 

She specifically mentioned how she was working with the county’s purchasing department to speed up the bidding and approval process and pointed to Item 132 on the agenda. It gives authority to the purchasing agent to award construction contracts to the lowest responsible bidder for 29 CDBG-DR and -MIT projects.

“Every day, every week that we can save in this process makes a difference,” said Petersen. “We think that … will save us between 2 and 6 weeks, and that will matter to us.” 

“Every Single Day Could Make a Difference”

Garcia put a finer point on it. He said, “Every single day could make a difference.”

Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones thanked Petersen for her efforts, but also said, “Every time I see you, Doctor Petersen, I feel like there’s a clock ticking in my head.”

This is the best drama in town.

During the meeting yesterday, it became clear that Ramsey was frustrated with the operation and efficiency of many county departments. He wants no more excuses or finger pointing. And he’s doing whatever he can to keep the county from losing that CDBG-DR money.

In a separate phone call Ramsey said, “Don’t tell me what you’re going to do. Tell me what you’ve done. Bid the jobs!”

HCFCD started working on these projects in 2022. But only one is now under construction. With only 13 months left to move millions of cubic yards of dirt, Petersen claims HCFCD is “ahead of schedule,” Incredibly, 9 of 11 projects have still not been awarded to contractors.

To see video of this discussion in Commissioners Court, go to https://harriscountytx.new.swagit.com/videos/371451. Then click on Emergency Supplemental Items, Part 2 of 2 and scroll to 1:44:30 for the start of the discussion.

Part of a Broader Slowdown

The Flood Control District listed only thirteen items on its part of the agenda for the January 8 meeting.

• Three had to do with interlocal agreements
• Three dealt with CenterPoint agreements
• Two dealt with contract modifications
• Three dealt with buyouts of individual properties
• One had to do with safety
• One delegated authority to Harris County Purchasing to award construction contracts to the lowest responsible bidder for 29 CDBG-DR and CDBG-MIT projects (Item 132 mentioned above).

After passage of the flood bond in 2018, HCFCD routinely had 80+ items on the agenda. But then in 2021, the Democratic majority on Commissioners Court made a management change. And the rate of project execution has slowed ever since.

Now is the time for Dr. Petersen to show that she’s worth her $434,000 annual salary. Can she save a quarter billion dollars? Only time will tell. Now comes the real heavy lifting.

Posted by Bob Rehak on 1/9/26

3055 Days since Harvey

The thoughts expressed in this post represent opinions on matters of public concern and safety. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.