Alexandra Mealer is one of two candidates in the Republican runoff election for Harris County Judge. Mealer is a West Point graduate who retired from active duty as a Captain after ten years of service in the US and Afghanistan. She returned to graduate school where she earned MBA and JD degrees from Harvard before pursuing a career in energy finance. She worked on billion-dollar mergers, acquisitions, and financing projects for public and private energy companies as a VP for one of the nation’s largest banks.
Flood Bond: A Promise to Taxpayers
Rehak: I’d like to discuss flooding in Harris County and what you would do differently to improve flood control.
Mealer: The county judge wants to talk about everything but governance. That’s my big takeaway. She isn’t interested in doing the hard work. And that’s showing up. When I’ve been at Commissioners Court, they’ll talk for hours about a football team.
In Flood control, the flood bond was a promise to taxpayers. We have an obligation to complete those projects. Voters approved just under 200. So, I would ask, “Why isn’t Lina Hidalgo actually attending some of her own flood task force meetings?”
Rehak: That’s a good question.
Mealer toured the Forest Cove Townhomes destroyed during Harvey to get a first-hand feeling for what the Lake Houston area faces.
Mealer’s Priorities
Mealer: One of my highest flood-related priorities is to make sure we’re budgeted to cover maintenance, instead of deferring it.
After that, a lot of my time will go towards making sure we are getting outside dollars if we’re going to do more mitigation projects. Hopefully they’re going to do this tunnel system. Tunnels alone could cost another $5 billion. But that’s just fixing one area of the county when we’re shifting money from other departments to help pay for current projects.
We know we need a lot more. But Hidalgo isn’t really focusing on the budget. Or spending the time on flood control that it deserves. That’s where I can make a difference. I just got back from Cypress Creek. You need to understand all these different areas because this is probably the most complicated topic of any governance issue the county faces right now. Hidalgo just hasn’t shown the time commitment at that basic level. And there’s no excuse for that. Time is the one thing you CAN control. Instead, she seems to be focusing on patronage jobs.
The best thing about my background is that all these backroom deals disgust me, to be frank.
Proposed Solutions for Next-Level Flood-Control Funding
Rehak: What solutions would you propose. Your website talks about a bipartisan state delegation and bipartisan federal delegation to help with funding; and establishing a technical task force. And you gave yourself a 90-day timetable to put all that together and get that plan rolling. You also said fixing flooding must be above politics. Regarding the last point, how does your military experience relate?
Mealer: At the highest levels, military decisions, of course, are political. But the closer you are to boots on the ground, they become more mission driven.
Rehak: I’m assuming that you would try and keep flood-control priorities on a mission level as opposed to a political level.
Mealer: Yes. I’m very data driven, too. To say “Kingwood gets all the money”…that was unfair. Just look at the dollars! That doesn’t need to be political. You can just look and see where dollars were spent and rebuff that assertion.
Mealer’s Definition of “Worst First”
Beyond that, I don’t hear anyone saying much of anything except “worst first.” We need define that and go beyond it.
I’m looking at a) the most impacted areas and b) what’s shovel ready. If you told voters you’d do X, that’s your obligation when you’re using their money. And that’s why we need such a strong focus on partner funding. We made promises. And they will require partner funding to fulfill them.
But Lina isn’t upholding those promises. It’d be different if she’d exhausted all options. But there are tons of state delegates and congressional reps that we’ve never even spoken to. I want to hold quarterly meetings with those delegations. And I’ll be the first to compliment anyone who brings home flood-control dollars. We need to throw our weight around until people act on this.
Start blocking and tackling those roadblocks. Don’t just move on when someone gives you bad news.
Improving Upstream/Downstream Cooperation
Rehak: Down by the West Fork San Jacinto, we had some condos swept off their foundations by the 240,000 cubic feet per second coming downstream from outside the county. What can we do to get our neighbors to the north to be more sensitive to the amount of floodwater that they’re sending downstream?
Mealer: We can offer our staff to advise them on regulations and help institute them.
Obviously, they’ll have some builders who won’t want to see higher retention pond requirements. But flooding is not good for economic vitality.
We need to get all community leaders to recognize that. And be very vocal about it to exert pressure on the outliers.
We also need ways to catch bad plans and mobilize people downstream before the plans go forward. That’s a problem. Neighbors don’t catch onto them until permits are being pulled and the project is well underway.
Some counties are not living with consequences. It’s easier to send floodwater downstream. And that’s where I think you can use more of governments’ full weight and power. Having good regulations downstream while those upstream get a free pass…that doesn’t work.
“Every Citizen Should Be Terrified when a Politician Says Equity”
Rehak: What are your priorities? Would you fix 500-year flooding in a poor area before two-year flooding in an affluent area?
Mealer: I’d attack the worst first. And then within that, “Who’s the most shovel ready?”
When I say “worst first,” I mean government should mitigate the most harm for the most people. It’s all based on risk and damage.
Alexandra Mealer
Every citizen should be terrified when a politician says “equity.” You should have clear standards.
Lina Hidalgo doesn’t really mean “worst first.” She means “worst first plus equity.” But equity means whatever she wants it to mean today. It’s changed three or four times already.
Rehak: Does worst mean “when the poorest area floods” or does it mean “areas that had the most damaged structures”?
Mealer: Damage. But even that’s not clear because somebody who floods every two years should be higher on the priority list than someone in the 500-year floodplain who would only flood in a mega-storm.
Getting It Done Faster
We’re confined by what voters approved. All flood-bond projects are underway. We need to keep pushing the ball forward where and when we can. I would not hold money up for a project that won’t move forward for six months if there’s something we can build with that money now. The whole point is to fund all the projects. I’m not changing approved projects that we promised voters.
More About Mealer’s Background: From Bomb-Squad Operations to Billion-Dollar Boardroom Deals
Rehak: Your primary runoff opponent touts his local experience. Tell me about your background.
Mealer: I was born in Sacramento, California, and recruited by colleges on both coasts as a tennis player. Then 911 happened. At 18, I went to West Point. Then, I spent the next ten years living in eight different states and overseas.
In 2012, when I got out of the Army, my husband and I decided to move to Houston. We both wanted to work in oil and gas, so we did summer internships here while going to grad school. We officially moved here full time in 2016.
My primary runoff opponent and I are very different. He’s got 40 years of experience in politics and a lot of good relationships. But sometimes coming in with a fresh slate is good, too.
I also have a lot of executive emergency-management experience. I spent years working in a bomb-squad operation center. That high-pressure experience is a very transferable to hurricanes. The skills you use – the decision-making criteria – are very similar to when I had to do an all-nighter in a tactical operations center. You’re trying to quickly make decisions and allocate resources…with little margin for error. So, I know the battle drill.
I wanted this job because it’s so heavy on the budget/financial side. That’s where I spent my last six years. I’ve had true executive experience, building organizations.
A Boots-on-the-Ground Leader: “I’m About Shoe Leather”
How you run a campaign is, I think, a reflection of how you will govern. I have a lean staff and a grassroots campaign. I try to be very “boots on the ground.” I’m about shoe leather. That reflects my personality.
I’m not satisfied to just have somebody tell me the answer. I want to dig in and make sure I understand it. I have that curiosity, which I think is important, especially in flood control.
We need somebody who’s going to get out there and not just be holed up in the office.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/20220314-RJR_9298.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2022-04-01 19:37:032022-04-02 16:50:15Interview with Alexandra Mealer, One of Two Candidates in Republican Runoff for Harris County Judge
This post is a case study in how insufficiently mitigated upstream development can result in taxation without representation on downstream residents.
Last week, I photographed Ben’s Branch from the Tree Lane Bridge after a two inch rain. Last night, I saw a presentation about urban channel evolution. The photos (with some taken earlier at the same location) perfectly illustrated the points in the presentation by Carolyn White of the Harris County Infrastructure Resilience Team.
White’s presentation followed another by Maryanne Piacentini of the Katie Prairie Conservancy and Lisa Gonzalez of the Houston Audubon Society. All three talked about the importance of nature-based strategies in reducing flooding. White’s presentation and my photos show what happens when you ignore the kind of solutions Piacentini and Gonzalez discussed: riparian buffers, natural channel design, conservation easements, wetland preservation, low impact development and more. As the photos below will show, insufficiently mitigated upstream development creates taxation without representation on downstream residents.
White’s Presentation on Urban Channel Evolution
The following three slides from White’s presentation illustrate the process of stream downcutting.
Upstream urban development creates faster, more frequent runoff resulting in erosion and downcutting.
As the stream deepens, banks become stressed and the bottom degrades, through a process called incision.
Eventually, the banks collapse. As slabs fall off, riparian vegetation collapses into the stream. Excessive erosion impairs water quality. The stream and surrounding infrastructure become harder or even impossible to maintain.
MoCo Developments Along Bens Branch Illustrate Principles
I’ve lived near Bens Branch for almost 40 years. For most of its length from Woodland Hills Drive to Kingwood Drive, it meanders through an 800-foot wide heavily forested greenbelt. That greenbelt provided a natural buffer from flooding. The trees also provided friction for floodwater that reduced its velocity and therefore its erosive power.
Upper Ben’s Branch watershed in 1985. Large parts of Kingwood (left and right) were still under construction. Note the large green spaces in the upper left (headwaters of Bens Branch). Ben’s Branch cuts diagonally from upper left to lower right.
Same area in December 2021.The MoCo/Harris County Line cuts diagonally through the photo above from near the upper right to the lower left.
Brooklyn Trails on Bens Branch Tributary
As the upper watershed developed, developers took less care to protect those trees. They practiced clearcutting. And each promised the MoCo county engineer that there would be “no adverse impact” – a condition for obtaining building permits.
Brooklyn Trails was one of those. You can see it in the satellite photo above at the top of the frame next to the railroad tracks a block east of US59.
The developer of Brooklyn Trails understated detention pond requirements by 30%. And claimed there were no wetlands on the site. But this development is certainly not the only one affecting Bens Branch.
Preserve at Woodridge Forest: 11+ Homes to Acre
A little farther east, between Kingwood Park High School and St. Martha Catholic Church, Gueffen is building 11+ homes to an acre on a 17 acre site. Some are as large as 660 square feet and less than five feet from their neighbors.
Preserve at Woodridge with rentable homes as large as 660 square feet.
The Preserve at Woodridge is still under constructionalong this ditch that feeds into Bens Branch one block south.
On the other side of St. Martha Catholic Church, Woodridge Forest continues its relentless growth west along Bens Branch. Detention ponds in that area are less than optimal. In fact, the one below is sub-functional.
This detention pond was blown out during Harvey and hasn’t been fixed since.The outfall is wider than the inlet.Water flows both around and straight through the pond.
Downstream in Harris County, Your Tax Dollars at Work … Again and Again.
A little farther downstream in Harris County, Bens Branch crosses under Tree Lane near an elementary school. Due to excessive erosion, the City undertook major repairs on the bridge substructure exactly two years ago. Here’s what it looked like before the repairs.
Bens Branch undercutting supports for bridge at Tree Lane. Photo taken December 2019.
Excavation of Bens Branch under Kingwood Drive by COH, August 2021.
The Hidden Tax of Insufficiently Mitigated Development
These pictures dramatize the points made in the first three images above. Especially the one about “limited ability to maintain.” Insufficiently mitigated upstream development imposes maintenance and repair costs that increase taxes on downstream residents. This is why we need a regional approach to flood mitigation. And why we need to harmonize regulations across county lines. Until we do, insufficiently mitigated upstream development will result in taxation without representation on downstream residents.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/31/2022
1675 Days since Hurricane 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.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/20220322-RJR_9303.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=18001200adminadmin2022-03-31 22:26:212022-04-01 08:12:48How Insufficiently Mitigated Upstream Development Imposes Taxation without Representation on Downstream Residents
A February update by Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) on the status of the 2018 Flood Bond showed that 35% of the way into the program (42 out of 120 months), 19.4% of the funds from all sources (including grants and partnerships) had been spent. That percentage was based on $967 million spent out of $5 billion projected.
Cost of Studies vs. Construction
While one percentage seems to lag the other by a factor of almost 2X, HCFCD estimates it is virtually on schedule. That’s because studies conducted up front cost far less than construction. And only 44 of 181 Bond program projects have entered construction at this point (24%). As more projects enter the construction phase, the pace of spending should accelerate.
From High-Level Summary to Nitty-Gritty Detail
The 13-page update features three major sections:
Summary statistics for the entire bond program
Project flow charts showing status of all projects
Watershed maps showing the amount spent to date; funded to date; and the values of all active maintenance and capital projects.
Spending by watershed on HCFCD flood bond projects through the end of February 2022.
Skewed Distribution of Capital Improvement Projects
Out of 75 active capital improvement projects, I counted only 13 in Precincts 3 and 4 which have Republican commissioners. Those contracts totaled only about $82 million out of about $249 million. That’s a testament to how thoroughly the Democrat-controlled Commissioners Court has relentlessly tweaked the Equity Prioritization Framework. For instance…
In northeastern Harris County, the update shows only two active capital projects valued at a whopping $1,000 each.
Of the 13 active capital projects in Precincts 3 and 4, six are E&R contracts valued at just $6,125 altogether. See page 13. The report lists no E&R contracts in Precincts 1 and 2.
Excavation and removal contracts let contractors sell dirt they remove from a site as a way of making back their normal profit margin. They’re a good deal for taxpayers as long as the demand for fill dirt remains high. But if demand slows, excavation progress could stall. In other words, they come with uncertainty attached.
Breakdown of San Jacinto Watershed Projects
Of ten bond projects listed in the San Jacinto Watershed, schedules show:
The February report did not address a method of distribution for $750 million allocated by HUD and the GLO for flood mitigation to Harris County. The award happened on March 18, 2022 and will likely be covered next month.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/30/2022
1674 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screen-Shot-2022-03-30-at-5.22.09-PM.png?fit=1844%2C1402&ssl=114021844adminadmin2022-03-30 17:55:032022-03-30 21:57:58Flood Bond Progress: 35% Time Elapsed, 19.4% Money Spent
Interview with Alexandra Mealer, One of Two Candidates in Republican Runoff for Harris County Judge
Alexandra Mealer is one of two candidates in the Republican runoff election for Harris County Judge. Mealer is a West Point graduate who retired from active duty as a Captain after ten years of service in the US and Afghanistan. She returned to graduate school where she earned MBA and JD degrees from Harvard before pursuing a career in energy finance. She worked on billion-dollar mergers, acquisitions, and financing projects for public and private energy companies as a VP for one of the nation’s largest banks.
Flood Bond: A Promise to Taxpayers
Rehak: I’d like to discuss flooding in Harris County and what you would do differently to improve flood control.
Mealer: The county judge wants to talk about everything but governance. That’s my big takeaway. She isn’t interested in doing the hard work. And that’s showing up. When I’ve been at Commissioners Court, they’ll talk for hours about a football team.
In Flood control, the flood bond was a promise to taxpayers. We have an obligation to complete those projects. Voters approved just under 200. So, I would ask, “Why isn’t Lina Hidalgo actually attending some of her own flood task force meetings?”
Rehak: That’s a good question.
Mealer’s Priorities
Mealer: One of my highest flood-related priorities is to make sure we’re budgeted to cover maintenance, instead of deferring it.
After that, a lot of my time will go towards making sure we are getting outside dollars if we’re going to do more mitigation projects. Hopefully they’re going to do this tunnel system. Tunnels alone could cost another $5 billion. But that’s just fixing one area of the county when we’re shifting money from other departments to help pay for current projects.
We know we need a lot more. But Hidalgo isn’t really focusing on the budget. Or spending the time on flood control that it deserves. That’s where I can make a difference. I just got back from Cypress Creek. You need to understand all these different areas because this is probably the most complicated topic of any governance issue the county faces right now. Hidalgo just hasn’t shown the time commitment at that basic level. And there’s no excuse for that. Time is the one thing you CAN control. Instead, she seems to be focusing on patronage jobs.
The best thing about my background is that all these backroom deals disgust me, to be frank.
Proposed Solutions for Next-Level Flood-Control Funding
Rehak: What solutions would you propose. Your website talks about a bipartisan state delegation and bipartisan federal delegation to help with funding; and establishing a technical task force. And you gave yourself a 90-day timetable to put all that together and get that plan rolling. You also said fixing flooding must be above politics. Regarding the last point, how does your military experience relate?
Mealer: At the highest levels, military decisions, of course, are political. But the closer you are to boots on the ground, they become more mission driven.
Rehak: I’m assuming that you would try and keep flood-control priorities on a mission level as opposed to a political level.
Mealer: Yes. I’m very data driven, too. To say “Kingwood gets all the money”…that was unfair. Just look at the dollars! That doesn’t need to be political. You can just look and see where dollars were spent and rebuff that assertion.
Mealer’s Definition of “Worst First”
Beyond that, I don’t hear anyone saying much of anything except “worst first.” We need define that and go beyond it.
I’m looking at a) the most impacted areas and b) what’s shovel ready. If you told voters you’d do X, that’s your obligation when you’re using their money. And that’s why we need such a strong focus on partner funding. We made promises. And they will require partner funding to fulfill them.
But Lina isn’t upholding those promises. It’d be different if she’d exhausted all options. But there are tons of state delegates and congressional reps that we’ve never even spoken to. I want to hold quarterly meetings with those delegations. And I’ll be the first to compliment anyone who brings home flood-control dollars. We need to throw our weight around until people act on this.
Start blocking and tackling those roadblocks. Don’t just move on when someone gives you bad news.
Improving Upstream/Downstream Cooperation
Rehak: Down by the West Fork San Jacinto, we had some condos swept off their foundations by the 240,000 cubic feet per second coming downstream from outside the county. What can we do to get our neighbors to the north to be more sensitive to the amount of floodwater that they’re sending downstream?
Mealer: We can offer our staff to advise them on regulations and help institute them.
Obviously, they’ll have some builders who won’t want to see higher retention pond requirements. But flooding is not good for economic vitality.
We need to get all community leaders to recognize that. And be very vocal about it to exert pressure on the outliers.
We also need ways to catch bad plans and mobilize people downstream before the plans go forward. That’s a problem. Neighbors don’t catch onto them until permits are being pulled and the project is well underway.
Some counties are not living with consequences. It’s easier to send floodwater downstream. And that’s where I think you can use more of governments’ full weight and power. Having good regulations downstream while those upstream get a free pass…that doesn’t work.
“Every Citizen Should Be Terrified when a Politician Says Equity”
Rehak: What are your priorities? Would you fix 500-year flooding in a poor area before two-year flooding in an affluent area?
Mealer: I’d attack the worst first. And then within that, “Who’s the most shovel ready?”
Every citizen should be terrified when a politician says “equity.” You should have clear standards.
Lina Hidalgo doesn’t really mean “worst first.” She means “worst first plus equity.” But equity means whatever she wants it to mean today. It’s changed three or four times already.
Rehak: Does worst mean “when the poorest area floods” or does it mean “areas that had the most damaged structures”?
Mealer: Damage. But even that’s not clear because somebody who floods every two years should be higher on the priority list than someone in the 500-year floodplain who would only flood in a mega-storm.
Getting It Done Faster
We’re confined by what voters approved. All flood-bond projects are underway. We need to keep pushing the ball forward where and when we can. I would not hold money up for a project that won’t move forward for six months if there’s something we can build with that money now. The whole point is to fund all the projects. I’m not changing approved projects that we promised voters.
More About Mealer’s Background: From Bomb-Squad Operations to Billion-Dollar Boardroom Deals
Rehak: Your primary runoff opponent touts his local experience. Tell me about your background.
Mealer: I was born in Sacramento, California, and recruited by colleges on both coasts as a tennis player. Then 911 happened. At 18, I went to West Point. Then, I spent the next ten years living in eight different states and overseas.
In 2012, when I got out of the Army, my husband and I decided to move to Houston. We both wanted to work in oil and gas, so we did summer internships here while going to grad school. We officially moved here full time in 2016.
My primary runoff opponent and I are very different. He’s got 40 years of experience in politics and a lot of good relationships. But sometimes coming in with a fresh slate is good, too.
I also have a lot of executive emergency-management experience. I spent years working in a bomb-squad operation center. That high-pressure experience is a very transferable to hurricanes. The skills you use – the decision-making criteria – are very similar to when I had to do an all-nighter in a tactical operations center. You’re trying to quickly make decisions and allocate resources…with little margin for error. So, I know the battle drill.
I wanted this job because it’s so heavy on the budget/financial side. That’s where I spent my last six years. I’ve had true executive experience, building organizations.
A Boots-on-the-Ground Leader: “I’m About Shoe Leather”
How you run a campaign is, I think, a reflection of how you will govern. I have a lean staff and a grassroots campaign. I try to be very “boots on the ground.” I’m about shoe leather. That reflects my personality.
I’m not satisfied to just have somebody tell me the answer. I want to dig in and make sure I understand it. I have that curiosity, which I think is important, especially in flood control.
We need somebody who’s going to get out there and not just be holed up in the office.
To learn more about Alexandra Mealer, visit her campaign website. The Republican runoff is on May 24, 2022.
To compare her opponent’s positions on flood control, read this interview with Vidal Martinez.
Posted By Bob Rehak on 4/1/2022
1676 Days since Hurricane Harvey
How Insufficiently Mitigated Upstream Development Imposes Taxation without Representation on Downstream Residents
This post is a case study in how insufficiently mitigated upstream development can result in taxation without representation on downstream residents.
Last week, I photographed Ben’s Branch from the Tree Lane Bridge after a two inch rain. Last night, I saw a presentation about urban channel evolution. The photos (with some taken earlier at the same location) perfectly illustrated the points in the presentation by Carolyn White of the Harris County Infrastructure Resilience Team.
White’s presentation followed another by Maryanne Piacentini of the Katie Prairie Conservancy and Lisa Gonzalez of the Houston Audubon Society. All three talked about the importance of nature-based strategies in reducing flooding. White’s presentation and my photos show what happens when you ignore the kind of solutions Piacentini and Gonzalez discussed: riparian buffers, natural channel design, conservation easements, wetland preservation, low impact development and more. As the photos below will show, insufficiently mitigated upstream development creates taxation without representation on downstream residents.
White’s Presentation on Urban Channel Evolution
The following three slides from White’s presentation illustrate the process of stream downcutting.
MoCo Developments Along Bens Branch Illustrate Principles
I’ve lived near Bens Branch for almost 40 years. For most of its length from Woodland Hills Drive to Kingwood Drive, it meanders through an 800-foot wide heavily forested greenbelt. That greenbelt provided a natural buffer from flooding. The trees also provided friction for floodwater that reduced its velocity and therefore its erosive power.
Brooklyn Trails on Bens Branch Tributary
As the upper watershed developed, developers took less care to protect those trees. They practiced clearcutting. And each promised the MoCo county engineer that there would be “no adverse impact” – a condition for obtaining building permits.
Brooklyn Trails was one of those. You can see it in the satellite photo above at the top of the frame next to the railroad tracks a block east of US59.
The developer of Brooklyn Trails understated detention pond requirements by 30%. And claimed there were no wetlands on the site. But this development is certainly not the only one affecting Bens Branch.
Preserve at Woodridge Forest: 11+ Homes to Acre
A little farther east, between Kingwood Park High School and St. Martha Catholic Church, Gueffen is building 11+ homes to an acre on a 17 acre site. Some are as large as 660 square feet and less than five feet from their neighbors.
On the other side of St. Martha Catholic Church, Woodridge Forest continues its relentless growth west along Bens Branch. Detention ponds in that area are less than optimal. In fact, the one below is sub-functional.
Downstream in Harris County, Your Tax Dollars at Work … Again and Again.
A little farther downstream in Harris County, Bens Branch crosses under Tree Lane near an elementary school. Due to excessive erosion, the City undertook major repairs on the bridge substructure exactly two years ago. Here’s what it looked like before the repairs.
Just 2 years later, it’s time to start over on the repairs.
In a large, intense rainfall, that crushed outfall could back water up into neighboring streets and homes.
Increasing Erosion May Soon Require More Maintenance
Next, look at these two photos of Bens Branch from 2019 and 2022.
Within the last year, HCFCD finished a major sediment removal project on Bens Branch downstream from here. At this rate, it won’t be long before they need to redo the job.
The City also was forced to remove sediment from under the Kingwood Drive Bridge over Bens Branch just six months ago.
The Hidden Tax of Insufficiently Mitigated Development
These pictures dramatize the points made in the first three images above. Especially the one about “limited ability to maintain.” Insufficiently mitigated upstream development imposes maintenance and repair costs that increase taxes on downstream residents. This is why we need a regional approach to flood mitigation. And why we need to harmonize regulations across county lines. Until we do, insufficiently mitigated upstream development will result in taxation without representation on downstream residents.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/31/2022
1675 Days since Hurricane 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.
Flood Bond Progress: 35% Time Elapsed, 19.4% Money Spent
A February update by Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) on the status of the 2018 Flood Bond showed that 35% of the way into the program (42 out of 120 months), 19.4% of the funds from all sources (including grants and partnerships) had been spent. That percentage was based on $967 million spent out of $5 billion projected.
Cost of Studies vs. Construction
While one percentage seems to lag the other by a factor of almost 2X, HCFCD estimates it is virtually on schedule. That’s because studies conducted up front cost far less than construction. And only 44 of 181 Bond program projects have entered construction at this point (24%). As more projects enter the construction phase, the pace of spending should accelerate.
From High-Level Summary to Nitty-Gritty Detail
The 13-page update features three major sections:
Skewed Distribution of Capital Improvement Projects
Out of 75 active capital improvement projects, I counted only 13 in Precincts 3 and 4 which have Republican commissioners. Those contracts totaled only about $82 million out of about $249 million. That’s a testament to how thoroughly the Democrat-controlled Commissioners Court has relentlessly tweaked the Equity Prioritization Framework. For instance…
Of the 13 active capital projects in Precincts 3 and 4, six are E&R contracts valued at just $6,125 altogether. See page 13. The report lists no E&R contracts in Precincts 1 and 2.
Excavation and removal contracts let contractors sell dirt they remove from a site as a way of making back their normal profit margin. They’re a good deal for taxpayers as long as the demand for fill dirt remains high. But if demand slows, excavation progress could stall. In other words, they come with uncertainty attached.
Breakdown of San Jacinto Watershed Projects
Of ten bond projects listed in the San Jacinto Watershed, schedules show:
To see the full February Update presented at the March 22, 2022 Commissioner’s Court Meeting, click here.
The February report did not address a method of distribution for $750 million allocated by HUD and the GLO for flood mitigation to Harris County. The award happened on March 18, 2022 and will likely be covered next month.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 3/30/2022
1674 Days since Hurricane Harvey