County Commissioners

Meeting notes - May 19, 2009

Steve Hawley, May 19, 09.

Tagged with government, meeting notes, harris county

Harris County Commissioners Court
May 19, 2009, 10 am
Meeting agenda

Houston Tomorrow publishes notes from public meetings to help local governments in their mission to provide transparency and to allow a greater pool of Houstonians to participate in important policy discussions. These notes are not official meeting minutes, nor do they record every agenda item.

Note: The Commissioners Court covers a wide variety of topics. Questions or comments regarding agenda items are discussed during the meeting, and some items may be removed. At the end the commissioners vote on the agenda as a whole.

A representative of the Ramblewood Property Owners Association spoke before the Commissioners Court, presenting a petition to create a drainage district for the subdivision. Currently, he said about half of the subdivision lacks a drainage easement, meaning that the county would likely decline to perform drainage work there. Commissioner Jerry Eversole (Precinct 4) told him, “I really think you’ll find the expense of doing that horrendous,” recommending that he allow the commissioners to look at the issue before submitting the petition and questioning whether it was worth the money.

Art Storey, executive director of the Public Infrastructure Department, said that the speaker was right, and that the county would not perform work without an easement, but that his department would look into a way to get an easement without creating a new drainage district.

Two speakers spoke in opposition to the use of tax money for the proposed Dynamo soccer stadium, and one speaker sought to remove his late father’s name from jury duty and voter registration rolls after several failed attempts.

The Commissioners Court also recognized Deborah M. Vaughn, P.E. for her 25 years of service in the Public Infrastructure Department Architecture and Engineering Division.

There were no public comments regarding a street name change, and the commissioners opted not to hold the closed-door executive session concerning a reappointment to the Harris County Health Facilities Development Corporation Board.

Harris County will be sending two representatives to the Intelligent Transportation Society of America meeting and exposition June 1-4 in Maryland.

The Commissioners Court approved the agenda except for the following changes below:

Item 7 on page 3, a recommendation that the court approve a resolution and order authorizing the Flood Control District to buy a tract of land, was withdrawn.

Item c5 on page 12, to approve an agreement with Child Care Council of Greater Houston, Inc. for emergency shelter grants, was withdrawn.

Item 12b on page 15, a request for approval of orders authorizing settlements and releases in connection with court cases, was referred to Management Services.

Item 68 on page 18, a Women Professionals in Government travel expense, was held until the next meeting because of confusion over whether it was a reception or a seminar.

Item 6c on page 23, renewing an agreement for sex offender counseling services, was withdrawn.

Item 10c on page 25, an agreement for software maintenance, was withdrawn.

Item 20d on page 27 was amended to say Harris County instead of Tarrant County.

Previous County Commissioners notes (May 5, 2009)
Next County Commissioners notes (June 9, 2009)

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