AgendaWatch: Tuesday 10/21/08
Is it just me, or have the last month's-worth of agendas had more interesting material than the rest of the year combined? Is it something in the air? Or is it that everyone's overdosed on the political campaigns, and tuning out the news? That would make it a good time to pass a bunch of ordinances, wouldn't it?
So here we go for this week. Note especially items #15, 24, 31, 39, and 41:
Item #2: $120,000 for outside litigation support. The City of Houston wants AT&T to move some facilities that are in the city right-of-way, at their expense, to permit flood control improvements. AT&T wants the city to pay. They’ve been arguing in various courts for two years now; AT&T lost in federal court, is still pending in state district court, and is now trying Harris County Civil Court.
Item #3: Proposal to pay a citizen a $165,000 settlement for a negligent city employee who ran a red light in his street sweeper, and hit a pedestrian downtown. Apparently he was not caught in doing this by a red light camera.
Item #5: Appoint two independent appraisers to evaluate 19 acres located at Lockwood and Buffalo Bayou for sale. It used to be a sewage treatment plant. I hope the buyers realize that the city didn’t take up the shallow concrete pits and metal pipes, but merely buried them under a few feet of dirt. Therefore, any foundation work for a building is going to be even more problematic than normal for something on the banks of the bayou.
Item #15: Now that we’ve approved purchase of a new police radio system, we need somewhere to put all the people responsible for installing it – both city and contract personnel. The location will be 2550 North Loop West, the term, five years, the cost $773,182. Five years to install new police radios seems a bit long. The option for a five-year renewal is downright disturbing.
Item #16: $300,000 for three years'-worth of “professional services” from the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership, a non-profit organization under contract with the city to promote tourism and economic development in the Bay Area. Wait, I thought tourism was the job of the Convention Bureau. Oh well, just don’t ask if we’re getting anything for our money; it makes Mayor “Wild” Bill get testy.
Item #23: Allocate $200,000 for Randal R. Morrison, Attorney, who assists the City of Houston as a legal consultant on sign regulation and public forum issues. Initially, I was thinking “street signs” and planned to ridicule our Legal Department – then I realized this had to do with all signs and “attention getting devices” and frankly, the more help we have keeping our streets free of distractions, the better.
Item #24: Approve a contract with Campbell and Chadwick for expert witness services, costing $160,000. George Rodriguez spent 17 years behind bars, thanks in part to the HPD Crime Laboratory. He is now suing for wrongful prosecution by the city. Ah, the Crime Lab, the gift that just keeps on giving. “Millions for expert witnesses, but not one penny for the Bromwich probe!”
Item #25: $300,000 for relocation assistance to tenants of commercial, multi-family, and condominiums that are declared uninhabitable. Well, hey, Ms. Washington can finally get some help. I’m a little disturbed by this provision though: “Individual expenditures in excess of $50,000 will require Council approval.” What?
Item #31: $375,000 appropriation for preliminary design work; essentially reviewing city facilities and infrastructure that will be affected by Metro’s “transit solutions”; i.e., the rail corridors. $946,000 has already been allocated for this work; in short, it’s another $1.3 million in costs that the taxpayer has to bear as a price to construct an overpriced, underutilized tram, but it won’t ever be included in Metro’s cost estimates, since the city, er, I mean city taxpayers are paying. (FYI: The attached map shows the Richmond line not turning south to Westpark until it reaches Buffalo Speedway.)
Item #39: Designation of Kirby Drive from the SW Freeway to Bissonnet street as a 95-foot right of way, as opposed to the current 80-foot right of way. Gee, that wouldn't have anything to do with a recent mistake by the Planning Department, would it? I also direct interested parties to review item #39B, which has to do with designation of a number of “Transit Corridors” at the request of Metro. The following phrase keeps appearing: “The Planning Commission DEFERRED action on number of lanes and right-of-way width until a later date.” (Emphasis in original). Gosh, why would they do that? Do you think Metro isn't certain how wide their trains are?
Item #40: More fees! Want your property inspected by HFD? Many fees actually decrease, some increase, and new items are charged. This is part of a general re-alignment of the fee structure to match more closely the costs of inspecting large or complex/dangerous properties as opposed to simple ones.
Item #41: The “Pay Up or No Registration” red light ordinance.
Item 45: Sometimes it's hard to do the obvious. The Candlelight Trails condominiums are uninhabitable and have been vacated at the order of the city for over a year. However, the property is unsecured, and it has become a haven for drug dealers, users, and vagrants. So order the owners to secure it, right? That was done in November, 2007. It's a condo. There are 150 owners. So tear it down, right? It's a condo. There are 150 owners... $320,000 to McGlinchy Stafford PLLC, for legal services to track down and serve all 150 owners, and provide other legal services. It's either that, or wait three years for tax liens and foreclose.
Posted by Ubu Roi @ 10/19/08 07:23 PM | Print | Comments (1)
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
ADVERTISING
DISCLAIMER
All content © 2004-09, blogHOUSTON and the respective authors.
blogHOUSTON.net is powered by Nucleus.
Site design and Nucleus customization are by Kevin Whited.