Tag Archive for: flood bond meeting

Let’s Flood the Flood-Bond Meeting Tuesday Night

The simplest, most effective thing you can do to reduce flood risk in the Humble/Kingwood/Atascocita area is come to a meeting Tuesday night, July 10 at Kingwood Park High School. From 6-8 p.m., County representatives will be there to explain the upcoming flood bond and listen to your ideas for flood mitigation. You don’t need to stay for the full two hours.

Meeting Format: Open House

The meeting format is “open house.” It will start with brief introductions from County Judge Ed Emmett, who used to live in Kingwood, our County Commissioners and Harris County Flood Control Staff. Then the action will shift to tables throughout the room where you can talk one-on-one with flood control district staff.

Drop in at any point. Get a petition from one of the RecoverLakeHouston representatives. Sign it. Hand it in. Then take your kids out for ice cream and talk about doing your duty for democracy. With cherries on top.

What We Need

The petition talks about the three things that will help this area reduce flooding the most: more upstream detention, dredging and flood gates.

  • More detention means less input during floods.
  • More dredging means greater throughput.
  • More flood gates mean faster output.

It’s the flood mitigation trifecta. Less in. More through. Faster out.

If you have other thoughts, by all means submit those, too.

Step One of a Two-Step Process

Think of this as a two-step process.

  • Step One: Make sure we get the right projects on the ballot.
  • Step Two: Vote on the projects.

Don’t worry about anything else for now. The worst thing that could happen is that the bond package passes without projects that reduce the root causes of flooding in the Lake Houston Area. You get the bill without the benefits. No one wants that.

So suspend disbelief for the moment. We can debate merits and value down the road.

After 315 Days: Your Chance to Make a Difference

This is it. The World Cup of Rivers that Runneth Over.  The Super Bowl of Flood Mitigation. The Sand Jac 500. The Tour De Lake. All rolled into one.

The Harris County Flood Bond is at hand. Let’s flood the room with attendees.

Bring your kids. Bring a neighbor. Bring a friend. Projects follow the votes. Remember: this is democracy in action. So be there or beware.

Posted on 7/10/2018 by Bob Rehak

315 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Voter Registration and Flood Bond Referendum

On August 25, Harris County residents will vote on a historic $2.5 billion flood-bond referendum. But are you eligible to vote? Don’t assume the answer is yes.

How Harvey May Have Affected Your Voting Rights

Many flood victims moved temporarily while their homes were being repaired. Voter registration cards cannot be forwarded, so your card may have been returned to the County registrar as “undeliverable.”

Also, records of people who failed to vote in the last two elections may have been purged.

If you fall into one of those categories, confirm your voter registration status at: https://www.hctax.net/Voter/Search.

If your name comes up with your voter registration ID, you should be good to vote. However, if your record says SUSPENSE or VOTER NOT FOUND, you are in danger of losing your right to vote.

If you aren’t listed as a registered voter in Harris County, you will not be able to vote.

Help Available at Flood Bond Meeting on July 10

Regardless of the cause, if your registration has lapsed or if you are new to the area, Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrars (VDVRs) will be available to help you at the Harris County Flood Bond Meeting on Tuesday, 7/10 from 5:30PM to 8:30PM at Kingwood Park High School. VDVRs will be there to help you confirm your status, update your record or re-register if necessary. VDVRs are not partisan and required by law to register anyone eligible to vote.

Options Available to You

If your voter ID card was returned to the tax office and you are “in suspense,” you must fill out a Statement of Residence (SOR) form.  After filing this form, you can still vote at the early voting sites, however, it is easier if you resolve issues before then.

Voting Dates

Election day is August 25, the anniversary of Harvey. The county clerk has not yet confirmed early voting dates. Polling places may change up until Election Day. Check here for your polling place.

Requirements to Vote

You must be registered in Harris County 30 days prior to the election to vote. You can vote anywhere only during early voting; on Election Day you can vote only at your assigned precinct location. You must show approved ID, or have reasonable cause as t0 why you do not have ID, and sign an affidavit to that fact.

Requests to vote by mail must arrive by mail or fax no later than the 11th day before the election. Ballots must be returned to the county clerk’s office no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.

Registration assistants will be at Kingwood Park High School one half hour before the meeting at 5:30 p.m. to help people check registrations and explain options if a problem exists.

Main Purpose of Meeting

The main purpose of the meeting on July 10 is for county officials to explain the referendum to voters and solicit voter input on the types of flood remediation efforts they think will help the most people in this area. Learn more at:

Lake Houston Chamber Launches Plea for DDG

Lake Houston Area’s Most Pressing Needs for Flood Bond Referendum

Top Priorities for Lake Houston Area Flood Mitigation

Bring Friends and Their Friends

A large turnout at this meeting will send a message to elected officials about how important we think flood mitigation is.

Sometime before the election, the Harris County Flood Control District will post the actual recommendations for each part of the county that will be included in the bond package that voters will vote on. Note: the current list is not final.

Meeting Details

Kingwood Park High School

July 10, 2018

6-8 pm

Doors open at 5:30 for voter registration assistance.

 

Posted 7/9/2018 by Bob Rehak

314 Days since Hurricane Harvey

Flood Bond Meeting Changes Location; Make Sure You Submit Your Recommendations

To learn more about the bond program, go to: https://www.hcfcd.org/bond-program/community-engagement-meetings/

The Harris County Flood Bond Meeting originally scheduled for July 10, 6pm at the Kingwood Community Center is changing location. The meeting will now be held at Kingwood Park High School on the same date and at the same time. The purpose for the change in venue is to provide additional seating and parking. The address is:

Kingwood Park High School
4015 Woodland Hills Drive
Kingwood, TX 77339

The purpose of the meeting itself is to solicit public input on things that people in this this area need to remediate flooding. Without your input, the risk is that we get generic solutions that don’t really address the root causes of flooding in the San Jacinto watershed. See my summary of what we need and why we need it below as well as my previous post on flooding causes and solutions in the Lake Houston area.

Meeting Format

According to Matt Zeve of Harris County Flood Control, the meeting will essentially consist of two parts: County officials explaining the bond process and citizens volunteering input about projects for their area. There will be no open microphone. County employees will be set up around the room for one-on-one discussions. Residents will also be able to submit ideas through workstations that will be set up around the room.

County Judge Ed Emmett, who used to live in Bear Branch and represented this area in the state legislature for many years, will personally attend the meeting.

All of Us are Smarter than Each of Us

Similar meetings are being held in each watershed throughout the county. Currently ten watersheds have completed their meetings. Thirteen meetings remain.

The idea is to involve residents to the maximum degree possible so that the County’s flood control professionals can listen and design solutions that best address the unique needs of each area.

This represents a great opportunity for all of the geotechnical professionals and others in the Humble/Kingwood/Huffman area, especially those who flooded, to volunteer their experience. The county is actively soliciting input.

I already volunteered my ideas online, but will also attend the meeting. If you have other ideas, of course, you should volunteer them.

Recommendations: More Dredging, Detention and Gates

My recommendations were a combination of three things. To restore our area to the original design assumptions, i.e., above the 100-year flood plain, we need:

  • Additional Dredging
  • Additional Detention
  • Additional Gates

More DREDGING to restore the original carrying capacity of the river, streams and ditches.
More DETENTION to reduce the amount of water and sand coming downstream during floods.
More FLOOD GATES on Lake Houston’s dam so it can discharge water faster during a flood.

More dredging, detention and gates will help reduce flood risk for EVERYONE who lives or works on or near Lake Houston.

Currently Under Consideration for Flood Bond

To see the CURRENTLY proposed flood reduction projects for the San Jacinto River Watershed, please follow this link. If you are unable to attend the meetings you may also submit your comments online to HCFCD. The meetings will conclude August 1, allowing time for county officials to finalize the bond package for voters.

Background on Flood Bond

On June 12, Harris County Commissioners Court approved placing the $2.5 billion flood bond issue on the August 25 ballot, asking voters to finance a 10 to 15 year program of flood mitigation projects that include drainage improvements, upgraded warning systems, infrastructure repairs, home buyouts, and construction of more detention basins.

For more information, please contact the Harris County Flood Control District Bond Program Hotline at 713-684-4107.This could be the most important referendum in the county’s history. It is a defining moment. How we respond to Harvey will determine our collective future. This will help far more than people who flooded. Harvey affected almost everyone in the county. Through friends, families, rescue efforts, rebuilding, employers, transportation, schools and more. Vote to restore your community to way it was.The money in the bond package could more than double through matching funds. So a no vote is like throwing away at least $2.5 billion.

Posted 6/27/2018 by Bob Rehak
 
302 Days since Hurricane Harvey